Your Daily Sweets (2005-2012)

[Megan Blocker]

Back to an oldie but goodie tonight...chocolate chip cookies.

[ablosh]

Back to an oldie but goodie tonight...chocolate chip cookies.

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Yuuum...that picture just made my cravings for the old classic stronger!

[HQAntithesis]

Made this gianduja gateaux for dessert at a friend's place tonight. Haven't cut into it yet but I can hardly wait . Inside there's a shortbread base, apricot jam, chocolate mud cake, hazelnut cremeaux and chocolate creme chantilly. There was meant to be macaroons around the side but I made a mess of those because I was hurrying too much so I made shortbread discs to replace them.

[kaneel]

I made a batch of ling's shortbread cookies recipe

I flavored half of it with green tea powder and the other half just pink colored .

These are great and i cannot stop eating them .

Next time i am making double batch of these and will flavor some of the dough with fiori di sicilia and almond paste.

[Ling]

HQAntithesis: that cake looks amazing! WOW!

kaneel: I'm so glad you enjoy the shortbread! I love shortbread--it's so easy to put together and tastes so good.

My friend's brother asked me to help him teach a kid's cooking class. Today he taught them how to make frittatas (with vegetables, potatoes, and cheese) and I taught them how to make chocolate chip cookies (with these super cute, rainbow mini candy-coated chocolate chips!)

The cookies were such a hit...there was a crowd of kids outside the door (not in the class) asking for cookies.

They were pretty good--nice and chewy. I used Abra's recipe.

Right now I have a vanilla pound cake in the oven...the recipe is from Flo Braker in Baking with Julia.

Edited February 11, 2006 by Ling (log)

[Ling]

I hope you don't mind me saying this, but the pound cake looks rubbery in the middle, just like my Elvis Presley pound cake...which is why I didn't like it. What were the proportions like for the Sherry Yard cake?

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Of course I don't mind, and the ingredients were:

1C butter/1C sugar/2 eggs/0.5C buttermilk/1.5C flour (mix of AP and cake).

I can't recall how much leavening was in the cake, but it wasn't much -- around .25-.50t baking powder.

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I have Flo Braker's pound cake in the oven now...proportions are very similar to Becca's cake, but with 3 whole eggs and 1/3 less sugar. Also, it has twice as much leavening (2tsp of baking powder.) Instead of using the milk that Flo specifies, I used heavy cream (so it contains the same amount of fat as Becca's cake.)

[dumpling]

Made this gianduja gateaux for dessert at a friend's place tonight. Haven't cut into it yet but I can hardly wait  . Inside there's a shortbread base, apricot jam, chocolate mud cake, hazelnut cremeaux and chocolate creme chantilly. There was meant to be macaroons around the side but I made a mess of those because I was hurrying too much so I made shortbread discs to replace them.

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HQ, that cake looks and sounds amazing! How did the inside work- were there too many flavors or did it meld well?

[Rehovot]

Grr, I made a French Apple Flan tart from a cookbook-pamphlet that was on sale for 15 shekels (about USD 3.20), and it turned out to be truly awful, except for the apples. The crust (which seemed promising, with ground almonds) should have been blind-baked, which the recipe didn't specify, and I didn't roll it thinly enough, so it's gloppy.

The flan/custard is bland and boring, and the whole thing isn't sweet at all. I'm inclined to chop the whole thing up, sprinkle it with sugar and more spices, spread it on a cookie sheet, and give it another round in the oven. My philosophy, here, is that it can't get any worse. (Am I the only one who does this sort of thing to salvage baked goods?)

This is the third humdrum recipe from this cookbook, which proves to me that being a bargain-hunter may not be so wise while cookbook-shopping.

So I made a backup dessert--the the Cafe Beaujolais coffeecake. Now I'm much happier.

[tarteausucre]

Sugar cookie Valentine's Day cookies ... (once again excuse the less than stellar image - must save up and buy new digital camera)

[Ling]

So I made a backup dessert--the the Cafe Beaujolais coffeecake. Now I'm much happier. 

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Sorry your tart didn't work out, but this recipe looks tasty!

tarteausucre: Those hearts are absolutely adorable!

Today I just ate a few slices of leftover pound cake for breakfast and lunch...for snacks I had a few chunks of E. Guittard L'Harmonie. Then I made hot chocolate with it. It is good, but not my favourite bittersweet.

[onehsancare]

Lemon chiffon from the Cake Bible, zipped up with doubled zest and lemon juice, baked in two 9-inch rounds. My toothpicks (inserted around the edge to keep the cake suspended) were too short to actually suspend. After the fact (of course!) I realized that I could have broken spaghetti and inserted those to keep the dome off the counter. As it turned out, though, there was very little shrinkage, and the cake sticking to the counter just made the decision to remove the crusts easier!

Filled with PH's lemon cream. Frosted with sweetened whipped cream flavored w/ lemon extract. (Wimp cream!) Very nice, very light. No pictures because I was running behind schedule.

I think I'll make it again next week for my niece's christening, doing a better job of suspending during the cooling, and getting some pics, too.

[Ling]

I shouldn't post in this thread in the afternoon, as I will inevitably have consumed more dessert by nightfall. Dessert tonight after a Greek feast was ekmek. And too much alcohol. Nite!

Eta: oops, forgot about the flourless chocolate cake my friend made for me, the selection of Yoku Moku cookies he got from Japan, and the chocolate-filled cigarette cookies at home too!

Edited February 12, 2006 by Ling (log)

[Pan]

What's ekmek, Lorna?

[oli]

Made this gianduja gateaux for dessert at a friend's place tonight. Haven't cut into it yet but I can hardly wait  . Inside there's a shortbread base, apricot jam, chocolate mud cake, hazelnut cremeaux and chocolate creme chantilly. There was meant to be macaroons around the side but I made a mess of those because I was hurrying too much so I made shortbread discs to replace them.

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Absolutely fabulous cake. That definetly going to get a lot of wows from the crowd. Was this a made up dessert or did you follow a recipe?

Thanks for sharing.

O

[Ling]

What's ekmek, Lorna?

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It's a custardy layered cake topped with whipped cream. Very good! I like it more than baklava.

[sazji]

Grr, I made a French Apple Flan tart from a cookbook-pamphlet that was on sale for 15 shekels (about USD 3.20), and it turned out to be truly awful, except for the apples.

This is the third humdrum recipe from this cookbook, which proves to me that being a bargain-hunter may not be so wise while cookbook-shopping.

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Try the recipe in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." Tarte Normande aux Pommes. Very nice.

[Megan Blocker]

This was my dessert last night - isn't it precious? I bought it at Two Little Red Hens, a bakery about a block from my apartment (they have a shop in Park Slope as well). The cupcake underneath the delicious and adorable frosting was banana - a bit dry, but good. Tonight I had one of their "Brooklyn Blackout" cupcakes, and it was better, but not nearly as pretty.

[Ling]

I had gingerbread pudding, and I'm still working through my block of E. Guittard L'Harmonie. I think I should bake something with it though--it's not my favourite eating chocolate.

Also had some blue cheese and fig jam.

[HQAntithesis]

Made this gianduja gateaux for dessert at a friend's place tonight. Haven't cut into it yet but I can hardly wait  . Inside there's a shortbread base, apricot jam, chocolate mud cake, hazelnut cremeaux and chocolate creme chantilly. There was meant to be macaroons around the side but I made a mess of those because I was hurrying too much so I made shortbread discs to replace them.

Absolutely fabulous cake. That definetly going to get a lot of wows from the crowd. Was this a made up dessert or did you follow a recipe?

Thanks for sharing.

O

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Thanks for the compliment . It was mostly made-up. A friend of mine asked me to make a cake for him the day before so I sketched it up and wrote up the recipes. The glaze though is the one that can be found on recipegullet. I love that glaze.

[Rehovot]

Grr, I made a French Apple Flan tart from a cookbook-pamphlet that was on sale for 15 shekels (about USD 3.20), and it turned out to be truly awful, except for the apples.

This is the third humdrum recipe from this cookbook, which proves to me that being a bargain-hunter may not be so wise while cookbook-shopping.

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Try the recipe in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." Tarte Normande aux Pommes. Very nice.

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Thanks, this book is on my wish list. I chopped up the Bad Tart, added some cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and streusel, spread it on a tin, baked it, and, voila, Good Apple Crumble.

Not that I would serve this to anyone but me and He-Who-Eats-Everything, my husband.

[Ling]

I chopped up the Bad Tart, added some cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and streusel, spread it on a tin, baked it, and, voila, Good Apple Crumble. 

Not that I would serve this to anyone but me and He-Who-Eats-Everything, my husband. 

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I'm glad you were able to salvage your Bad Tart! The crumble idea is a good one. That's what I would've done too.

[RuthWells]

Valentine cookies. Had fun making 'em.

[pamjsa]

Valentine cookies.  Had fun making 'em.

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Ruth, those cookies are adorable! My kids came home with a boatload of candy from Valentine's Day parties at school, so dessert this evening was their rejects (in other words, all the good stuff--like dark chocolate hearts.)

[Ling]

^Ruth, those are adorable! And much better than the heart-shaped cookies I was considering purchasing at a notable bakery yesterday!

Today I made Batali's "Walnut biscotti" with a few adjustments. I didn't have any nocello so I used a mix of Amaretto and dark rum. I didn't have walnuts either, so I used hazelnuts.

This was a fabulous recipe that yielded really crunchy biscotti! I've always been a fan of the slightly more tender, non-traditional biscotti (made with some oil)...but these have made me a convert!

ETA: After dinner tonight, I had a trio of desserts at CinCin's in Vancouver. There was a coconut milk fruit salad (with pineapple) in a white chocolate cup with papaya and mango sauce; tiramisu in the thinnest, most buttery tuile I'd ever tasted with espresso sauce; and a triple chocolate mousse cake encased in a Valrhona "package" with ginger sauce. I also had the pistachio gelato, made in house. (The pastry chef used to work at a currently 3-star Michelin restaurant.)

cake interior shot

pistachio gelato

Edited February 15, 2006 by Ling (log)

[CanadianBakin']

Ruth, I love your cookies! Can you please tell us about your icing? What type do you use? Does it dry hard? It looks like you've covered them with 2 colours. Did you just outline with one and flood with another or are there 2 layers? Thanks.