Your Daily Sweets (2005-2012)

[Abra]

Gorgeous, Heinz, and of course I have a dish of burstingly ripe plums sitting on the counter. I also have a huge bag of apples, and a mountain of blueberries and blackberries I picked this morning. I need to do some serious fruit baking!

Gfron, did you gild that ginger yourself? It's totally beautiful.

[gfron1]

Gfron, did you gild that ginger yourself?  It's totally beautiful.

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Yes, but not as fancy as you might think. Gold leaf is so delicate and wanting to stick to anything, that I took my not-so-moist ginger slivers and rolled them on the leaf.

[apronstrings]

I made nutella cream tartlets topped with chocolate covered espresso beans, alfajores rolled in chopped coconut, and little mango lime tarts sprinkled with crunchy green chopped pistachio nuts.

[Afterburner]

But all that to say, sorry if you all have discussed this, but the orignal poster, Afterburner, has been absent from the board for almost a year. Isn't that interesting and kinda sad too.

Huh. Wonder where he disappeared to...

[RuthWells]

Coconut vanilla rice pudding with chocolate croquettes. I was going to make the croquettes with tapioca soup, from the recipe in Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme, but I couldn't find any large pearl tapioca locally, and didn't want to order any. 

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Oh, yum. I must try this one!

I've been eating hunks of lemon chiffon cake (that fell out of the pan -- grrrrrrr) along with Pierre Herme's lemon cream (thanks again, Patrick!) and fresh berries. Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

[*Deborah*]

The cake I made for my 40th birthday party (ouch!): two layers of chocolate sponge (Baking Illustrated recipe) soaked in Grand Marnier syrup, with a nice solid layer of marzipan cream between, topped with about an inch-thick layer of RLB's Chocolate Oblivion (made with Callebaut semisweet, also with some GM), the whole slathered with Valrhona 61%/cream/butter/GM ganache...turned out pretty OK

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*Deborah* - what, no picture?

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Sorry for rotten quality of photo...I served with whipped cream sweetened with a touch of the GM syrup. I was quite happy with the sponge (if not the neatness of my torting ), my first effort.

Edited August 21, 2006 by *Deborah* (log)

[Ling]

Patrick, I love the red in the background of that picture. I think you captured the crunchy richness of the croquette and the light creaminess of the pudding perfectly.

Fabulous desserts all around, everyone!

On Friday, I had this incredible wasabi cheesecake with matcha ice-cream at Blue Water Cafe.

Saturday--we had quite a big meal at a Japanese restaurant, so I didn't really feel like ordering dessert, but I found some room for vanilla ice-cream as soon as I got home.

I had the same ice-cream after breakfast and dinner tonight...kind of boring.

[Chufi]

Patrick.. chocolate croquettes??? deepfried chocolate... wow I want them!

This is nothing fancy but it sure tastes good.. I got a bag of non-descript plums from my aunt, she doesn't know what kind they are, very small and red and hard and tart.

Chopped them up and stewed them with sugar, and ginger and gingersyrup from the gingerjar.. served with thick joghurt.. it was dessert but it's going to be breakfast tomorrow too!

[Ling]

What an elegant photo!

[Megan Blocker]

What an elegant photo!

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It really is! It's so spare, and the colors are so vibrant...gorgeous.

[SweetSide]

What an elegant photo!

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I wasn't thinking elegant as much as evocative -- but great nonetheless! A rush of scents, flavors, and memories flew through my head reminding me how great simple foods can be! It captures the very essence of comfort food.

[Pontormo]

*Deborah*: Before the page turns, a most Happy belated Birthday!!!!!

Klary, it looks as if you're missing your rhubarb compote!

Patrick: Any plans for baking, plating and shooting summer fruits as beautifully as you treat orange, pineapple, coconut and chocolate?

And Lorna, we all have to suffer every now and then...

(You're welcome to some of my watermelon-lime granita!)

Edited August 22, 2006 by Pontormo (log)

[Ling]

^Watermelon-lime granita sounds very refreshing!

Today I made the FL lemon sabayon tart again, this time using the sweet tart dough from a Payard book. No pic, as I've posted pics of this tart before. I do like the regular macadamia nut crust I usually do with this tart better.

[Abra]

Chufi, that beautiful plum sauce makes me laugh, because today I was doing plums for you too. I picked blueberries, blackberries, and rhubarb in the garden, and combined them with some truly wonderful plums I salvaged from an abandoned orchard, put them all under a crisp topping, and put it in the freezer for you to have for breakfast when you're here. The island fruit season will be over by then, and I wanted you to have some of everything.

I also made a deep dish blackberry pie for the freezer, and then, because I'd made extra pie crust dough, I made some treats for my husband, using some new ingredients from my pantry.

With this delicious goo that I got for my husband's morning toast

I made this

just by spreading some of the praline on the dough and then sprinkling it with cacao nibs. This maybe looks a bit better than it tastes (the opposite of my usual baking!) but it's still pretty good.

Then with this interesting, tart and tangy cider reduction

I made this

a galette filled with apples that I caramelized in butter with a little sugar, nutmeg, and the boiled cider. After piling the apples on the dough, I gave it a light microplaned dusting of farmhouse cheddar, drizzled the apple pan glaze over the cheese, and baked. Actually, I underbaked it a bit, alas, because the glaze was in danger of burning before the crust was perfectly brown. Inside, it looked like this

I seriously need someone to come over right now and get the galette out of the house. Possibly because it has no cinnamon, my husband, the ostensible eater of this creation, doesn't love it. Whereas I, unfortunately, think it's one of the best apple desserts I've ever made. If I weren't typing at this minute I'd probably be eating it. Dangerously good.

Edited August 22, 2006 by Abra (log)

[alanamoana]

abra, that galette is gorgeous!! the perfect amount of goo on the bottom crust and the flaky shortness of the crust on top...i can practically taste it right now.

what kind of dough/what recipe did you use? it just looks perfect.

edited to add: no fair talking about what you're making for Klary's visit! you'll make everyone else jealous!

also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEBORAH...A FELLOW LEO!!! your birthday cake looks properly decadent to celebrate such a momentous (if you take it that way) birthday...

Edited August 22, 2006 by alanamoana (log)

[Swisskaese]

Patrick.. chocolate croquettes???    deepfried chocolate... wow  I want them!

This is nothing fancy but it sure tastes good.. I got a bag of non-descript plums from my aunt, she doesn't know what kind they are, very small and red and hard and tart.

Chopped them up and stewed them with sugar, and ginger and gingersyrup from the gingerjar.. served with thick joghurt.. it was dessert but it's going to be breakfast tomorrow too!

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Oh Chufi, you are really making me cry. This is exactly how my great-grandmother and grandmother made their plum compote, except they put whole cloves and cinnamon sticks in theirs instead of ginger.

[Swisskaese]

I made this

a galette filled with apples that I caramelized in butter with a little sugar, nutmeg, and the boiled cider.  After piling the apples on the dough, I gave it a light microplaned dusting of farmhouse cheddar, drizzled the apple pan glaze over the cheese, and baked.  Actually, I underbaked it a bit, alas, because the glaze was in danger of burning before the crust was perfectly brown.  Inside, it looked like this

I seriously need someone to come over right now and get the galette out of the house.  Possibly because it has no cinnamon, my husband, the ostensible eater of this creation, doesn't love it.   Whereas I, unfortunately, think it's one of the best apple desserts I've ever made.  If I weren't typing at this minute I'd probably be eating it.  Dangerously good.

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OMG! That looks amazing. The only way I could make this is if I sneak some cheddar cheese in my suitcase the next time I am in London. You can't find good cheddar here.

Happy birthday Deborah from me too !

Edited August 22, 2006 by Swisskaese (log)

[Tweety69bird]

Finally I am posting on this thread!!

Although this wasn't dessert last night, I was so excited to make the Rainbow Jello Mold for last weekend, and thanks to Rachel Perlow and the others whos very helpful comments made this a great experience. I got rave reviews on it... although I did start is at abuot 8:45pm and finally was done at 2am!!

You can see the melted Jello around the base of the plate... I definately left the mold pan in the hot water too long... it should have really been only about 5 seconds.. I will know for next time.

Now I just have to learn how to take proper photos!

[lexy]

Last slice of leftover apple pie:

edited because I'm silly

Edited August 22, 2006 by lexy (log)

[*Deborah*]

Yesterday I had some of the sort of semi-homemade but really not! key lime pie I made on the weekend: white trash alert....Keebler shortbread crust, lined with semi-sweet and bittersweet, filled with Shirriff's cooked key lime filling, with a little bit of fresh lime juice extra. Without the chocolate lining it would have been pretty dire, but it wasn't bad for what it was. Actually the filling with a better crust would have been fine, but that Keebler thing is ecch.

And thanks, everyone, for the birthday wishes When I take the rest of the cake out of the freezer later this week, I will try to take a better picture.

[Pontormo]

Abra: That is one of the most beautiful galettes I have ever seen photographed. Your apples lessen the melancholy that accompanies the transition from summer to fall and the crust seems absolutely perfect in the way it responds to a fork or a knife. I've never seen bottles of reduced cider sold, I've just boiled it down myself for cakes and applesauce. Great idea.

And legourmet: I failed to recognize how pretty your plum cake is. Lexy's elegant collage reminded me.

As for the infamous jello mold . Now what pray tell does it taste like?

[Tweety69bird]

As for the infamous jello mold .  Now what pray tell does it taste like?

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It really does just taste like jello, but more intense, flavour as you are only adding 1 1/4 cups of water to the pack that usually has 2 cups added. I was a little weary about using sour cream, but it's such a small amount that you don't even taste it. I must admit that the last layer of red + sour cream looked a little odd before I turned it out onto the plate. With the great reviews I got, I would deffinately make this again.

[Abra]

Alana, that's Chefpeon's leaf lard pie crust, although I don't think I'm executing it perfectly. It's so soft it's almost a cake, just melting in your mouth, possibly due to underbaking. When I bake off the blackberry pie I'll really crank it and see if I can get it crisper.

Lexy, it's neat how you've managed to convey that "last piece" effect of the pie, making it looks a bit forlorn. That might start a new trend in Pastry With Personality photography.

Tweety, even though I don't eat Jello, I always admire the extravagant colors and shading of that mold. Was it fun to make?

Pontormo, that boiled cider comes from King Arthur flour. I think I'll be using it a lot at the holidays, especially as a glaze for roasted squash, one of my main winter food groups.

Patrick, I keep going back to look at your chocolate croquettes and rice pudding. I think that's my vote for dessert of the month.

[gini]

It was too late and too dark to take nice photos, but recently I've baked:

Ricotta Cheesecake - with lemon zest & vanilla

Blueberry Buckle - from the newer Gourment cookbook - actually the first time I've used the thing since I bought it.

[Tweety69bird]

Tweety, even though I don't eat Jello, I always admire the extravagant colors and shading of that mold.  Was it fun to make?

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Um... yeah.. the first 3 hours or so was pretty fun ... especially to see that the layers weren't blending together as I poured the new one on top. Honestly, I wanted to eliminated the last layer because it was like 1am and I was just waiting around for each layer to gel up at that point. Deffinately start it earlier in the day than me (8:45pm). It's really quite something to see it when it pops out of the mold in one piece. That made it totally worth all the time it took.