Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2016 – 2017)

[cyalexa]

@shain your kugel is a huge upgrade from the cream cheese and canned pineapple tidbits kugels I ate as a youth. I actually liked that OK so I bet I would adore yours.

[cyalexa]

Peach "cobbles" from Alton Brown's new book, Everyday Cook. This was very good, better than the cobbler recipe I had been using. It took about twice as long to reduce the peaches as suggested in the recipe and I had to bake it a bit longer but otherwise the recipe was accurate (although hard to read due to the busy

background and small font).

 

[Shelby]

Thumbprint cookies filled with jalapeño, cranberry jalapeño and sand hill plum jam.  I'm not a good cookie maker but these turned out good.

 

[ElsieD]

@Shelby Wow, those look good.  I never would have thought to put a spicy jam in them.  I had a recipe years ago for thumbprint cookies that made really good cookies but I lost the recipe and haven't found a good one since.  Any chance you would share your recipe?

[Shelby]

2 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

@Shelby Wow, those look good.  I never would have thought to put a spicy jam in them.  I had a recipe years ago for thumbprint cookies that made really good cookies but I lost the recipe and haven't found a good one since.  Any chance you would share your recipe?

The spice really goes with the sweet well, I think.  This is the easiest recipe ever.  When I make them again I'm going to double the recipe....I think it will mix up better in the mixer.  And, I only got 21 cookies....I guess my tablespoon was bigger than normal lol.

[cakewalk]

NIce stuff above. And wow, peach cobbler in December. That creates a special kind of warmth. 

[ElsieD]

@Shelby   Thank you.  Just took the butter out.

[cyalexa]

1 hour ago, cakewalk said:

peach cobbler in December

I used 4 lbs of frozen peaches. They barely fit in the pan at first. I was having a group for lunch - pulled pork sandwiches, coleslaw, baked beans. Pretty much had to have a cobbler for dessert.

[ElsieD]

@Shelby  I made these yesterday and this is a test batch as I wanted to see how much we would like the spicier filling versus sweet.  From left to right the fillings were crab apple and jalapeño jelly, habenero, jalapeño and apricot jelly,  and bakeapple jam, these last dusted wih a bit of icing sugar.  We liked these very much and I've saved the recipe.  As I normally do with cookie dough, I will roll these into balls and freeze most of them as I like to bake only a few at a time.  I made a caramel sauce the other day and am going to bake a few more today and fill them with that.  I think filling them with dulce de leche would be good too.  Don't know if I'm going to get 24 cookies though as I couldn't stop eating the batter.

[Shelby]

27 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

@Shelby  I made these yesterday and this is a test batch as I wanted to see how much we would like the spicier filling versus sweet.  From left to right the fillings were crab apple and jalapeño jelly, habenero, jalapeño and apricot jelly,  and bakeapple jam, these last dusted wih a bit of icing sugar.  We liked these very much and I've saved the recipe.  As I normally do with cookie dough, I will roll these into balls and freeze most of them as I like to bake only a few at a time.  I made a caramel sauce the other day and am going to bake a few more today and fill them with that.  I think filling them with dulce de leche would be good too.  Don't know if I'm going to get 24 cookies though as I couldn't stop eating the batter.

Oh they look so good!  I'm glad you liked them.  I had trouble staying out of the dough, too.  

[HTGC]

Last week I had a few days off work and wanted to play around with a Christmas themed dessert. 
And after a few crazy ideas here and there, I ended up with the following. 
 

Chocolate mousse, lightly smoked with spruce & cinnamon, embedded with a center of salted almond & blackcurrant caramel, and topped with whiskey infused Amarena Toschi cherries & angel hair chili.

 

Delivered a few tastes to different people, and the reactions were all quite good. It had an intense flavour that was unusual for dessert... but the smokiness, with the chocolate, salt, rich cherry taste and whiskey went extremely well together. (The chili was extremely mild and mostly used as a garniture, but did add a "light" extra kick) 

 

 

[DianaB]

I have been away from eGullet for a few weeks, floods of work meant that I had to deprive myself of the time spent enjoying this forum.  Anyway, ON TOPIC!!! 

 

I have just really enjoyed catching up with this thread and the stunning work you have all achieved.

@shain, your photos and descriptions of your  cuisine touch me profoundly.  Many have flavours that were familiar to me in my young years but sadly those who would no doubt have taught me about Ashkenazi cuisine died before that could happen.  Memories stick though and on seeing some of your work I can taste those flavours again

 

I was was especially interested in the Kugel discussion.  I sometimes buy this when in Paris, those with knowledge of that city might also know of the 'Yellow Shop' in the Marais where many traditional recipes are created every day.  Taking the discussion on using pasta in sweet dishes in a slightly different direction I have seen it cropping up from time to time in patisserie shows.  Christophe Michelak (Kerry Beal enjoyed his baking at the Plaza Athene in Paris not long back) made a version of rice pudding in which he substituted spaghetti for the rice.  Notice words were sad by those who tasted it but their expressions didn't back up those words.  I've also seen pasta used in a dessert that serves as a 'trompe l'ceil' in the French Top Chef, again the results were not a great success.  

 

Perhaps pasta strips in kugel work because they are not included as a replacement for something else.  I need to try making this to understand it better and the discussion that began with @shain's post has inspired me to plan for that.

 

@Kerry Beal's birthday cake looks amazing, such dark but moist looking sponge.  My birthday is around the same time as Kerry's, might have to try something along those lines next year.  @Anna N's portion looks just right.

 

I love the chocolate screws and bolts that @kriz6912 used to embellish his desserts in October.  Everything that @kriz6912 and @teonzo show in this thread seems exceptionally beautiful.  Seeing them here is almost as good as trying them, also no calories!  

 

The finishes that @rarerollingobject achieves for her cupcakes are also amazing.  As many have written you don't need to like eating this type of confection to appreciate the talent and time necessary to achieve each piece.

 

@Shelby's cookies with their spices sound intriguing, being married to a lover of good chillies I think I might be trying something similar.

 

As for me I've done very little baking in the past few months.  I managed a Valrhona 3 chocolate layered mousse like I've posted here before but otherwise nothing to report until today.   I've made a batch of macaron shells and a passion fruit ganache to fill them with.  I made the macaron shells green because the original plan was for a toffee apple filling.  I've done that before with success but I couldn't find the recipe this morning.  I'm telling myself that it is the taste that counts!  The ganache is one of Pierre Hermé's that I know works well. I think there is some green in passion fruits but I doubt anyone would guess the filling from the colour.

 

It has been lovely to see all of your creations in this thread.  Next, on to read about your breads.....

 

[kriz6912]

Sablé, raspberry & apple & cinnamon, dulce de leche, crumble, raspberry pipette

 

And a short movie...
https://www.instagram.com/p/BN_l-JLjlQI/

[Smokeydoke]

On 12/13/2016 at 1:19 PM, HTGC said:

Last week I had a few days off work and wanted to play around with a Christmas themed dessert. 
And after a few crazy ideas here and there, I ended up with the following. 
 

Chocolate mousse, lightly smoked with spruce & cinnamon, embedded with a center of salted almond & blackcurrant caramel, and topped with whiskey infused Amarena Toschi cherries & angel hair chili.

 

Delivered a few tastes to different people, and the reactions were all quite good. It had an intense flavour that was unusual for dessert... but the smokiness, with the chocolate, salt, rich cherry taste and whiskey went extremely well together. (The chili was extremely mild and mostly used as a garniture, but did add a "light" extra kick) 

 

 

 

It looks very Christmas-y with the green and red. Love it.

[teonzo]

 

Dessert Mel

 

This is composed by:

- melissa mousse (the 2 whitish pieces on top image)

- pomegranate "waffles" (don't know how to call them in English, the 3 thin things sandwiching the mousse)

- pomegranate jelly (the 2 curved strips)

- quince cheese (not set, still pliable)

Decorations are melissa leaves and pomegranate seeds.

 

The idea for this dessert started from a play on words, the 3 main ingredients all start with the same 3 letters in Italian (melissa = melissa, pomegranate = melagrana, quince = mela cotogna). This is a light dessert that can appeal to anyone. I used no sugar for the 2 pomegranate components, their acidity help to contrast the fattiness of the mousse and the sweetness of the quince cheese. The citrus tones of melissa help to light it as well.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[teonzo]

(Was not able to insert 2 images in the same post, so I had to make 2 different posts)

 

 

Saccottini Kukkis

 

These are made with the same technique I used for the pomegranate + sweet potato viennoiserie I posted some weeks ago.

This time I made a pumpkin dough, using pumpkin juice instead of water for the basic dough. For the inclusion I used pumpkin puree, but I had to work it a bit before getting the right texture (standard pumpkin puree is too watery and soft): first I reduced it to 50% to loose some moisture, then I cooked it with 20% flour to give it more body.

Filling is persimmon jam.

All the recipe is vegan.

Just after taking the pan out of the oven I brushed them with hot syrup (2 parts brown sugar, 1 part water), it helps giving a shining finish, plus it acts as a barrier for moisture, leaving the cooked dough more tender.

This is not a light viennoiserie (well, which are?) because pumpkins and persimmons have earthy and prominent tastes, but who cares, I liked them.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[chromedome]

21 minutes ago, teonzo said:

 

The idea for this dessert started from a play on words, the 3 main ingredients all start with the same 3 letters in Italian (melissa = melissa, pomegranate = melagrana, quince = mela cotogna).

I actually planted some lemon balm (the North American name for melissa) simply because that's my landlady's name.

 

I used to also create dishes with ingredients that started with the same letter (alliteration) just because it sounded good on the menu, and people seemed to respond favorably to it when used in moderation. 

Edited December 14, 2016 by chromedome
small correction/clarification (log)

[DianaB]

On 14 December 2016 at 10:28 PM, teonzo said:

(Was not able to insert 2 images in the same post, so I had to make 2 different posts)

 

 

Saccottini Kukkis

 

These are made with the same technique I used for the pomegranate + sweet potato viennoiserie I posted some weeks ago.

This time I made a pumpkin dough, using pumpkin juice instead of water for the basic dough. For the inclusion I used pumpkin puree, but I had to work it a bit before getting the right texture (standard pumpkin puree is too watery and soft): first I reduced it to 50% to loose some moisture, then I cooked it with 20% flour to give it more body.

Filling is persimmon jam.

All the recipe is vegan.

Just after taking the pan out of the oven I brushed them with hot syrup (2 parts brown sugar, 1 part water), it helps giving a shining finish, plus it acts as a barrier for moisture, leaving the cooked dough more tender.

This is not a light viennoiserie (well, which are?) because pumpkins and persimmons have earthy and prominent tastes, but who cares, I liked them.

 

 

 

Teo

 

 

Never would have imagined this or your previous confection.  Tempted to try at some point over the end of year holidays with butternut squash.

 

Thanks for sharing these adventures.

Edited December 16, 2016 by DianaB
Fix typo (log)

[shain]

Rolled cookies filled with date paste, chopped walnuts and a hint of cinnamon. The dough is a crisp and tender and has ground almonds and walnuts mixed with the flour.

It's one of my favorite cookies.

One roll has a little coconut and cardamom mixed into the filling, barley enough to be able to identify them.

[teonzo]

On 14/12/2016 at 11:36 PM, chromedome said:

I actually planted some lemon balm (the North American name for melissa) simply because that's my landlady's name.

 

 

I suppose you know how many jokes you would get in a real kitchen after saying this!

 

 

 

On 14/12/2016 at 11:36 PM, chromedome said:

I used to also create dishes with ingredients that started with the same letter (alliteration) just because it sounded good on the menu, and people seemed to respond favorably to it when used in moderation. 

 

That was a first for me. You need to be lucky to have enough ingredients with those letters and after that you need to be even more lucky that they pair well together. Making something with Z ingredients would be pretty hard!

 

 

 

On 15/12/2016 at 0:05 AM, DianaB said:

Never would have imagined this or your previous confection.  Tempted to try at some point over the end of year holidays with butternut squash.

 

If you need more infos/other feel free to ask. Beware that the pumpkin version is a bit trickier than the sweet potato one, the pumpkin inclusion is softer and needs more care during lamination.

Before creating confusion, I used the "delica" variety, you can see it on this photo for example.

I don't know how it's called outside Italy, I don't even know if it exists outside of Italy. I'm also pretty ignorant about differences between pumpkins and squashes, here we call all of them "zucche".

The "delica" variety is the one with the firmer (cooked) flesh we have here.

 

 

 

Teo

 

Edited December 17, 2016 by teonzo
forgot about the board rules on copyrights (log)

[chromedome]

That looks a lot like what we call buttercup squash. I like it because it bakes to a light, dry, fluffy texture like a russet potato...ideal for soaking up sauce or butter.

 

When I spoke of "butternut" upthread, it was a mistake on my part. I meant to say buttercup. 

[shain]

Small pears - cooked in reduced white wine, sweetened with caramelized sugar and flavored with star anise.
Filled with, and served on, a mixture of warm ricotta and sour cream, flavored with orange zest, vanilla and cinnamon. Lightly sweetened with honey.

Remaining hot, sweet and lightly acidic syrup drizzled on top.

A cinnamon flavored tuile, rolled to resemble a cinnamon stick.

[Franci]

Also this year, gingerbread house with the kids

 

[rotuts]

@Franci

 

nice   Excception-ally nice

 

like the Chex roof !

 

do you eat it later ?

 

 

[rotuts]

BRW  your children will remember this forever