Your Daily Sweets (2005-2012)

[gfron1]

That's a million dollar picture - or at least a million lick picture!

[Kim Shook]

plafield - that is gorgeous puff pastry. Puff pastry is on my 'to try' list because I don't really like the Pep. Farm kind and haven't been able to find any of the others in my area. Nice job!

meredithla - OMG! That brownie is just out of this world! And I have to agree with Rob - what a picture!

Brigid Mary - those cupcakes gave me a lot of trouble this time. I made them like I usually do and when I went to fill them, they were awful. Hard, chewy texture. I was up against it, and ended up using a cake mix (which I don't really mind - except for the extra work). They are just yellow cupcakes filled with the jelly of your choice and frosted with a peanut butter buttercream. Here is the recipe: clickity!

CanadianBakin' - Here is a link to the cupcake stand: clickity! It is really nice - it assembles really easily and disassembles for cleaning and kind of disappears when the cupcakes are on it. Not too expensive, either!

Kim

[GTO]

meredithla - That drip is killing me. You're a genius.

[meredithla]

meredithla - That drip is killing me. You're a genius.

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Santa brought me a new camera for Christmas. The food and I thank him!

[Renka]

meredithla - That drip is killing me. You're a genius.

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Santa brought me a new camera for Christmas. The food and I thank him!

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meredithla And we are thanking him for gifting you with one. Drool worthy photo indeed!

[Renka]

Here are more baked goods from the past. This time it's featuring goodies that I found inspiration to create (i.e. the results of my tinkering/experimenting in the kitchen). Thankfully they all ended up tasty!

Banana Diplomat Cake

Light banana cake

Crispy French Puff Pastry

Vanilla Buttercream

I was really pleased with this brainstorm as it sliced beautifuly for service!

Cranberry, Raisin, Currant, Dried Apple, Walnut with Orange Rind Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread

I love sourdoughs, fruit & nut, and full flavoured breads... this was one of my first loaves.

Decadent Chocolate-Hazelnut Mousse Torte

My version of Feb 2005 Cover recipe from Gourmet. Chocolate-hazelnut sponge cake base with "Nutella" mousse, chocolate glaze finish, topped with a candied hazelnut.

Lower-fat Banana Bread with Wild Blueberries and Walnuts

An adaptation based on the Best Light Recipes.

Low Fat Whole Wheat Banana Blueberry Bread

Healthier (using whole wheat flour) than the already lower-fat option from the Best Light Recipes and a combination of two things I like: blueberries and banana bread.

Apple Strudel

Inspired by the Glazed Apple Lattice Coffee Cake from Bon Appetit (October 2007), I wrapped a puff pastry exterior around sliced cinnamon-y apples (it also had nutmeg and cardamom). It was served warm after its top was brushed with apple jelly.

Chocolate Banana Tart with Fresh Kiwi and Toasted Coconut

Blueberry Bread

Inspired by a post by The Foppish Baker, I used about 3 oz dried blueberries, and instead of water (for the poolish and bread dough) I used organic blueberry/cranberry/cherry juice. I also omitted the sugar in the recipe and the icing sugar dusting at the end, preferring to make a fruity bread more than a dessert bread. It reminded me of a toasty blueberry bagel, except it actually tasted like blueberries, and not sugar with synthetic blueberry flavour.

Whole Wheat Cranberry, Raisin, Currant and Walnut Bread

Although the base recipe is from DOUGH: SIMPLE CONTEMPORARY BREAD by Richard Bertinet, I used organic blueberry-cranberry-cherry juice (liking how my blueberry bread was more fruity in aroma when I used juice instead of other liquids).

Coconut Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips

This was based on the recipe by Cook's Illustrated... but I tweaked it, as usual.

Roasted Ontario Tree Ripened Peach Frangipane Tart

There's a reason why I love summer... Almond powder is a wonderful thing and I used it both in the filling and in the pâte sucre (a recipe from La Patisserie de Pierre Hermé).

Mixed Berry Earl Grey Cake

Pistachio Blueberry Banana Bread

Besides blueberries and banana bread, I love pistachios. This is yet another variation of the banana breads mentioned above.

Fig Ice Cream Cake

I thought I'd do a pavola inspired dessert, light and refreshing enough for summer.

The base is a thin meringue layer, covered with vanilla ice cream and sliced fresh figs.

Brazillian Bolo Cake Trifle

Leche Flan

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

Ice cream cones filled with rich chocolate cake, chocolate ganache layer, and vanilla buttercream frosting. I chose to colour the buttercream violet and yellow in honour of spring.

Pear Clafoutis

Chestnut Cream Cake

Mango Coconut Bavarian Charlotte

Mentioned in an earlier posts:

White Chocolate Cashew Butter Cookies

Made with chopped white chocolate from Bernard Callebaut (of Calgary!), cashew butter, an egg and no sugar (there was enough white chocolate to sweeten the cookies).

Cobs Inspired Date & Coffee Loaf (low-fat)

I really can't get over the date & coffee bread from Cobs (in Vancouver)... so glad I came up with a recipe (that's healthy too!) to mimic it.

[jende]

Renka, I wish I was at you house when you made all those! They look absolutely stunning! 

Yesterday I made Banana Bread...with yeast. I felt like experimenting, so I made up a recipe and gave it a whirl. I've only ever had this kind of bread with baking soda or baking powder, but It was actually...good! I feel like it could have been a bit sweeter. If I ever made it again I would definitely change the recipe a bit.

Haven't cut into the loaf yet. I'm very curious how it came out though!

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I would LOVE this recipe too. Did you eat it straight up, or use it for sandwiches and such?

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We ate it straight up, mostly. I did toast it and put strawberry jam on it which was good. My dad did cinnamon and sugar, which he said was good. I tastes best warm, so I'd heat it in the oven or toast it very lightly, maybe with some butter.

This was the recipe I had written down, I ended up needing a lot more flour, maybe about 4 cups in total. I was really winging it.

2 cups of flour

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 oats

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons melted butter

About 3 1/2 or 4 bananas, mashed

3/4 cup warm milk

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1 cup chopped walnuts

Mix together flour, sugar, oats, cinnamon, salt, and bananas. Melt butter, pour into the mixture. Warm milk to dissolve ADY. Pour dissolved yeast-milk mixture to flour mixture and let sit for a few minutes. Then I used a dough hook to mix together a bit before putting on floured counter and kneading. The dough should achieve a satiny and smoothish texture. When your almost done kneading, knead in walnuts. Put in lightly oiled or greased bowl, cover, and let rise for about 2-2 1/2 hours. (In all honesty, it didn't rise much, but I seem to have bad luck with that. It puffed up real nicely during baking.) Divide the dough as desired and shape. Cover and lets rise for about 1- 1 1/2 hours. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes and sheet pan. Rotate and bake for about 20 more minutes.

Side notes: Probably didn't need the oats. I had oats, so I felt like putting them in...haha. I used brown sugar, but granulated would probably be good too. I actually used buttermilk, but I think whole milk would be better. Those are the things I would change. Also, I just looked up banana yeast bread, found some recipes similar to mine. LOL.

If you decide you want to try it, please let me know how it turns out!

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I made the bread this morning. I needed close to 6 cups of flour (so I ended up with a BIG loaf!) and I used a mix of white flour and whole wheat (about 2:1). I also cut back on the brown sugar to about a half-cup and the cinnamon to just a pinch. I had a little trouble with the inside still being a bit doughy after the outside was baked, but that's probably because it was such a large loaf. Next time I will either cut the recipe in half or make two loaves.

Also, I'll add a little more salt which is necessary for the amount of flour I used. Overall I really liked the bread. It was delicious spread with cream cheese for breakfast.

[VPF]

Renka,

Your creations look phenomenal! I would love to get that Earl Gray cake recipe. I have a great love for anything Earl Grey.

[gfron1]

Same here - you can find it on her flickr page.

[oli]

It'd be nice to know how the apple strudel was done, the design specifically, mine are usually boring.

Edited January 31, 2008 by oli (log)

[gfron1]

That's the design I learned in Julia Child's baking book. Layout your dough and cut horizontal 1 inch strips for the outer third on each long side. Then fold them on top of each other angling down. The last two you tuck and bake.

[Kim Shook]

Renka - gorgeous goodies, as always!

I made this for dessert last night:

It was a gingerbread layer cake with lemon frosting. I thought my top was pretty. I was inspired by Ling to do the 'nekkid' sides thing - plus, I ran out of frosting ! And I got lazy and used canned frosting because it was a weeknight - I won't make that mistake again. I honestly don't mind the flavor of some of them (and I love the texture - wish I could get that texture in a buttercream), but the lemon was awful - bitter and fake tasting. Duh, what did I really expect. But the cake itself was very good - I had some good spices and the flavors really came through and the moistness was perfect.

Kim

[Renka]

Renka,

Your creations look phenomenal! I would love to get that Earl Gray cake recipe. I have a great love for anything Earl Grey.

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Same here - you can find it on her flickr page.

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Thanks VPF for the kind words and for your interest. As Rob said, it's found on my photostream (link is under the image). One day I'll get to the RecipeGullet...

It'd be nice  to know how the apple strudel was done, the design specifically, mine are usually boring.

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That's the design I learned in Julia Child's baking book.  Layout your dough and cut horizontal 1 inch strips for the outer third on each long side.  Then fold them on top of each other angling down.  The last two you tuck and bake.

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oli, I do hope you try this design. It's so easy to do, but it looks "fancy." Again Rob beat me to the explanation of how to do it. All the best and I'd love to see what you create!

Renka - gorgeous goodies, as always!

I made this for dessert last night:

<snip>

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It was a gingerbread layer cake with lemon frosting.  I thought my top was pretty.  I was inspired by Ling to do the 'nekkid' sides thing - plus, I ran out of frosting  !  And I got lazy and used canned frosting because it was a weeknight    - I won't make that mistake again.  I honestly don't mind the flavor of some of them (and I love the texture - wish I could get that texture in a buttercream), but the lemon was awful - bitter and fake tasting.  Duh, what did I really expect.  But the cake itself was very good - I had some good spices and the flavors really came through and the moistness was perfect.

Kim

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Kim, hats off to you and your gorgeous goodie! I saw the top frosting and went WOW. Of course Ling is a great inspiration for many a things (in fact, I forgot to credit her with the apple filling of my strudel... I was inspired by the perfect apple pie recipe she had sent me previously and instead thinly sliced up my apples for this ultra aromatic filling).

[oli]

That's the design I learned in Julia Child's baking book.  Layout your dough and cut horizontal 1 inch strips for the outer third on each long side.  Then fold them on top of each other angling down.  The last two you tuck and bake.

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I think I understand your explanation. Is the Child's baking book, entitled Baking With Julia? Anyway it sure looks tempting with the glaze, thats why I am a sucker for books with plenty of pictures. Just being a guy.

Renka sure does lovely work. By the quantity thats produced I guess one is bound to be perfect or at least darn close.

Edited February 1, 2008 by oli (log)

[gfron1]

Yes, Baking with Julia - p. 205 Danish Braid.

[David Ross]

My oh my you are all such talented bakers! I usually am in other forums but I really have to commit to coming over here more often. Wonderful.

Last night I did my own variation on Pineapple Upside Down Cake. I used mandarin oranges and some candied cherries I had leftover from my holiday baking. I served it with a vanilla and orange swirl ice cream.

[Domestic Goddess]

Today was a busy day in the kitchen for me. Aside from making ramen broth, I decided to make bread pudding (as a birthday gift for a friend) and cinnamon rolls.

My youngest, Billy wanted to help with the cinnamon rolls and here's what he did.

After I made the dough, I let Billy roll out the dough.

And brush the butter on.

Next comes the dusting of the cinnamon and sugar...

And more cinnamon...

We then rolled the dough, cut it into rounds and baked them in my trusty convection oven. Here's the result of our efforts.

My little helper enjoying the fruit of his labours.

*Insert proud mommy icon here.

[gfron1]

Busy day!? Looks like all you did was sit around and take pictures. He deserves to get a mouthful of cinnamon roll.

[gfron1]

An early Happy Mardi Gras to y'all! A big honkin' King Cake with blueberry and almond filling.

I used to live in NO and love this time of year. In fact, Lundi Gras is where my screen name came from, but don't bother asking I will never divulge that secret (except under the right circumstances).

[judiu]

My oh my you are all such talented bakers!  I usually am in other forums but I really have to commit to coming over here more often.  Wonderful.

Last night I did my own variation on Pineapple Upside Down Cake.  I used mandarin oranges and some candied cherries I had leftover from my holiday baking.  I served it with a vanilla and orange swirl ice cream. 

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Holy BLEEP, David Ross! Those pictures are so beautiful; the perfect lighting, the great clarity of the focus, just WOW! If I may ask, what type of camera do you use? I just received a nice little Samsung 7.2 megapixel for Christmas, and I still haven't really learned it yet. Your colors absolutly glow; the cherries look like Christmas ornaments!

[David Ross]

My oh my you are all such talented bakers!  I usually am in other forums but I really have to commit to coming over here more often.  Wonderful.

Last night I did my own variation on Pineapple Upside Down Cake.  I used mandarin oranges and some candied cherries I had leftover from my holiday baking.  I served it with a vanilla and orange swirl ice cream. 

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Holy BLEEP, David Ross! Those pictures are so beautiful; the perfect lighting, the great clarity of the focus, just WOW! If I may ask, what type of camera do you use? I just received a nice little Samsung 7.2 megapixel for Christmas, and I still haven't really learned it yet. Your colors absolutly glow; the cherries look like Christmas ornaments!

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Thank you so much. The pictures did turn out very good, but the taste of the cake is what was really spectacular. How can you go wrong when you cook any type of fruit in butter and brown sugar, bake it with cake batter and pull it out of the oven, invert it onto a plate, and watch all that caramelized sugar drip down.

I use a Canon Powershot for my photos. I'll send you the exact model number and specs later.

I do a couple of things to enhance the end photo:

-I put the dish on my dining table which is under a strong light from a chandelier. Then I put a white foamcore board behind the plate. This way I get strong light and light that bounces off the white board, which in turn seems to help set off the food.

-I take two shots-one of the whole dish and one close-up. For the shot of the whole dish, in this case the whole cake, I usually set my camera onto a mini-tripod to help keep the camera steady. I set my camera to 'manual', turn off the flash, and then set it on the digital setting. For the close-up shot I set my camera to 'digital macro' (really closeup shots), turn off the flash and then set it on AFL (auto focus lock), to keep the camera from shaking in my hands.

-FInally, I do a lot of editing on my computer before I post my photos on eGullet. I am currently using WIndows Vista which comes with the latest photo editing from Microsoft. I can control the brightness, contrast, color saturation and cropping of the photo. I tend to darken my photos before I post them on eGullet because I find the raw photos will be too light if I post them without darkening. I figure that part of the story I'm telling is through the photos, so I want them to portray to my fellow eGullet friends that the food is delicious. Thank you again.

[meredithla]

I made two cakes and a cupcake bouquet for a school cakewalk this weekend. Not very sophisticated amongst all the beautiful desserts on this thread but the kids were happy!

[CanadianBakin']

I made two cakes and a cupcake bouquet for a school cakewalk this weekend.  Not very sophisticated amongst all the beautiful desserts on this thread but the kids were happy!

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Wow!! Cake walks sure have come a long way since I went to school.

I love the penguin leaning into the pond. Big smiles .

[Kim Shook]

David - good God, man!!! What can't you do???? That upside down cake is a work of art! Those glisten-y, plump fruits don't even look cooked. Gorgeous!

Doddie - you and Billy did good! I'd love to have one of those lovely cinnamon rolls! I love the look of concentration on his face while he's sprinkling the cinnamon! What a cutie!

meredithla - the cakes are adorable, but I especially love those penguins! They look just a little bit naughty. Is the prone one bobbing for goldfish?

The fruits of my kitchen work this weekend:

Devil's food Caramel Torte. It was just a cake mix fix up, but very good anyway!

These are called Rustic Nut Bars. Freakin' amazing! A shortbread like crust with a gooey, glazed nut topping! So good. They were scarfed up at the Super Bowl party that we took them too. Glad I kept a few back for us at home !

Kim

[meredithla]

Kim-could you pm or recipe gullet those nut bars? I must make them. Your pictures lately have been really nice too! I think you said you got a new camera?