Your Daily Sweets (2005-2012)

[gfron1]

Ohhhh...ok. So it was a hard boiled egg, not drop your yolk in the skillet and fry it.

[isomer]

gfron1: thanks! yeah, it was hard holding back

not to be a total downer but CI often attempts to reinvent the wheel.  yes, you add the hard boiled egg yolk to get some fat in there without adding moisture which would dissolve the sugar and thus take away the sandy texture.  so, it isn't in there for leavening, but for shortening purposes.

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Oh, interesting! I figured it was to get rid of moisture, but I assumed (wrongly it seems) that the egg acts as a leavener.

At any rate, I'd never seen this before, and it worked very well. I'm going to compare it to the sable cookies in Dorie Greenspan's book later in the week. Hers call for raw egg yolk.

As an aside the thin layer of chocolate I brushed between the cookies doesn't have the oomph I was hoping for. It's like the layer is too thin for the flavour to really shine though. Anyone have an idea how to improve that? I'm thinking of trying to blend in some cocoa powder, but I don't really know how that will work (I'm a total noob with deserts)...

[gfron1]

It depends on the what chocolate you used. I would do a 75% good chocolate and I would add cacao nibs - not cocoa powder.

[CanadianBakin']

Also you could melt it with a little bit of cream so you can apply it a bit thicker.

Edited November 3, 2008 by CanadianBakin' (log)

[Katie Meadow]

royal icing would work; it's awfully sweet, but that's not likely to bother any pint-sized trick or treaters.

"the republicans have never forgiven us for carrot cake" - al franken

i usually find it unforgivable as well, but was happy with the way this turned out,

with candied carrot ribbons and crystallized pansies:

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This cake is simply beautiful. I love this thread. For me it is a vicarious thrill: I rarely bake and don't even have much of a sweet-tooth, but so admire those who do. Lovely.

[isomer]

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll give them both a try.

[CaliPoutine]

Shortbread Maple Leafs in Pecan and regular.

Ina Garten recipe. PB rice krispie treats. These were dipped in Chocolate fondue for an event I catered.

[LittleChef22]

My roommate just made the most delicious oatmeal, chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies, and they were amazing! I want to try those next!

[DesertCulinary]

I made some Butterscotch Snack Cakes a couple days ago - the cake section was tender, moist and had a nice tight crumb.

The frosting was flavored with butterscotch chips - pretty reminiscent to those snack cakes made by TastyKake. I've never had one myself, but I'm told it was pretty close... the one difference was the frosting was not as fluffy.

[Kim Shook]

Randi – I love your maple leaves! That platter is lovely! And I’m going to use your doily decoration on my Christmas sweets platters – I never think of them and they are so pretty.

I’ve started stocking the freezer for Christmas!

Cherry Almond Dark Chocolate Fudge:

Mr. Kim’s favorite. This was a surprise for him last year and he loves it. This year, the surprise is going to be a dark chocolate and candied ginger fudge.

Reese’s Cup Fudge:

My Aunt San’s Fudge:

Just a simple and creamy milk chocolate/marshmallow fudge. Classic and perfect.

[CaliPoutine]

Kim- All your fudge looks great!! Robin found the platter for 1.00 at a yard sale!!

I'm testing recipe for my holiday baking( for sale).

These are S'more bars from Cuisine@Home Holiday cookie magazine.

Pretty simple. The crust is crushed grahm crackers, butter, flour and egg. Its pre-baked and then sprinkled with halfed mini pb cups, marshmallows and choc. chips. Part of the crust is saved and crumbled over the top.

I cut the recipe in half and it fit in a 8" pan.

[Kim Shook]

Randi – oh, my, goodness!!! Those look just perfect – gooey, rich, pillowy and crunchy all at once! Must look for that issue!

More cooking ahead for Christmas:

Puppy Peanut Butter Cookies for the dogs in our lives.

Otis liked them a lot !

[Lior]

Oh my! For the dogs! That is just great! In cat shapes!! I just finished making ganache with cherries and almonds! I like the combination! They could goon top of your fudge!! same kind of almond slices, but also great almond marzipan.

[Kim Shook]

Oh my! For the dogs! That is just great! In cat shapes!! I just finished making ganache with cherries and almonds! I like the combination! They could goon top of your fudge!! same kind of almond slices, but also great almond marzipan.

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Ilana - ganache with cherries and almonds ! That sounds wonderful! What are you going to do with it?

More Christmas cooking – Almost the Best Peanut Butter Cookies w/ and w/out Kisses:

another version:

this one drizzled with chocolate.

Edited November 10, 2008 by Kim Shook (log)

[LittleIsland]

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What an absolutely gorgeous looking cake, dystopiandreamgirl. I do carrot cake once in a while, but it's usually the marzipan/fondant carrot thing, or some piping. I LOVE the effect of the candied flowers and the carrot ribbon. Simple yet elegant. Must think about what tropical flowers here would work as well.

I've had a busy week, from my stepbrother's marriage cake last Monday:

a small 2-tier (9" and 6") affair of sponge cake filled and covered with Rose Levy Berenbaum's Passionfruit Mousseline Buttercream (my new favourite buttercream) and decorated with butterflies using the chocolate method from the Whimsical Bakehouse...

...to my son's 6th birthday party cake (also a sponge filled and covered with the same buttercream)...

...to a Mango Passion Tart for my cousin's birthday dinner last night - from Rose Levy Berenbaum's Pie and Pastry Bible.

Yes, Passion (fruit) was the flavour of the week!! I'm resting this week, although I am already feeling an urge to do some salted white chocolate oatmeal cookies.

[emmalish]

Wow, LittleIsland, that mango passion tart is gorgeous.

[gfron1]

I forced myself to have a play day and made this cake inspired by a huge box of pomegranates that a friend gave me.

Using the Exotic Orange Cake technique from a few years ago's Pastry Championships, I used pistachio cake, filled with rose cream, surrounded by pomegranate bavarain, then I sprayed white chocolate onto it, and finished it with some white chocolate orbs and banana tuiles.

The cavity was filled with pomegranate geleè and fresh seeds. My employee says this was hideous, but I liked it. I have thick skin if you want to tell me its hideous - still working on my decorating skills. And, I've been wanting to show Kerry my balls since she taught me how to make them (and Lior taught me how to seam them). Thanks!

I detailed the whole process on my blog.

[nakji]

If I can be honest, I think there's too much going on with it. Your balls are beautiful so I would have used them alone. No leaves or cage effect. If you had a lot of balls in various sizes, you could group them in the middle, like a group of Christmas tree bulbs. It might be hard to cut into that way, however. Maybe with the pomegranate gelee underneath as a glaze to increase stick power?

The flavours sound lovely, though.

[Kerry Beal]

Nicest looking balls I've seen all day!

[maggiethecat]

I'm with Kerry. Great, God hep me, "flavor profile," great crumb and lovely balls.

[DesertCulinary]

For the treat I made to send into the office this week, we made these Sweet Miniature Sliders - silly and whimsical, they were a bit hit!

Vanilla wafers make the buns, the patty is a mixture of crushed vanilla wafers, confectioners' sugar, melted bittersweet chocolate and a little milk. Tinted coconut for the lettuce with gel colors making up the ketchup and mustard. A little melted butter on the top wafer worked well to glue on some sesame seeds!

[Kim Shook]

Rob – that cake sounds scrumptious and I, too, am enamored of your balls . I agree with Erin, that there’s a little too much going on – I’d just lose the tuiles. Everything else looks and sounds wonderful. That perfect layer of pomegranate bavarain has me feeling so incredibly inadequate .

Joe – so cute! My office would lose their minds at those hamburgers!

Some chocolate chip cookies that I made:

I got the recipe from a friend on cookskorner.com. It’s a CI recipe (not sure whether it’s an online or magazine recipe). The flavor is wonderful – very complex. You brown the butter and use dark brown sugar. Mine were flatter and spread out more than I would have liked (and more than his were), but that always seems to happen to me.

I also made these:

Iced almonds. So rich – toasty, caramel-y, crisp almond goodness.

[emmalish]

DesertCulinary I love those wee sliders! Especially the coconut lettuce. It totally looks like lettuce. One of these days I will steal that idea.

For me, this time of year means gingerbread leaf cookies...

[gfron1]

Cute stuff guys! And Nakji, I agree. My second cake had just three small balls resting in the pool of geleè and was much classier looking. Thanks for the kind words about my balls all.

[Darienne]

[

I also made these:

Iced almonds.  So rich – toasty, caramel-y, crisp almond goodness.

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Loved all the recent (and earlier) makings!

But I would LOVE the recipe for those almonds.