Your Daily Sweets (2005-2012)

[Pille]

Thanks to inspiration from Alinka and Pille, I made pashka, as well as Osterfladen, and capirotada for Easter dessert.  Click here.

I need to get my camera surgically attached to my hand.  When you don't have that bite shot, it all seems like wasted effort!

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Abra - your capirotada looks delicious! I had a slightly different camera disaster last weekend. Made a very nice fish dish a la Rick Stein, and then realised that my camera battery is flat. Finished my dish before the camera was working again. How annoying!

For the dessert last night I made Nigella's cherry chocolate cupcakes with a slightly different frosting. Just had another one for lunch

[Ann_T]

MamaC thanks for posting your recipe for Cozonac. The recipe I used for the Croissants is Julie Child's recipe. It is in her Baking with Julia Cook book. And it is posted on a number of websites like this one..

I used the other half of the recipe to make Chocolate Croissants today. It was worth making this recipe to just to have these.

[juliachildish]

Here are some pictures from a dessert party I did (a few months ago, but I'm just now getting around to posting...). The idea was to do a multi-course meal, but in dessert form. Nothing that fancy, but it was delicious and my guests enjoyed it, though some were barely able to handle that much sweet food all at once. I'm sorry the pictures are so terrible! I was too busy cooking to take many pictures...

Soup: Chilled Strawberry Soup with Mint Cream and Vanilla Phyllo Crisps.

Salad: Mango and Melon Salad with Toasted Coconut, Spicy Sauce, and Pistachios

Hot Appetizer: Raspberry and dark chocolate filled wontons with ginger caramel dipping sauce.

Cold(ish) Appetizer: Peach-rhubarb tart with peach-raspberry coulis and vanilla ice cream (homemade)

Entree: A version of Pierre Herme's Plaisir Sucre, obviously very modified.

Finish: Homemade white chocolate custard and cocoa nib ice creams with walnut pralines, blackberry coulis, and raspberries.

Party favors: Lemon-chocolate caramels (not pictured because they were ugly), lemon tartlets with blueberries, and Tres Hermanos truffles (filled with almond gianduja and three caramelized hazelnuts, hence the name, dipped in Valrhona Manjari, topped with Fleur de Sel, then dipped again and sprinkled with the silver powder stuff), in little Chinese takeout boxes.

I apologize again for the quality of the pictures...And for the dishes-we just didn't have enough plates to feed twenty people, so it was all plasticware except for the entree.

[Ling]

^What a cute idea for a party!

I made David Lebovitz's "Fresh Ginger cake" today. Had 3 big slices with some salted caramel over top. Mmmm....

[Pille]

Such a cute idea for transporting desserts!

I baked a large Greek Easter bread tsoureki for my Greek ex-beau, because he asked so nicely It smelled lovely - must have been the mastic and mechlebe. I made a small tsoureki-bun for myself to try, as the tsoureki itself was flown over to Amsterdam..

[sazji]

Tsoureki.... You should have made one for yourself too, they are wonderful! And toasted in the morning, with entirely too much butter...even better. I used to make it fairly regularly as a "special occasion" bread for breakfast.

Here's another recipe, a bit (!) richer:

2 packets of yeast

225 gr butter

1 1/2 c sugar

1/2 t salt

1 c hot milk

6 well-beaten eggs, room temp

1+ kilo flour

mahlep

egg yolk mixed with a little water to brush tops

sesame or slivered almonds if you want

Preheat oven to 200C

Melt butter in milk, add sugar and salt, when lukewarm add yeast, mix well, add eggs. Mix into flour to make a somewhat soft dough, add mahlep, knead well, around 15 minutes. Put in a buttered bowl, cover with a damp towel and let rise in a not-too-warm place (if it's too hot, you will get a sourish flavor from the yeast). When it's doubled, punch it down, divide into three pieces, form into balls and let rest 10 minutes or so. Roll into long pieces and braid. If you want you can turn the whole braid into a circle and put a red egg in the middle for easter but I usually just do a straight braid. Brush with water/egg yolk and sprinkle with almonds or sesame. Let rise once more, put in oven on greased pan and bake for around 40 minutes till done.

Some people like anise instead of mahlep, or orange peel, but for me mahlep is the best...

Edited April 22, 2006 by sazji (log)

[gfron1]

Two desserts for a friend's 60th...

A tropical daquoise...

This was Pierre Herme's coconut daquoise topped with Mamster's Coconut Panna Cotta, another layer of the daquoise, covered in rum carmelized bananas and a traditional meringue, with a candied kumquat.

And a chocolate cake...

Two layers of Pierre Herme's Cocoa Cake, layered with his Chocolate Pastry Cream, and then enrobed in a chocolate bavaroise, finished with dulce de leche and PH's chocolate macaroons.

The chocolate cake was eaten before any of the other 7 cakes were even cut

[Ling]

^I love your ideas for both desserts, gfron1!

On Thursday night, I got this from the pastry chef at Mistral in Seattle! (Plating job by hhlodesign ) I loved the idea of using the oven-dried carrot strip as a crispy element/garnish. The fennel brittle was so good, and the carrot cake was moist and delicious!

I had two rather forgettable desserts at Christina's on Orcas Island, which is a bit disappointing considering the meal and the waterfront view were both lovely.

Here's their flourless chocolate torte (I got this because I've heard good things about Schokinag, but don't remember trying it before.) The cake was overbaked and rather dry...not sure if this is supposed to be "molten" chocolate cake as there was only a tiny bite of underbaked cake in the center...

I had most of my date's dessert too...not that it was that great. The shortbread was good. The flavours of the sorbets--chocolate (too much booze), orange (horrid! Like orange-flavoured ice crystals!), and the apple-pear cider (the best of the three, but still icy) didn't work together.

I expect a little better at $7.50US per dessert.

Edited April 23, 2006 by Ling (log)

[Ling]

A bar of Scharffen Berger 68% Cacao "Kumasi Sambirano". I bought it from the factory in San Fran...haven't seen it in Vancouver.

[shaloop]

Two layers of Pierre Herme's Cocoa Cake, layered with his Chocolate Pastry Cream, and then enrobed in a chocolate bavaroise,

Would you happen to have recipes for the cocoa cake and pastry cream (or maybe direct me to where I might find them?).

Sounds and looks delish!!

[miladyinsanity]

Shaloop, if you go to Amazon, I believe it is one of the Look Inside Me pages.

[gfron1]

Shaloop, if you go to Amazon, I believe it is one of the Look Inside Me pages.

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Oh... that's good sleuthing! If you still need it from me, let me know and I'll start typing...PH's recipes tend to be on the wordy side. It did come from Pierre Herme's Chocolate Desserts authored by Dorie Greenspan.

[shaloop]

Shaloop, if you go to Amazon, I believe it is one of the Look Inside Me pages.

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I see the Apricot and Ginger Loaf cafe and the Suzy's Cake, but I don't see the cocoa cake or the pastry cream.

[gfron1]

Shaloop, if you go to Amazon, I believe it is one of the Look Inside Me pages.

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I see the Apricot and Ginger Loaf cafe and the Suzy's Cake, but I don't see the cocoa cake or the pastry cream.

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Oh man, looking at the pics in that book makes me salivate!

I didn't see it there either (they may randomly show pages). I'll get them to you...but I'm a believer in giving the author their due (my spouse is an author) so seriously consider getting this book - super stuff.

[SweetSide]

Shaloop, if you go to Amazon, I believe it is one of the Look Inside Me pages.

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I see the Apricot and Ginger Loaf cafe and the Suzy's Cake, but I don't see the cocoa cake or the pastry cream.

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Oh man, looking at the pics in that book makes me salivate!

I didn't see it there either (they may randomly show pages). I'll get them to you...but I'm a believer in giving the author their due (my spouse is an author) so seriously consider getting this book - super stuff.

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Agreed -- and only $15 at ecookbooks.com at the moment... Well worth the price to have all the goodies inside!

[Ling]

A double batch of Korova dough.

One of the batches is supposed to be for my bf.

[miladyinsanity]

A double batch of Korova dough.

One of the batches is supposed to be for my bf.

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Hey, if he's worth keeping, he won't bat an eyelid.

Cheesecake for me. At breakfast, no less.

[Ling]

A double batch of Korova dough.

One of the batches is supposed to be for my bf.

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Hey, if he's worth keeping, he won't bat an eyelid.

Cheesecake for me. At breakfast, no less.

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He's worth keeping. A dessert tasting at Mistral followed by desserts from the Barking Frog on our first date? WORTH KEEPING.

Cheesecake for breakfast! You do me proud! I had prime rib (leftovers) and peanut butter cookie dough for breakfast.

[Pille]

I hosted a small party last night, and served my 22 guests a very simple sponge cake with mocca cream and toasted almonds:

Edited April 25, 2006 by Pille (log)

[miladyinsanity]

A double batch of Korova dough.

One of the batches is supposed to be for my bf.

←

Hey, if he's worth keeping, he won't bat an eyelid.

Cheesecake for me. At breakfast, no less.

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He's worth keeping. A dessert tasting at Mistral followed by desserts from the Barking Frog on our first date? WORTH KEEPING.

Cheesecake for breakfast! You do me proud! I had prime rib (leftovers) and peanut butter cookie dough for breakfast.

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I actually planned to have chocolate cake and brownies for breakfast.

But then I woke late, so had to run out the house without cake or brownies.

There is, of course, always tomorrow.

[gfron1]

So now this has become the "What dessert did you have for breakfast" thread

I had chocolate pastry cream straight out of the pastry bag for breakfast - squirted right into my mouth. I'm now in the scientific stage of finding out how long it will last before it makes me sick (I made it on Friday).

[alanamoana]

longer than you'd think!

by the way, eating directly from the pastry bag is my favorite method of mess-free dining!

[gfron1]

I'll know pastry bag eating has gone too far when I start changing tips to make different designs on my toungue...BTW, if I do any designs that are worthwhile, I'll be sure to post them to this thread!

[Patrick S]

I haven't done anything very new or exciting lately, just a few things for easter.

Caramel Brownies

Banana Cake with Vanilla Mousseline Buttercream

Halsey Tart

Citrus Bars with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing

Edited April 26, 2006 by Patrick S (log)

[Pan]

Great photos, Patrick! Could you tell us more about the Halsey tart?