Showing posts with label dorie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dorie. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
I'm a bit apprehensive as I type this and soon you'll understand why. When my mother came home yesterday she brought along a small bag of peaches from her best friend's backyard. She told me that she would be out of town for the next two days and knowing that most of my clandestine baking happens while she's gone, she commissioned me to make a peach cobbler. Nothing fancy, no individual ramekins: just one simple cobbler.
Well I guess I don't take directions well unless they're part of a recipe that promises something delicious at the end. I convinced myself that if I made an alternative to cobbler that was simple, yet delicious enough to win over my mother, I would be in the clear. So I began my search for the perfect simple peach recipe. I found my answer in Dorie Greenspan's Dimply Plum (Well, Anything) Cake. I've always been an obedient daughter, but I suppose baking must bring out my inner rebel, because I had the audacity to make miniature cakes as well.
The cake smelled delicious sitting in the oven and I was so sure of my success. The first downhill turn was when I pulled the cakes out (the 6" cake and the 3" mini cakes) at 20 minutes and found them a little too dark along the edges. I tried to stay hopeful as I proceeded with picture taking and when I finally shut off my camera, I grabbed a slice and took a bite straight off the prop fork. Dry. Well, at least, not moist enough for my liking. Nothing too spectacular in terms of taste, but I'll also admit that the peaches from her friend didn't taste so good on their own to begin with.
Even still, I was disappointed and consequently worried about how my mother will receive the not-so-cobblery cakes when she returns. Whenever I run into a recipe I don't favor, especially from a source as reliable as Dorie Greenspan, my first assumption is that the fault is my own. Can someone please let me know if the cake is meant to be slightly dry? Am I missing out on something?
I'll be sure to give it a try again tomorrow morning and hope for the best, but my expectations aren't high.
You can find the recipe here.
* Just as I went to retrieve the link for the recipe, I skimmed through the recipe commentary over at Bake-En and am instilled with new hope. "Dorie says that the first day the cake is like corn bread and the 2nd and 3rd days it's soft and moist. Perhaps I'll fall in love with it tomorrow." This is somewhat reassuring and now I am a little more excited for what breakfast might reveal. Perhaps it's the juices of the fruit permeating through the cake that makes it more moist over time...but for now that's just speculation. I'll find out for sure tomorrow. I knew Dorie wouldn't let me down so hard...
Meanwhile below is a Before & After project I took on, my first really. I saw this worn-out, shabby chic end table outside of a neighbor's house as I drove to work one morning. When it was still there on my way home from work the next day, I quickly pulled over and timidly went to go knock on the door and inquire about it. Fortunately for me, the homeowner walked right out to retrieve her child's toys outside and when I asked her about it, she gladly let me have it for free. I giddily placed it in my trunk and drove the half a block to my house where I immediately got started. After smoothing it down with a power sander, I vacuumed it and wiped it down. Then the next day I spray painted it bright white. Dozens of adorable color combinations flooded my mind, but for my first project I decided to keep it simple and clean...and easy to coordinate. It took me years of admiring Before & After projects for me to finally tackle one myself. Now I won't hesitate to pull over when I see a promising find. You can click here and here to see the "before" photos.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Remember how I confessed to just not being a "cookie lover"? Well, there must exist some technicality that prevents rugelach from being classified as a cookie, because as of today...I love rugelach. More realistically, I could love rugelach. I made an almost classic variation with raspberry jam, walnuts, and semisweet chocolate chips. The recipe is great, but I had mixed feelings about the batch I made. For one, I'm not a big fan of chocolate. I know...a food blogger that isn't fond of chocolate or cookies, some might consider it an oxymoron. If and when I make these again, I'll probably cut down on the chocolate and definitely make the trip to go buy some currants or dried fruit, because although the cookie itself was flaky and tender, the texture of the filling left much to be desired. I'm also sure that the fruity flavor of the currants would lighten up the richness of the chocolate. So I suppose what I'm saying is that I'm not in love with these cookies as much as I am in love with the idea of what they could be.
Please don't let my rambling stop you from trying these cookies. The fact that they're Dorie's should be enough motivation to get you in the kitchen. And besides, the majority of my reservations are based solely on my inability to stick to the recipe in the first place...as soon as I add those currants, I might as well delete this whole rant and simply post five gold stars underneath picture.
Enough, enough. Run away before I start up again, you can find the recipe here.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
For any of you who have yet to pick up on the pattern, I'll spell it out for you. If you so much as see the word "strawberry", know that the post has my boyfriend all over it. Because of the recent makeover and all my giddy self-satisfaction at doing it all on my own--from the logo to every last, frustrating bit of code--my boyfriend has taken a closer look at my blog, instead of the customary once over. I even received my first "reader complaint" when he noted that I had failed to mention him in the Strawberry Bavarian post. The title of the post clearly shows that I had meant to make mention of it, but my busy school schedule and sheer laziness when it comes to writing here prevented the post from ever developing into more than just a recipe card. The cake was made for my boyfriend's .......th birthday. Funny, I hesitated to announce the age, partly because I'm not sure how much more information my boyfriend minds me posting outside of a mere mention and because I suddenly became worried about dating ourselves by giving his age. Besides, as most of you know, the number itself means little and most people who see that kid in action and then hear his real age are surprised.
I will now simply refer to him as J, because I'm not sure how fond he would be of my previous nickname for him. Anyways, this last Monday was our 34 month anniversary or two months short of three years anniversary...however you choose to look at it. And yes, you can see that we're still silly enough to celebrate our relationship down to the month, but part of me hopes that if we're together ten years from now, we'll still be celebrating our 114 month anniversary, a.k.a our 9 1/2 years anniversary.
As soon as I hinted to J that I would be making him something, he immediately exclaimed "ice cream cake!". I almost went for it too, and began mentally planning out individual ice cream cakes made in ring molds, but inevitably came back to my original idea...strawberry shortcakes. Which surprisingly for a strawberry lover, he has never tried, but he's not the kind to try something new unless under duress. He also stared shocked for a moment when he saw how I had cut the dozen peach roses he had given to me short enough to fit into a mason jar. He had expected for me to leave them long-stemmed and elegant, like he was accustomed to seeing, but I explained that I liked the cozy feel of the simple display.
So the verdict? Success! Despite a few helpless (albeit, adorable) questions about how he should go about eating it, his plate was emptied and scraped in a few minutes and I was finally relieved of enough anticipation to enjoy my own.
As soon as I hinted to J that I would be making him something, he immediately exclaimed "ice cream cake!". I almost went for it too, and began mentally planning out individual ice cream cakes made in ring molds, but inevitably came back to my original idea...strawberry shortcakes. Which surprisingly for a strawberry lover, he has never tried, but he's not the kind to try something new unless under duress. He also stared shocked for a moment when he saw how I had cut the dozen peach roses he had given to me short enough to fit into a mason jar. He had expected for me to leave them long-stemmed and elegant, like he was accustomed to seeing, but I explained that I liked the cozy feel of the simple display.
So the verdict? Success! Despite a few helpless (albeit, adorable) questions about how he should go about eating it, his plate was emptied and scraped in a few minutes and I was finally relieved of enough anticipation to enjoy my own. As for myself, I love the recipe. Too often you encounter dry or flavorless shortcakes, but these were so moist and tender that I couldn't resist taking one to work with separate little containers of sliced strawberries and whipped cream and trying to assemble it without anyone noticing and sneak it back to my desk to enjoy.
This recipe came from a recent Tuesdays with Dorie, though I don't know if I can officially claim to have participated seeing as I am two weeks late. You can find the recipe over at The Tortefeasor.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Double Crusted Blueberry Pie
From: Baking: From My Home To Yours, written by Dorie Greenspan.
Ingredients:
Good for Almost Everything Pie Dough for Double Crust , chilled (below)
2 ½ pints fresh blueberries
1 cup of sugar, or a little more, to taste, plus more for dusting
½ cup all purpose flour
Pinch of salt
Coarsely grated zest of ½ lemon
Squirt of fresh lemon juice, or a little more, to taste
¼ cup dry bread crumbs (you can use packaged unseasoned crumbs)
1 large egg, beaten with 1 tsp of water, for egg wash
Sugar, for dusting
Getting Ready: Butter a 9-inch pie plate (Dorie uses a standard Pyrex pie plate).
Working on a well-floured surface (or between wax paper or plastic wrap), roll out one piece of the dough to a thickness of about 1/8 – inch. Fit the dough onto the buttered pie plate and trim the edges to a ½ inch overhang. Roll the other piece of dough into a 1/8 inch thick circle and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. Cover both the circle and the pie plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate while you pre-heat the oven and prepare the filling.
Getting Ready to Bake: Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Put the berries in a large bowl and gently stir in the sugar, flour, salt, zest and juice; let sit for about 5 minutes. Taste the filling and add more sugar and/or lemon juice, if needed.
Remove the pie shell and top crust from the refrigerator. Sprinkle an even layer of the breadcrumbs over the bottom of the shell. Give the filling a last stir and turn it into the crust.
Using your fingertips, moisten the rim of the bottom crust with a little cold water. Center the top crust over the filling and gently press the top crust against the bottom. Either fold the overhang from the top crust under the bottom crust and crimp the edges attractively or press the top crust against the bottom crust and trim the overhang from both crusts even with the rim of the pie plate. If you’ve pressed and trimmed the crust, use the tines of a fork to press the two crusts together securely. Using a small, sharp knife, cut 4 slits in the top crust crust and cut a circle out of the center, then lift the plate onto the baking sheet. (If you have time, refrigerate the pie for about 30 minutes. The pie can also be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 2 months. Glaze and sugar it before you put it in the over and add at least 15 minutes to the baking time).
Brush the top crust with the egg wash, then sprinkle the crust with a little sugar, just to give it sparkle.
Bake the pie for 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F, and bake the pie for another 30 minutes or so (total baking time is about an hour) or until the crust is a beautiful golden brown and the filling is bubbling up through the slits. If the crust seems to be browning too quickly, make a loose foil tent for the pie.
Transfer the pie to a rack and let it cool and settle for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Good for Almost Everything Pie Dough
For a 9 inch Double Crust
3 cups all purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
1 ½ tsp salt
2 ½ sticks very cold unsalted butter, cut into tbsp size pieces
1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces (I opted for all butter, just my preference)
About ½ cup ice water
Put the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse just to combine the ingredients. Drop in the butter and shortening and pulse only until the butter and shortening are cut into the flour. Don’t overdo the mixing- what you’re aiming for is to have some pieces the size of fat green peas and others the size of barley. Pulsing the machine on and off, gradually add about 6 tbsps of the water- add a little water and pulse once, add some more water, pulse again and keep going that way. Then use a few long pulses to get the water into the flour. If, after a dozen or so pulses, the dough doesn’t look evenly moistened or form soft curds, pulse in as much of the remaining water as necessary, or even a few drops more, to get a dough that will stick together when pinched. Big pieces of butter are fine. Scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto a work surface.
Divide the dough in half. Gather each half into a ball, flatten each ball into a disk and wrap each half in plastic. Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour before rolling (if your ingredients were very cold and you worked quickly, though, you might be able to roll the dough immediately: the dough should be as cold as if it had just come out of the fridge).
To Roll Out the Dough: Have a buttered 9 inch pie plate at hand.
You can roll the dough out onto a floured surface or between sheets of wax paper or plastic wrap or in a rolling slipcover. If you’re working on a counter, turn the dough over frequently and keep the counter floured. If you are rolling between paper, plastic or in a slipcover, make sure to turn the dough over often and to life the paper, plastic, or cover frequently so that it doesn’t roll into the dough and form creases.
If you’ve got time, slide the rolled out dough into the fridge for about 20 minutes to rest and firm up.
From: Baking: From My Home To Yours, written by Dorie Greenspan.
Ingredients:
Good for Almost Everything Pie Dough for Double Crust , chilled (below)
2 ½ pints fresh blueberries
1 cup of sugar, or a little more, to taste, plus more for dusting
½ cup all purpose flour
Pinch of salt
Coarsely grated zest of ½ lemon
Squirt of fresh lemon juice, or a little more, to taste
¼ cup dry bread crumbs (you can use packaged unseasoned crumbs)
1 large egg, beaten with 1 tsp of water, for egg wash
Sugar, for dusting
Getting Ready: Butter a 9-inch pie plate (Dorie uses a standard Pyrex pie plate).
Working on a well-floured surface (or between wax paper or plastic wrap), roll out one piece of the dough to a thickness of about 1/8 – inch. Fit the dough onto the buttered pie plate and trim the edges to a ½ inch overhang. Roll the other piece of dough into a 1/8 inch thick circle and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. Cover both the circle and the pie plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate while you pre-heat the oven and prepare the filling.
Getting Ready to Bake: Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Put the berries in a large bowl and gently stir in the sugar, flour, salt, zest and juice; let sit for about 5 minutes. Taste the filling and add more sugar and/or lemon juice, if needed.
Remove the pie shell and top crust from the refrigerator. Sprinkle an even layer of the breadcrumbs over the bottom of the shell. Give the filling a last stir and turn it into the crust.
Using your fingertips, moisten the rim of the bottom crust with a little cold water. Center the top crust over the filling and gently press the top crust against the bottom. Either fold the overhang from the top crust under the bottom crust and crimp the edges attractively or press the top crust against the bottom crust and trim the overhang from both crusts even with the rim of the pie plate. If you’ve pressed and trimmed the crust, use the tines of a fork to press the two crusts together securely. Using a small, sharp knife, cut 4 slits in the top crust crust and cut a circle out of the center, then lift the plate onto the baking sheet. (If you have time, refrigerate the pie for about 30 minutes. The pie can also be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 2 months. Glaze and sugar it before you put it in the over and add at least 15 minutes to the baking time).
Brush the top crust with the egg wash, then sprinkle the crust with a little sugar, just to give it sparkle.
Bake the pie for 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F, and bake the pie for another 30 minutes or so (total baking time is about an hour) or until the crust is a beautiful golden brown and the filling is bubbling up through the slits. If the crust seems to be browning too quickly, make a loose foil tent for the pie.
Transfer the pie to a rack and let it cool and settle for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Good for Almost Everything Pie Dough
For a 9 inch Double Crust
3 cups all purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
1 ½ tsp salt
2 ½ sticks very cold unsalted butter, cut into tbsp size pieces
1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces (I opted for all butter, just my preference)
About ½ cup ice water
Put the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse just to combine the ingredients. Drop in the butter and shortening and pulse only until the butter and shortening are cut into the flour. Don’t overdo the mixing- what you’re aiming for is to have some pieces the size of fat green peas and others the size of barley. Pulsing the machine on and off, gradually add about 6 tbsps of the water- add a little water and pulse once, add some more water, pulse again and keep going that way. Then use a few long pulses to get the water into the flour. If, after a dozen or so pulses, the dough doesn’t look evenly moistened or form soft curds, pulse in as much of the remaining water as necessary, or even a few drops more, to get a dough that will stick together when pinched. Big pieces of butter are fine. Scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto a work surface.
Divide the dough in half. Gather each half into a ball, flatten each ball into a disk and wrap each half in plastic. Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour before rolling (if your ingredients were very cold and you worked quickly, though, you might be able to roll the dough immediately: the dough should be as cold as if it had just come out of the fridge).
To Roll Out the Dough: Have a buttered 9 inch pie plate at hand.
You can roll the dough out onto a floured surface or between sheets of wax paper or plastic wrap or in a rolling slipcover. If you’re working on a counter, turn the dough over frequently and keep the counter floured. If you are rolling between paper, plastic or in a slipcover, make sure to turn the dough over often and to life the paper, plastic, or cover frequently so that it doesn’t roll into the dough and form creases.
If you’ve got time, slide the rolled out dough into the fridge for about 20 minutes to rest and firm up.
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