Your Daily Sweets (2005-2012)

[Shelby]

I love that cake!! You are very talented!!!

I made butter cookie sandwiches for my grandpa's birthday.

The hearts have black cherry jam inside, the shamrocks have peach jam and the flowers have plum jam.....not fancy, but they turned out pretty well --I'm NOT a cookie maker lol.

[Mette]

What a cute dog!

Today I made a double chocolate mousse/raspberry gateau (cheating, using Callebaut instant mousse, which is actually surprisingly good for bagged stuff)

[Chocolot]

Some of my Valentine hearts.

[Kim Shook]

I am just amazed and impressed with all of the macarons that I’m seeing – even the ones that you folks are saying aren’t right. Jessica and I are dying to try them. We’ll have a macaron Saturday soon – I’ll be reading up on all of the pointers here at eG!

Genkinaonna – your cake is fantastic!

Shelby – no apologizing. Your cookies look great – very tender and delicate!

Chocolot – gorgeous! That sheen is just incredible!

Jessica requested a ‘Turtle Cake’ for her birthday. The plan was to make my standard chocolate bar cake, put dulce de leche in between the layers and on top, ice the sides with glossy chocolate icing and top with candied pecans. I got as far as putting the layers together with the dulce de leche and putting the pecans on top and covered the cake while I made the chocolate icing. I came back to this:

All I can think is that with the dulce de leche and pecans piled on top, it was just too moist and heavy. Later, the large part of the cake fell to pieces, too. So I crumbled the whole thing up in a bowl and topped it with the icing that I had microwaved to pouring consistency and served it like that. We went out and bought a cake at the Fresh Market so there would be something to put the candles in, but my Mistake Cake turned out very good and everyone seemed to prefer it (or else they were remarkably polite). Of course, it could hardly be bad – good chocolate cake, the BEST dulce de leche I’ve ever found and ganache icing made with dark chocolate and whipping cream!

Mistake Cake:

[Shelby]

Looks like a darn good mistake to me!!! I'd have done the same thing, only not showed what I had started out making, and called it Trifle.

[Shelby]

I didn't have enough pie cherries to make a whole crisp, so I used little ramekins:

(anyone else having trouble finding canned pie cherries out there??? I have for about two years now!)

[Kim Shook]

Shelby – your crisps look fantastic and I LOVE your little ramekins!

An angel food cake with orange glaze that I did for a work birthday:

I love citrus glazes on angel food cakes.

[Sheryl D]

Been awhile since I last posted - crazy around here, but here are a few things we have played with lately...

My son's birthday cake. Bottom tier is gluten-free chocolate cake with peanut butter filling and vanilla buttercream. Middle layer is vanilla cake with chocolate fudge filling, vanilla buttercream. Moon is chocolate cake with chocolate fudge filling and vanilla cocoa buttercream. Marshmallow fondant (my kids like it, even if it isn't as easy to work with). All figures are fondant or modeling chocolate. Moon rocks are sponge candy.

Christmas dessert was an entrement, with gingerbread sponge, eggnog mousse, caramel creme brulee insert, white chocolate ginger sesame feuillete. Walnut citrus marzipan mushrooms. Gluten free of course.

Prickly pear gelee, lime mousse cake, gluten free almond sponge. Candied coconut pecan.

Savory, but gluten free artisan bread using some new methods

Cinnamon roll pancakes - yes gluten free

Also recently did plated dessert of coconut shortbread, banana scented pear coconut frangipagne dessert, with kinako ice cream.

Vegan refined sugar free pecan sorbet with apple crisp for a friend on a cleanse diet.

Edited February 7, 2011 by Sheryl D (log)

[Darienne]

Absolutely wonderful, SherylD. I bet your son loved his cake.

[plum tart]

Today I made cherry cobbler - a comforting dessert for a winter's day. I froze the sour cherries last summer so pitting them was a chilly process. I kept freezing my fingers.

I made the cobbler dough from Chez Panisse Desserts.

The cobbler is crisp on top and then soft and buttery beneath the crust. Then there are the cherries and lots of juice. Yumm

I guess I'm thinking of summer stuck in this cold Ontario winter.

[helenjp]

I made a torta di grano saraceno at the weekend...a torta with buckwheat flour and walnuts. I think almonds may be more usual,but the walnuts were a perfect match for the buckwheat. I toasted them very lightly and then ground them with part of the sugar (a light brown sugar, keeping them a bit coarse and not allowing them to get to the oily stage. Split the finished cake and filled with a small amount of lemon curd.

This cake was a great success - it's attractive, and it tasted wonderful.

[abooja]

I baked a gluten free crumb coffee cake the other day that had an odd, rubbery/gelatinized texture, so I tossed it after eating just a half bite. Not wanting to waste nearly a half pound of butter, I put it out for the birds. Here is a squirrel enjoying a slice hillside.

Edited February 11, 2011 by abooja (log)

[faith]

No photos, but earlier this week for my better half's birthday, I made the basic cheesecake from Dorie Greenspan's Baking with a graham cracker crust. Best cheesecake ever. I found the crust addictive--& well worth the effort of making the graham crackers...

[RWood]

We're making 850 heart shaped whoopie pies for a Valentine's Day event. Here's a trial run. I don't get the fascination with these things lately. But, that's just me .

[JimmyD]

Damson Brandy Chocolates

Been playing with this recipe for a few weeks now and finally come to what I (and my little army of tasters) think s perfect.

A milk chocolate base at 30% cocoa, a ganache centre made with a dark chocolate, double cream and damson brandy, surrounding a whole toated almond before being covered with dark chocolate at 85% cocoa. Approximately 180 calories each, they pack one of the biggest chocolate 'hits' I've ever had while at the same time being realy well balanced and not too overpowering.

Sorry for the lousy photo:

[binitahp]

I made a mango entremet recently. I had to wash a lot of dishes at the end of the process, but it was fun making the entremet :rolleyes:

[JimmyD]

Now that's a masterpiece!

[ScottyBoy]

Woooow everything in this thread is superb!

So I was asked by my friend at Art in the Age to come up with a cookie for their Snap and Root liqueurs. This is the second batch of a from scratch recipe for a "Root beer filled gingersnap". The dough is spiked with reduced Snap liqueur and the filling is reduced Root liqueur and powdered sugar. I think on the third try I'll be all set to share the recipe.

Edited February 11, 2011 by ScottyBoy (log)

[tarko]

white chocolate and cinnamon marshmallow towers.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[Shelby]

Woooow everything in this thread is superb!

So I was asked by my friend at Art in the Age to come up with a cookie for their Snap and Root liqueurs. This is the second batch of a from scratch recipe for a "Root beer filled gingersnap". The dough is spiked with reduced Snap liqueur and the filling is reduced Root liqueur and powdered sugar. I think on the third try I'll be all set to share the recipe.

Oh YUM. I LOVE a good root beer and they are so hard to find these days.

[Darienne]

white chocolate and cinnamon marshmallow towers.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Lovely looking, but I can't quite follow it: is that dark chocolate around the white interior? Where is the while chocolate and where is the cinnamon marshmallow? Thanks.

[CaliPoutine]

I baked a gluten free crumb coffee cake the other day that had an odd, rubbery/gelatinized texture, so I tossed it after eating just a half bite. Not wanting to waste nearly a half pound of butter, I put it out for the birds. Here is a squirrel enjoying a slice hillside.

Omg, hysterical. Glad to see I'm not the only one who threw out "less than perfect" baked goods for the squirrels to enjoy. I did once leave a pan of toblerone topped shortbread out to cool( in the middle of winter) and came back to see feet marks on top.

[dystopiandreamgirl]

wishing everyone a sweet valentines day!

[tarko]

thx darienne:) first i made a cinnamon flavored marshmallow and then mixed it with melted white chocolate, and piped into dark chocolate shells. the recipe is courtesey of jean paul hevin, taken from encyclopedie du chocolat by frederic bau.

white chocolate and cinnamon marshmallow towers.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Lovely looking, but I can't quite follow it: is that dark chocolate around the white interior? Where is the while chocolate and where is the cinnamon marshmallow? Thanks.

[deensiebat]

Soft meringue stuffed with chocolate mousse, served in a puddle of creme anglaise. Oh so good.