Your Daily Sweets (2005-2012)

[Patrick S]

I had some vanilla bean ice cream with Pirouette cookies.

[Ling]

The lighting in my pictures always look terrible once the sun's gone down...but here's a shot of my pots de creme and white peach. I'm going to have pound cake later too--it's still in the oven right now.

[tupac17616]

I'm often an admirer of this thread, but rarely a participant. Time to remedy that. Some recent goodies...

Strawberry Shortcake with Homemade Ricotta-Marsala Gelato, Fresh Whipped Cream & Warm Berry Sauce

Summer Berry Shortcake with Homemade Ricotta-Marsala Gelato, Fresh Whipped Cream & Warm Berry Sauce

Buneulo Ice Cream with Warm Pumpkin Empanada

[alanamoana]

tupac, i just saw this on the dinner thread and now i come here and it's on the dessert thread...damn you for torturing me! i think shortcake is one of the best desserts when done well...and yours are just perfect!;

[Chufi]

Greek yoghurt with homemade redcurrant jelly. I flavored the jelly with staranise and cinnamon and it's wonderful, even though it's a little too runny

[Abra]

Klary, I have a mountain of red currants now that I'm picking my way through, freezing, etc. Would you share your jelly recipe?

Tupac, I know I asked for the ice cream recipes on the Dinner thread, but I'll ask again here, since this is probably more the right place.

Patrick, is that black background a setting on your camera? I love the way that picture looks, but I don't know how to achieve that effect myself.

[C_Ruark]

52 pages!   I guess I'll participate ina little self-promotion.

carrot, coconut and passion fruit-ginger curd.

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You can go on self-promoting.

Beautiful dish, gorgeous photo.

~ C

[Patrick S]

Patrick, is that black background a setting on your camera?  I love the way that picture looks, but I don't know how to achieve that effect myself.

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The background is a black, plastic serving tray, and the picture is shot at such an angle that the tray fills the background. The background is blurred quite a bit because I used a large aperture setting (I think this shot was at F1.4). That helps make the background homogenous and smooth.

[Kim Shook]

Greek yoghurt with homemade redcurrant jelly. I flavored the jelly with staranise and cinnamon and it's wonderful, even though it's a little too runny

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Klary, that is just so gorgeous! I don't even know if I like redcurrant jelly and I want that !

[Ling]

Let me chime in with my praise for the red currant jelly, Klary. So beautiful and jewel-like!

The Buneulo Ice Cream with Warm Pumpkin Empanada sounds like my kind of dessert, tupac! Mmmm

[Chufi]

Klary, I have a mountain of red currants now that I'm picking my way through, freezing, etc.  Would you share your jelly recipe?

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it's really easy, from Jane Grigson's Fruit Book: equal weights of currants and sugar - heat slowly until the sugar melts - then boil hard for 8 minutes. That's what I did and my jelly is a little liquid, so I think I should have boiled it a little longer. I threw in a star anise and a piece of cinnamon (one each per 500 grams fruit) and that gives it a lovely, almost mysterious flavor.

[Lumas]

Hello, today I made two desserts. A Halvah Cheesecake wrapped in Phyllo...the recipe is in the halvah baking thread. The second thing I made was a Rachael Ray inspired recipe. I know... laugh away. It is actually a really simple but great tasting dessert that I often make. Served it with some whipped cream with brown sugar and its "yum-o" as Rachael Ray would say. Ling, now I know what you mean about taking pictures at night. The banana pic looks horrid. I wanted to post it though because this is such a simple dessert that people usually love.

Halvah Cheesecake:

Banana, bittersweet chocolate, brown sugar and cinnamon wrapped in phyllo dough:

*I think this picture deserves to be in the gallery of regrettable food thread?*

Edited July 20, 2006 by Lumas (log)

[cathrynapple]

what?? what on EARTH is regrettable about it? i'm drooling.

[Ling]

^I agree! Both desserts look delicious, Lumas!

[Becca Porter]

Your pictures are lovely to behold as usual, Patrick...especially that delicate lemon sponge roll! I've only tried making a sponge cake roll once...that was about 10 years ago. I remember my sponge cake cracking when I was trying to roll it over the lemon curd and I got discouraged...I should try it again. 

Welcome, Marcia! The colours in your picture are so vibrant! 

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Ling, if you can get your hands on Martha Stewarts Baking Handbook, try the blackberry or chocolate roulade. They are both incredible, the blackberry one is really delicious though. I think the chocolate might be mocha. Really fantastic.

Patrick, that ice cream pic is perfect. It all looks great.

[Swisskaese]

Here is the link to the Halvah thread and the Halvah cheesecake recipe.

Lumas the cheesecake looks delicious. How did it taste? Did you use white chocolate or regular chocolate?

Chufi - Your Johannisbeeren dessert looks delicious. I bought a box of them when I was in Germany a week and half ago. I can't get them here in Israel.

Edited July 20, 2006 by Swisskaese (log)

[Lumas]

Well its 9:30 in the morning here and I am eating cheesecake The Halvah Cheesecake came out really good. I used bittwersweet chocolate instead of white chocolate. There are a few things I would change though; 1. Do not use the toasted sliced almonds inside the cake. They became somewhat soft and seemed out of place. 2. I wouldn't use phyllo dough for the crust. It makes for a nice presentation, but the bottom becomes soggy and it just blends in with the cheesecake. 3. I would use ground halvah over the whole cheesecake, not just the center. It melts while baking and forms a really tasty top layer.

Anyone have any ideas for a crust? Should I just use the typical graham cracker crust? Hm... It was good though and if you like halvah you will definately enjoy it.

[Ling]

I wouldn't use phyllo dough for the crust. It makes for a nice presentation, but the bottom becomes soggy and it just blends in with the cheesecake.

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Would it be more moisture-proof if you brushed the bottom crust with beaten egg white and bake it partially before adding the cheesecake batter?

(ETA: I remember making phyllo crusts for goat cheese and leek tarts, and I imagine the filling is similar in terms of moisture to the cheesecake batter, but I've never had a soggy bottom crust.)

An alternative to the graham crust could be the standard shortbread-like crust. I like to add toasted, ground nuts to my cheesecake crusts sometimes as well.

Edited July 20, 2006 by Ling (log)

[alanamoana]

2.  I wouldn't use phyllo dough for the crust. It makes for a nice presentation, but the bottom becomes soggy and it just blends in with the cheesecake.

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i often find that people are afraid to bake their phyllo items until actually done (dark golden brown). if it isn't too delicate of a batter, i would start the oven off at a higher temperature to set the filling so the liquid doesn't leach out into the phyllo. then bake until finished. also, if you're baking inside of a mold, you'll notice the color difference between what is exposed and what isn't. of course, this is all personal preference.

taking a look at the picture of the banana dessert you posted, i would say that the inner layers of phyllo are actually still raw.

maybe baking a little longer could help in avoiding a soggy bottom.

[Lumas]

I baked the phyllo with banana at 350 for about 15 minutes. I took it out because the inside began to melt and I didn't want the banana to turn into mush. Should I raise the temperature to maybe 400 and bake it for 12 minutes?

The cheesecake was baked at 350 for about 55 minutes. Should i start it at maybe 375 for 15 minutes?

[tupac17616]

Tupac, I know I asked for the ice cream recipes on the Dinner thread, but I'll ask again here, since this is probably more the right place.

We just got a small (just 1 qt. capacity, but it was free...) ice cream maker a couple of days ago, so that ricotta-marsala gelato was the trial run. Recipe was straight out of the instruction manual. Good flavor, but I wasn't thrilled with the texture. I can post it here if you'd like, though.

As for the buneulo ice cream, you'd have to ask Blue Bell! The stuff is really delicious, though.

[alanamoana]

I baked the phyllo with banana at 350 for about 15 minutes. I took it out because the inside began to melt and I didn't want the banana to turn into mush. Should I raise the temperature to maybe 400 and bake it for 12 minutes?

The cheesecake was baked at 350 for about 55 minutes. Should i start it at maybe 375 for 15 minutes?

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yes, i would start it at a higher temp and finish at a lower temp. all depends on your oven though. it's just the way it is with phyllo. a dessert we did was using dried fruits (this was for autumn and winter) that were moistened with a flavored tea...because the fruit was dried and the mix wasn't too wet you could bake the hell out of it and they were crispy and dark. eventually, though, the bottoms would sog out...but not for quite some time after being baked.

anyway, both of your desserts looked and sounded good anyway! you could always bake the cheesecake with a traditional crust and then bake little circles or piles of kataifi (shredded phyllo) that has been tossed with butter, sugar and maybe cinnamon or some other spice and top the cheesecake with this as a garnish when serving. that way you get the crunch without the sog!

[Ling]

Here's Henry's first baking project. We made the lemon sabayon tart with a pine nut crust from The French Laundry cookbook for a dinner party last night. It was absolutely delicious, although we didn't quite follow the baking directions. We also increased the lemon juice by a tablespoon or two, and decreased the sugar by the same amount.

Edited July 22, 2006 by Ling (log)

[miladyinsanity]

Awww... Looks yummy!

I'm working on Out-Linging the Ling. Really.

I've had a whole chocolate sheet cake--half-sheet size, no frosting. And a slice of Alice Medrich's Fallen Chocolate Souffle Torte. I can't believe that there's no cream/butter etc in the recipe! It feels rich sliding down your throat.

[shaloop]

Lemon chiffon cake with whipped cream and fresh raspberries and a slice of brown sugar cheesecake.