sphar01

I made the Chestnut Caramel Cake for Christmas. Everybody really loved it (though it is still far from being done, it is huge). The chestnut flavor in the cake really came through. It's dense but good, and the syrup makes it moist (no evident brandy flavor). The ganache is pretty much the chocolate caramel one from CDBPH, except the caramel is infused with cinnamon, it remains one of my favorite frostings. The chestnuts between the layers are a nice touch, texture wise and flavorwise, but I think this is a time to use freshly roasted ones. I used bottled, but they seemed not far from mushy. My ganache for the glaze on top broke, I don't think that's happened for more than a year. It also seemed a bit thick. However, really a wonderful cake, and although there are three components, they are all pretty much standards, nothing complicated. I highly suggest it.

I've been making some of the simpler cookies from the book in the last book. One night I made a plated dessert from New Classic Desserts, a chocolate creme brulee with caramelized bananas, and a brazil nut brittle (there was a sauce which I accidentally threw out five minutes after making it. So much anger...). My father ate the nuts and left the creme brulee. I brought out the ginger snaps from Baking With Julia and my dad ate all but 3 of them. I also made both versions of biscotti from the book. I've never made them before, as I didn't like them until recently. The cantuccini were wonderful! The biscotti were also tasty, but I liked them less. I believe they had a fewer eggs, and I noticed a difference in the texture - the biscotti seemed to go from soft to completely crisp. But I'm new to biscotti and still experimenting.

I just got the book, but haven't had the chance to make anything from it. However, I went out of town for a couple of days, and left it with some friends who loved the pictures. I was thrilled to come home and find that they had made the white out cake! It is a very good cake - Looking at the picture, I didn't expect to like it, thinking it was just a cocoa cake with a plain frosting. But it was great! The cake has lots of real chocolate and a great combination of textures, with which the frosting went excellently. And I am always excited to see my friends scratch baking. We started baking together a few months ago, generally making two recipes - my choice and theirs, so, generally, it would be something from CDWPH and a cookie recipe. This is the first time they've really baked alone though - they told me that they had to go out and buy cake pans, and they used a meat thermometer for the frosting. Anyway, thanks Dorie, for putting so much great, uncompromised baking from scratch into this book with your always clear writing, it's exactly what people need to encourage them. As for me, I'm currently very interested in chestnuts, so I've been eyeing all of the recipes in the book. I'm thinking the Chocolate Chestnut Torte, as well as the chestnut muffins, since I just picked up some chestnut flour. I roasted and peeled a pound of chestnuts today (for a chestnut soup), but it was painful. Lots of them were moldy too. Does anyone else peel their own chestnuts, and have any suggestions?

In Claudia Fleming's book, The Last Course, she offers a recipe for candied corn, which basically simmers corn in simple syrup with vanilla I have no idea if it is some sort of precursor to candy corn though, given the taste of candy corn I'll assume not.