For this month’s Daring Bakers challenge, our hosts Deborah of Taste and Tell and Elle of Feeding My Enthusiasms picked Cheesecake Pops from the book Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O’Connor and Leigh Beisch. This was a dessert I’d never seen or heard of before, but when it came down to it, the method was quite straightforward: bake a cheesecake, chill, scoop it into balls, freeze, then dip balls into chocolate and whatever else strikes your fancy. The end result is pretty cute and the recipe makes a tremendous amount of pops - definitely party food. The full recipe was actually said to yield 30-40 pops, but I still got about 30 pops out of only a half recipe! That’s ok, though - I’ll be taking them all to work tomorrow. :)

I baked the cheesecake in an 8-inch square Pyrex pan set inside a larger rectangular Pyrex for the water bath. There was no browning and the cheesecake set smoothly after about 45 minutes. I left it in the oven for about 5 more minutes, though, since others had encountered some issues with it not setting properly. I didn’t have much trouble scooping them out and rolling them into balls, although after rolling the first time, I froze the balls for about 15 minutes and rolled them lightly a second time to get somewhat more uniform spheres…just as one might do for soft truffle centers.

Since I didn’t have time to get to the craft store, I cut “sticks” from colored straws. Although not as strong as lollipop sticks, the straws did a pretty good job of holding up the wee pops (I made the balls about the size of a heaping rounded tablespoon). Also, I went through much more chocolate than suggested in the recipe - about a pound for dipping a half-recipe’s worth of pops. I didn’t make the coating particularly thick - I just think the chocolate estimate was on the conservative side.

I think these cheesecake pops would be something children would like quite a bit; they could easily help with rolling and dipping, and would have fun picking out different toppings to use. My little niece and nephew would probably get a big kick out of them. For me, though…well, they really weren’t to my taste, unfortunately. They’re a little too sweet for me, and I just don’t like the taste of cheesecake and chocolate together (maybe I’m just a freak). That said, I’m not writing these off completely. UPDATE: People at work really liked them, so I think I’ll definitely make them again, and maybe try some flavor variations - raspberry, cheesecake, and chocolate is sounding good right now… I think they’d be a big hit at parties and with kids, and I wouldn’t mind trying to make them look a little more elegant - although maybe I’m missing the point of this messy, sticky, all-American dessert: too much fussing just doesn’t seem right.

Thanks to hosts Deborah of Taste and Tell and Elle of Feeding My Enthusiasms for the challenge!

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Baking, Daring Bakers | 26 Comments »

Could it be true that there are no bad recipes for clafoutis? I’ve tried several, and haven’t managed to strike a dud yet. Maybe I’ve just been lucky, or perhaps its easygoing style is part of why clafoutis is such a beloved dessert. It’s rustic and unfussy, but that’s part of its charm - and hardly ever does it seem to be mentioned without a nod to French grandmothers, who must serve it as often as American grandmothers serve apple cobbler. I love it because, let’s face it - I can’t resist simple and homey desserts like these, especially when they make such excellent use of any sort of fruit that may be lying about the house. Also, in my humble opinion, hot clafoutis from the oven is right up there with cobblers and crisps when it comes to comfort desserts. Although I didn’t have a French grandmother to make it for me, it’s certainly made its way into my home as cozily as if it had been there for generations.

Here’s a clafoutis recipe that uses a little more flour than most of the others I’ve seen. The result is somewhat more cake-like, but still bears that delicious custardy texture of eggs, milk, and soft fruit. It’s also not too sweet, so you may wish to add another few tablespoons of sugar if your blackberries are on the tart side. I used a package of frozen berries, which are far more reliable than fresh ones at this time of year. Also, no need to defrost the blackberries before putting them in the batter - they’ll bleed their pretty juices much less if you pop them in already frozen.

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Baking | 8 Comments »

I’ve been making this Strawberry Cornmeal Cake for at least 5 years now, but I still managed to learn something new when I made it the other day - don’t try to use up the entire punnet of strawberries in one cake.

The past few weeks have seen strawberries flooding the grocery stores with enticing sale prices, but the most recent batch I’d bought was a little less than stellar for eating out of hand. So, I hoped, my trusty Strawberry Cornmeal Cake would come to the rescue. I should have remembered from the time I tried to make strawberry scones that these berries are apt to sog down anything in their path - probably one reason why they aren’t baked as often as other berries. The normal recipe calls for a cup of chopped berries, but I ended up adding about 1 3/4 cups, just to get rid of the little buggers. Unfortunately, this over-enthusiastic berry brigade left a few tell-tale spots of mushy berry giving way to sticky batter. So let this be a warning to you and a lesson to me - don’t go overboard on the berries! Sigh. I suppose I’ll have to redeem myself next week (to be honest, nobody complained and all of it was eaten, but still…).

Anyway, if you cut out the occasional soggy bit (ahem), the cake was as delicious as I remembered it to always be, so I will continue to make it - properly, that is! It has a pleasantly soft and buttery cornbread-like texture, and enlivened with the sweet berries, it’s well-suited for breakfast of brunch. I’ve also made the cake with blueberries or raspberries, which are also terrific - especially the raspberries. I like using stone-ground cornmeal because it adds an extra corny crunch, but you can also use a finer grind for a smoother crumb.

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Baking | 7 Comments »

So, we all know I’ve done a bit of whining about how I don’t like cupcakes. I’m not keen on frosting, or overly sugary things, blah blah blah. Well, I recently learned something important (and also rather obvious): lots of other people do like cupcakes, so maybe I should just keep my big mouth shut, eh? The month of March was outrageously busy for many reasons, one of which was my starting a new job. My charming co-workers found out about the blog and had kindly been asking me several times a day when I would bring in baked goods for them. After enquiring about what kind of goods they like, it was revealed that cupcakes are universally adored in this place, so it was only in a very small voice that I muttered something about not really liking the dang things.

Still, since I’m very lucky to have such totally awesome coworkers that are all extremely interesting and fun and the best people to work with ever (hi guys!), and as one of them also had a birthday last week, I swallowed my pride and made a batch.

Although the cupcakes look hale and happy in the picture, they almost didn’t happen - on the night I’d planned to bake them, my oven stopped working (and it still hasn’t been fixed, grumble). Not to be daunted, I found a small thermometer and stuck it in my old and slightly rusted toaster oven and hoped for the best, baking 6 at a time and checking anxiously for fear of over- or under-cooking them. To my great relief, it worked: the cupcakes turned out moist and just right. I’m glad I used a particular batter recipe that’s just the sort of foolproof kind that won’t succumb to unexpected events like broken ovens and fluctuating toaster oven temperatures. It’s a plain chocolate with some mini chips tossed in for extra chocolate flavor, and the strawberry frosting is a very quick old-fashioned style, based on the kind used at Magnolia Bakery. The poor birthday girl at work had spent part of the week at home tending to her sick son, then catching the flu herself, and on top of that also getting conjunctivitis, so I couldn’t help but try cheering her up with an artistic representation of pinkeye, thanks to strawberry season and some extra chocolate chips. :)

I will probably only use these recipes again when resources are scarce, but they’re very good for last-minute cupcake needs or for making with young children who want to help measure and mix. Most importantly, the cupcakes were enjoyed by all - yes, even me!

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Baking | 9 Comments »

This month’s challenge for the Daring Bakers baking club was Dorie Greenspan’s Perfect Party Cake. The recipe is from Baking: From My Home to Yours, a book that has been in heavy rotation on the food blog circuit lately for its classic recipes and straightforward techniques. Since this month was my mother’s birthday, I made the cake for this occasion, and thankfully our host Morven gave us a lot of room for personalization - we has pretty much free rein apart from the basic cake recipe and buttercream or whipped cream frosting options.

Although I’ll be first to admit that my layer cake skills could use some work, I took my time with this one and I think it turned out reasonably well. I prefer dense chocolate monstrosities or fruit desserts for my own birthday or special occasions, so could really use some slicing, piping, and decorating practice - and I’ve recently been scoping for a local cake class to help remedy this. For this cake, though, I liked the simplicity of whipped cream, and for some visual interest added a little polka-dot pattern with inverted chocolate chips.

As for the interior, Mom had some very clear ideas about what she wanted in her cake. :) She was hoping for something that would combine all her favorite flavors in one: mini chocolate chips, raspberry, banana, and whipped cream. This part was nearly as much of a challenge as the Daring Bakers recipe itself(!), but I managed to hit all the elements and it ended up being quite good. I do think the mini chips may have weighed the batter down a bit and prevented it from rising as much as it could have (my layers were barely taller than an inch), but the cake was still fluffy and delicate-tasting.

My final changes to Dorie’s basic recipe were as follows: I skipped the lemon flavorings and added 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips to the cake batter. Instead of the buttercream, I used 1 pint of cream whipped with 2 tablespoons sugar for filling and finishing. I also left out the coconut. The layers were filled with alternating raspberry curd and banana pastry cream.

Overall, everyone was very pleased with the cake. I would probably make a thicker raspberry filling next time, and also maybe reduce the baking time to 25 minutes - the cake edges were getting a bit too dark at 30 minutes. This sort of cake is a great addition to my repertoire, though, and I’ll very likely make it again since it’s so easy to vary the filling and flavorings to suit nearly anyone’s wishes. Check out the other Perfect Party Cakes by visiting the Daring Bakers Blogroll, which keeps track of our ever-expanding numbers. Many thanks to Morven of Food Art and Random Thoughts, who hosted this month’s challenge!

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Baking, Daring Bakers | 29 Comments »

I have a fondness for baked goods with lots of texture going on: nuts, dried fruit, seeds, chips, grains, you name it. Sometimes I can be a purist, like with brownies (I prefer ‘em plain, no nuts, frosting, or other do-dads), but usually I like the rest of my palate to have as much fun as my tastebuds. And how much fun is that? Well, I guess it’s pretty fun.

These cookies fit the bill pretty well, and I’ve made them several times when I want something sweet but not too guilty to nibble on. Adapted from a recipe on Baking Bites, inspired by Anzac biscuits, they’re more of a biscuit-like tea cookie than a gooey indulgence. This suits me just fine, although I might end up eating more than I normally would (and no, I don’t know why there are 8 cookies in the first picture and 5 in the second). These also keep rather well and will remain chewy for days, thanks to the honey and dried fruit. Peach and ginger are a classic duo, but if you have trouble finding the dried peaches, apricots are delightful.

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Baking | 9 Comments »