Your Daily Sweets (2005-2012)

[Kim Shook]

Kim, I consulted with my children and they do, in fact, consider those cookies to be their idea of heaven. FYI. So let me know if you get the recipe straightened out

Kerry suggested coating the Pop Rocks with cocoa butter to save them from melting. I'm not really sure what to do about the flavoring. I used the Lorann liquid and it was not like any cotton candy I've ever tasted.

[prospectbake]

Baking with my younger sister while she visited this weekend

"Oreos" Chocolate-Cinnamon Wafer and Vanilla Buttercream

A classic favorite-Rhubarb compote/Crumble

Creme de Violette Macaroons

[JimmyD]

That Creme de Violette is something I've never seen before ... but giving me food for thought ... is it like the violet sweets (candy) you used to get?

[prospectbake]

It tastes quite a bit like those, it reminds me a lot of Howard's Violet Mints. I really like the flavor, subtly sweet and clean.

[E.T.]

A few things made with my new KitchenAid stand mixer

Nightscotsman's strawberry marshmallows

David Lebovitz's French-style vanilla ice cream with cocoa nibs

[Darienne]

Bravo, ET. The marshmallows look lovely and what's not to love about home-made ice cream, particularly with cacao nibs in it?

[chocoera]

some of the items we've made for the store lately

chocolate cupcake with caramel sauce inside, salted fudge icing, and caramel cage

oreo snowcap: a request by a customer to turn the "oreo fluff" dessert into something a bit cooler, oreo crust/starbucks liquor mousse, rough chop oreos, white chocolate cream and chocolate covered oreo ontop

roses nutty cheesecake: an employee wanted this one: chocolate crust with chocolate amaretto cheesecake with a layer of caramelized nuts on the bottom topped with choc glaze with fleur de sel and more caramelized nuts

lemon semifreddo (courtesy of my hero- david lebovitz- ready for dessert!) but made in square molds and cut into rectangles. components: sponge with lemon soaking syrup, homemade amaretti cookies, and lemon curd lightened with cream...and repeat

xoxo to my eGers....keep up the inspirational work

[E.T.]

Bravo, ET. The marshmallows look lovely and what's not to love about home-made ice cream, particularly with cacao nibs in it?

Thanks Darienne This was my first attempt at ice-cream, and I'm really happy with the results. It'll be fun to experiment with other flavors / recipes all summer!

[E.T.]

some of the items we've made for the store lately

chocolate cupcake with caramel sauce inside, salted fudge icing, and caramel cage

oreo snowcap: a request by a customer to turn the "oreo fluff" dessert into something a bit cooler, oreo crust/starbucks liquor mousse, rough chop oreos, white chocolate cream and chocolate covered oreo ontop

roses nutty cheesecake: an employee wanted this one: chocolate crust with chocolate amaretto cheesecake with a layer of caramelized nuts on the bottom topped with choc glaze with fleur de sel and more caramelized nuts

lemon semifreddo (courtesy of my hero- david lebovitz- ready for dessert!) but made in square molds and cut into rectangles. components: sponge with lemon soaking syrup, homemade amaretti cookies, and lemon curd lightened with cream...and repeat

xoxo to my eGers....keep up the inspirational work

Wow, they all look (and sound) fantastic!

[Pierogi]

My first entries into the "Sweets" thread. Figured it was about time...

First up, a very home-y (and possibly homeLY) apple/pear crisp I made a while back. Nice and warm and cinnamon-y, it was good comfort sweets. A little heavy cream on top, of course, to totally gild the lilly:

And something a little more refined. My first attempt at canneles ! THEY were wonderful. I have a new favorite sweet, I think.

[Darienne]

And something a little more refined. My first attempt at canneles ! THEY were wonderful. I have a new favorite sweet, I think.

Well done, Pierogi.

I had never heard of canneles and so thank you for sending me off on yet another search. Wonderful. So you have to buy a pan in which to make these little cakes it would appear. Is yours silicone or other?

Where did you find your recipe?

Thanks.

[Marmish]

some of the items we've made for the store lately

chocolate cupcake with caramel sauce inside, salted fudge icing, and caramel cage

oreo snowcap: a request by a customer to turn the "oreo fluff" dessert into something a bit cooler, oreo crust/starbucks liquor mousse, rough chop oreos, white chocolate cream and chocolate covered oreo ontop

roses nutty cheesecake: an employee wanted this one: chocolate crust with chocolate amaretto cheesecake with a layer of caramelized nuts on the bottom topped with choc glaze with fleur de sel and more caramelized nuts

lemon semifreddo (courtesy of my hero- david lebovitz- ready for dessert!) but made in square molds and cut into rectangles. components: sponge with lemon soaking syrup, homemade amaretti cookies, and lemon curd lightened with cream...and repeat

xoxo to my eGers....keep up the inspirational work

Yum. I'd love one of those chocolate caramel cupcakes especially!

[Genkinaonna]

Pierogi! Welcome to the sweet side! The canneles look great...they're one of my favorite desserts, hands down.

E.T.-What ice cream maker are you using? And do you like it? I'm looking to replace mine, and people here are the BEST resource, way more reliable than Amazon reviews...

Chococera-Beautiful treats, as usual! Doesn't Ready for Dessert make you just want to run right to the kitchen and start baking? It does for me.

My daughter's birthday is Saturday, so I'll be spending all week baking, and then I have three cakes to make for other birthdays within the next month, so I'll be sure to post my progress. It's nice to come check in and get in the mood to be creative!

[E.T.]

E.T.-What ice cream maker are you using? And do you like it? I'm looking to replace mine, and people here are the BEST resource, way more reliable than Amazon reviews...

I'm using the ice-cream attachment for KitchenAid stand mixers. It works very well as far as I can tell; mine took about 15 minutes to churn 1 qt of ice cream. The result was very smooth, creamy, and gelato-like.

[Genkinaonna]

Whohoo! An excuse to buy another mixer attachment! Amazon here I come!

[janeer]

And something a little more refined. My first attempt at canneles ! THEY were wonderful. I have a new favorite sweet, I think.

Well done, Pierogi.

I had never heard of canneles and so thank you for sending me off on yet another search. Wonderful. So you have to buy a pan in which to make these little cakes it would appear. Is yours silicone or other?

Where did you find your recipe?

Thanks.

I'd like to know what recipe you used, too. I love canneles, but have not been satisfied with the ones I've made.

[Pierogi]

E.T.-What ice cream maker are you using? And do you like it? I'm looking to replace mine, and people here are the BEST resource, way more reliable than Amazon reviews...

I'm using the ice-cream attachment for KitchenAid stand mixers. It works very well as far as I can tell; mine took about 15 minutes to churn 1 qt of ice cream. The result was very smooth, creamy, and gelato-like.

The ice cream attachment for the KA abso-damn-lutely ROCKS ! I have one too, and it is the easiest piece of equipment in the kitchen to use. Just so long as you remember to stash the bowl in the freezer a day or so ahead of when you want ice cream (or, if you're one of those lucky ones who actually *have* freezer space, keep it in there...), it's fabulous. Easy-peasy great ice cream in almost no time.

[Pierogi]

And something a little more refined. My first attempt at canneles ! THEY were wonderful. I have a new favorite sweet, I think.

Well done, Pierogi.

I had never heard of canneles and so thank you for sending me off on yet another search. Wonderful. So you have to buy a pan in which to make these little cakes it would appear. Is yours silicone or other?

Where did you find your recipe?

Thanks.

I'd like to know what recipe you used, too. I love canneles, but have not been satisfied with the ones I've made.

A long time ago, in a Galaxy far, far away....

Actually, several years back on eG, there were several threads about canneles that got me intrigued about the little blobs of goodness. Here's one....Canneles 1...and here's another....Canneles 2

The first one has at least one entry by the wonderful jgarner53 who was a long-time contributor, especially to the pastry threads, and sorely missed. *SHE* knows her stuff...

At any rate, when those threads popped up, I had never heard of canneles, but was very very intrigued, to say the least. A bit later, they showed up in the freezer case at Trader Joe's. All you had to do was thaw them, and maybe run them through the nuke machine for a few seconds.

I swooned. I died. I plotzed. And these were FROZEN, so I knew the fresh had to be a bazillion times better. Unfortunately, never to be found in any of the local stores I frequented, save the freezer case at TJ's.

About a year ago, I was re-reading "Chez Jacques" by Jacques Pepin. If you don't know this book, you should. Part art book (Jacques is quite an accomplished painter as well as a fabulous chef and one very cool dude), part coffee table display book, part memoir and part cookbook, it's about 10 pounds of amazing pictures and text. And lo and behold, a very, very simple recipe for canneles.

AND a source for silicone cannele molds, which apparently are the way to go. The "traditional" ones are copper, lined with tin, and have to be painstakingly seasoned with bee's wax. And even then...even then....unmolding is a cross-your-fingers-hope-to-the-gods process.

Fast forward to about a month ago. Procured said silicone cannele molds (Amazon, mini ones from Gastroflex) and the Jacques' recipe from "Chez Jacques" and yes, they are a BAZILLION times better than the frozen. AND easy. Amazingly easy ! Stunningly easy. PM me if you'd like the recipe from Jacques....I could eat these things 24/7.

[Darienne]

Good thread on ice cream machines here.

I have an ICE-20, not the newest or the biggest (1 1/2 quart)...I got it for $5 at a second hand store in Utah...and it works just fine. A friend just bought an ICE-30, a later model, same size, and is happy with it.

I guess the size of the machine depends upon the number of folks you have to feed at one sitting and how often you want to make ice cream and how much room you have to store it. I make at least four different batches for our Annual Dog Weekend. But then I have enough space to store it.

[DeliciouslyLekker]

The canales look lovely. I've never actually tasted them but I imagine a caramel-y, densed cakey-pudding sort of texture. Yum. I've never seen it in the bakeries here but who knows..someday...

Baked a chocolate chip pound cake today.

Recipe here

[janeer]

[quote name='Pierogi' timestamp='1301892160' post='1802806'

PM me if you'd like the recipe from Jacques....I could eat these things 24/7.

[Kim Shook]

ET – your marshmallows are bee-you-tee-ful!!!!

chocoera – that is some amazing work! And that cheesecake is my calling to me. I wish someone could explain how a place like Algona, Iowa has an incredible bakery like yours and the capital of Virginia has NOTHING comparable.

DeliciouslyLekker – gorgeous crown on that loaf!

I made an angel food cake for one of Mr. Kim’s co-workers:

It looks perfect and he’s promised to bring me a piece tomorrow.

[janeer]

I made an angel food cake for one of Mr. Kim’s co-workers:

It must be that angel-cake-time-of-year: freezer cleanout time.

[E.T.]

Thanks Kim That's a tasty looking cake! I've never had angel food cake before. It's definitely on my list of things to try.

[Kim Shook]

janeer – what kind of icing is that on your angel food cake? It is so beautiful and glossy!

ET – oh, you should definitely try angel food cake – it’s very easy to make and the perfect spring/summer dessert with all the good berries coming in soon.

Here’s a slice of that angel food cake:

Nice looking crumb, I thought. Good flavor and texture. Served with warm caramel sauce.