Your Daily Sweets (2005-2012)

[Spring]

Tri2Cook: what does it tast like? do you boil the pits and use the 'pit juice'? or crush them?

[Chufi]

I got a new icecream maker, the wonderful Midas.. no electricity, no moving parts, just put the pan in the freezer overnight, next day pour you icecream mixutre in it, 25 minutes later you have icecream. Great news, the bad news is I made icecream 4 times since I got it 2 weeks ago 

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Chufi --

Very interesting about the Midas -- I'm having a hard time imagining the consistency of ice cream that hasn't been stirred is very good -- can you tell us a little more about it?

Emily

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The manual says that if you like your icecream a little fluffier, you can stir the mixutre during freezing. The first time I stirred every 5 minutes, the second time every 10 minutes, the last time I only stirred once, and I think I'm going to be brave and try NOT stirring at all the next time

I think the texture is great, it's firm and maybe a tiny bit more dense than from am icecreammaker with a paddle, but not that different.

[Kim Shook]

I have been wanting dessert for the last few days and you folks are the reason why !!!

Mary Elizabeth - you are a big part of my cravings! That pandoro is lovely - I don't know pandoro - is it sweet or bready? It looks more like bread. I like Rob's idea of French toast! And the Castella is beautiful - sinking and all!

Joe - I love those frozen pies! You hardly see them anymore - kind of like good cream pies, but they are so perfect for summer! When I convert cream pies to springform pans, I usually increase the ingredients by half again. And I love the idea of pretzels in the crust. One of our favorite summer 'salads' is that goofy strawberry jello thing in the pretzel crust.

Sugarplum - I will have to try the Ina Garten lemon bar recipe. The last time that I tried them, they were a major PITA. Someone had ordered them for a party and I was really unsatisfied with how they turned out. They just didn't hold up as well as I would have liked and were not very firm. Yours looked much better. I just went to the site and printed out the recipe.

Lisa - your apple tart is absolutely GORGEOUS!!! I would love the recipe for the tart, the ice and the intriuging sounding cider caramel! I am envisioning serving all three after my favorite Beef Bourguignon on the first cool Fall weekend (can you tell that I'm tired of summer?).

emmalish - your caramels and cupcakes are adorable. I am definitely going to try making those precious little flowers!

A couple of days ago I did these ice cream sandwiches made with Tri2Cook's Toasted Marshmallow ice cream and Abigail Johnson Dodge's ice cream sandwich cookies.

Tri2Cook , we are just addicted to this stuff! I made it on the weekend and Jessica had friends over on Monday and the three of them just stood around the ice cream with spoons scooping and scooping. I am catering Mr. Kim's fantasy football draft in August and these were a test for one of the desserts for that. I'm going to dip the sides of the sandwiches in graham cracker crumbs to get a S'mores effect. Mr. Kim took these to work and they vanished. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!

General question - you can see some little cracks on the tops of the sandwiches. I'm going to be more careful when I roll the cookies out and assemble the sandwiches next time, but I'm not sure that I can avoid the cracks. Do you think this is ok - do they look hopelessly amateur or charmingly homemade ? Thanks!

[judiu]

[A couple of days ago I did these ice cream sandwiches made with Tri2Cook's Toasted Marshmallow ice cream and Abigail Johnson Dodge's ice cream sandwich cookies. 

General question - you can see some little cracks on the tops of the sandwiches.  I'm going to be more careful when I roll the cookies out and assemble the sandwiches next time, but I'm not sure that I can avoid the cracks.  Do you think this is ok - do they look hopelessly amateur or charmingly homemade ?  Thanks!

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Most certainly, charmingly homemade! If you feel like you absolutely have to disguise the "flaws", freeze the finished cookies solid, schmear some "Fluff" over the top and run under the broiler, or hit 'em with the torch. "Instant" baked Alaska!

[Tri2Cook]

Tri2Cook: what does it tast like? do you boil the pits and use the 'pit juice'? or crush them?

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It tastes like vanilla ice cream with a note of almond and cherry that is there but doesn't dominate or jump out at you. But that's really not doing it justice. It's much more complex than that. It was one of those moments for me when you taste something that alters your way of thinking about flavors. I want to do more research on the subject before diving into serving it to other people (although one person trusted me enough to try it ), even if that research involves me eating enough of it to know for sure that nothing bad is going to happen. Supposedly heat destroys the compound responsible for potentially producing cyanide so I'm looking for some definitive information that this is true. I don't want to lose this flavor now that I've found it but I can't go around killing people either... even if they are smiling as they go.

You can see the recipe HERE and HERE. Read the information (or not if you're the ignorance is bliss type ) and decide for yourself. Is it risky? I don't know at this point, I can't find any hard evidence that says it is but I can't find any science that says it isn't either. I relied on the fact that those who've done it before me are still around and still doing it. Maybe this is the poster child for "everything in moderation" and maybe it's much ado about nothing.

Edited July 18, 2008 by Tri2Cook (log)

[Tri2Cook]

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Those look awesome Kim. I'm really glad you enjoyed the ice cream. As for the cracks... I honestly didn't even notice them until I read it and looked for them. I want to say don't worry about them but if you're anything like me you're going to worry about them anyway.

[Spring]

Tri2Cook: ive just done some research (is it obvious I have FAR too much time on my hands?) and the conclusion - in laymans terms - I personally have drawn is: you wont die from it unless you stuff your face with it. SO, Ive decided that the solution is to make the cherry pit icecream so disgusting no one will eat lots and therefore you wont be put away for murder.

WHen I was a kid Id eat apricot pits (fat kids will eat anything) and it didnt kill me (although it still might )

As Im sure youve discovered opinions on the net are divided, with no real proof either way. Potatoes are poisoness too but one would have to eat tons to get the effect of the poison. Yes, its tricky.

If it was up to me Id perhaps eat it myself in relative moderation and serve it to people willing to take the risk (getting them to sign a form beforehand that they are aware of the risk and in case of organ failure/death etc they do not hold you responsible)

It sounds gorgeous btw

[Mary Elizabeth]

Kimshook--Thank you! Pandora is Italian and sometimes referred to as a cake. It is a brioche type yeast bread with even more butter, sugar and eggs than French brioche. It is similar to the Italian yeast bread Panetone, except Panetone uses more yolks or only yolks while Pandoro uses whole eggs. When toasted the crust is very short and shatters when you bite, while all that butter in the crumb melts to a satin smooth texture.

[yunnermeier]

I made cupcakes with the little boy I care for last week. He (almost 18 months old) decorated them:)

Cake with red currents, cherries and raspberries

Edited July 21, 2008 by yunnermeier (log)

[dystopiandreamgirl]

i love hanging clusters of red currants.

the charlotte is filled with alice medrich's wonderful recipe for white chocolate mousse with kirsch.

[Spring]

dystopiandreamgirl: Oh its just beautiful! I havnt seen such beautiful redcurrents for years (when I was young we had lovely big bushes in our garden) It sounds divine

[Shelby]

i love hanging clusters of red currants. 

the charlotte is filled with alice medrich's wonderful recipe for white chocolate mousse with kirsch.

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I think this is the prettiest dessert I have ever seen!

[judiu]

i love hanging clusters of red currants. 

the charlotte is filled with alice medrich's wonderful recipe for white chocolate mousse with kirsch.

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I think this is the prettiest dessert I have ever seen!

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Wow! We are not worthy! Beautiful cake, beautiful picture. The fruit just glows!

[Kim Shook]

yunnermeier & dystopiandreamgirl - fantastic cakes!! They are both gorgeous and delicious looking. What are the odds - two cakes made with currants. And they couldn't be more different! Bravo!

I made these this weekend:

Banana chocolate chip muffins - an old and easy standard in our house. I make a batch whenever there are enough past-it bananas in the freezer.

[MReichle]

Here's an almond torta/almond cake I made last Saturday:

The recipe is essentially, but not identical to, Alice Waters' almond cake in The Art of Simple Food. For garnish, I heated some strawberry jam (that had been whizzed to eliminate big pieces) with some brandy and topped it off with some whipped cream. I have a closer-up photo of the cake, but couldn't get it to upload.

Michael

[Kim Shook]

This is a cake that I made for work. I'm not terribly pleased with how it ended up looking. The humidity made my meringue buttercream 'slump' a bit, I think. It tasted great, but wasn't as fluffy as it has been for me in the past. Also, I obviously need some practice with spacing my lettering! The little swirly things are slices of Swiss Roll. I thought they'd look cute. The cake is devil's food and the icing just plain vanilla - my idea was doing a Swiss Roll cake. Good idea, I think, but execution needs some work!

[CaliPoutine]

yunnermeier & dystopiandreamgirl  - fantastic cakes!!  They are both gorgeous and delicious looking.  What are the odds - two cakes made with currants.  And they couldn't be more different!  Bravo!

I made these this weekend:

Banana chocolate chip muffins - an old and easy standard in our house.  I make a batch whenever there are enough past-it bananas in the freezer.

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Kim,

The muffins look so good. I have tons of frozen nananers in the freezer. I checked out the recipe but I have a question. Does it have to be miracle whip? I NEVER buy that.

[alanamoana]

Kim, I really like the idea of the sliced jelly-roll to decorate the top and sides of the cake! Very cute. Just from looking at it, I think your buttercream could have been whipped a bit longer. I'm sure that nobody noticed anything wrong with it. It looks delicious.

[Kim Shook]

yunnermeier & dystopiandreamgirl  - fantastic cakes!!  They are both gorgeous and delicious looking.  What are the odds - two cakes made with currants.  And they couldn't be more different!  Bravo!

I made these this weekend:

Banana chocolate chip muffins - an old and easy standard in our house.  I make a batch whenever there are enough past-it bananas in the freezer.

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Kim,

The muffins look so good. I have tons of frozen nananers in the freezer. I checked out the recipe but I have a question. Does it have to be miracle whip? I NEVER buy that.

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I don't really know why it wouldn't work with mayonnaise as well as Miracle Whip, it's certainly worth a try.

Kim, I really like the idea of the sliced jelly-roll to decorate the top and sides of the cake!  Very cute.  Just from looking at it, I think your buttercream could have been whipped a bit longer.  I'm sure that nobody noticed anything wrong with it.  It looks delicious.

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Do you think it should have been whipped longer before or after the addition of the butter? It always deflates a bit when you add the butter, but it just didn't seem to come back from the addition this time. It tasted just fine, but I just love the fluffiness of this icing.

[CaliPoutine]

I have Kim's banana choc. chip muffins in the oven.

I made this almost fresh( part of the berries are cooked) blueberry tart.

[prasantrin]

Wow! I don't really like blueberries that much, but that tart looks awesome! Is it another Cook's Illustrated recipe?

[CaliPoutine]

Wow!  I don't really like blueberries that much, but that tart looks awesome!  Is it another Cook's Illustrated recipe?

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No its not a CI recipe. Its from Everday Food( if you can believe it) I was planning on making this for the eG gathering( along with a nectarine tart).

eta: I made Kim's choc. chip banana muffins. I used regular helman's mayo instead of miracle whip. I also used part white whole wheat flour and they were fabulous. Really simple to make too( one bowl, no mixer)

Edited July 26, 2008 by CaliPoutine (log)

[sugar plum]

I baked my very first tiered cake for an anniversary party this past weekend. What an experience! I now have a new found appreciation for all pastry chefs/professional bakers. The lemon curd/meringue buttercream was quite the project for an amateur like me! I don't have a spiffy Kitchen Aid so my little hand mixer got a workout.

I used this recipe:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/vie...DING-CAKE-12053

Other than substituting the eau-de-framboise for kirsch (thanks to suggestions by fellow eGulleters), I followed the recipe closely.

Here's a few pictures of my "creation".

lemon cake layers (which I overbaked and they were consequently a tad dry):

sliced layers (after being slathered with lemon syrup):

topped with buttercream & berries:

finished cake (yes, I know...I do need to take a cake decorating course!):

slice o' cake:

[Tri2Cook]

Good job. As for being "a tad dry"... the good thing about a syrup soak is nobody (other than you) will ever know that they were dry.

[prasantrin]

No its not a CI recipe. Its from Everday Food( if you can believe it)  I was planning on making this for the eG gathering( along with a nectarine tart).

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Awesome! I can't wait to try it! I found the recipe on your blog. I always forget to check it first, and I should really get into the habit, because I know I'll usually find the info there.

I actually like the looks of a lot of the baking recipes from Everyday Food--at least the show on PBS. I've only seen a couple of shows, and although the baker guy seems as dull as one of my mother's kitchen knives, the stuff he bakes looks awfully good!