Your Daily Sweets (2005-2012)

[gfron1]

Thanks Shaya. I figured that a dark chocolate would go best with the 5 Spice, so I used my favorite - El Rey 73.5%. And because it was so dark and spicy, I knew I needed to cool and sweeten...hence the mango. It was a really nice combination.

[miladyinsanity]

Hachez has a chilli-mango chocolate bar that I like.

I had another slice of the Dobos torte, but I'm sorry gfron, I forgot about pictures. I forget the world around me when I have cake. LOL. I'll remember tomorrow. I hope.

But there are more pictures. And actually, I don't know whether mine looks like the real one or not because I simply made it according to the instructions in that thread. Baked the cake, sliced, filled with chocolate buttercream and did the caramel topping.

[Ling]

Beautiful creations, Lumas and gfron! gfron, your chocolate mango dessert reminds me of mooncake! (The mango looks like the salted egg yolk found inside some of them.)

I had the "modern" pineapple upside down cake I made for the Iron Baker challenge, and a few extra slices of caramel roulade that I didn't plate as prettily.

Edited October 2, 2006 by Ling (log)

[Nina C.]

Ling - that is gorgeous! I bet it tasted good too.

Last night's dessert was a bowl of hazelnut gelato, topped with two (okay three) korova cookies and a couple of roasted figs. I'm not usually one to toot my own horn, but last night, my trumpet was blazing.

Although I think you could add korova cookies to a bowl of dirt and it would still make a delicious dessert.

[ludja]

May, be sure to post a pic - I saw your post in the dobos thread and I don't know if I've seen one of these before.  Thanks

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Hachez has a chilli-mango chocolate bar that I like.

I had another slice of the Dobos torte, but I'm sorry gfron, I forgot about pictures. I forget the world around me when I have cake. LOL. I'll remember tomorrow. I hope.

But there are more pictures. And actually, I don't know whether mine looks like the real one or not because I simply made it according to the instructions in that thread. Baked the cake, sliced, filled with chocolate buttercream and did the caramel topping.

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The photo in this link is a pretty typical example: Dobos Torte

edited to add: Here's the link to the Dobos Torte Thread.

Edited October 2, 2006 by ludja (log)

[juliachildish]

Two cakes I made, and have been snacking on since:

One, for a friend who doesn't like cake and doesn't like buttercream, was two layers of Alice Medrich's cocoa brownies with peanut butter frosting in the middle and American powdered sugar frosting on the outside.

(I got to take home some of the leftovers, but they've been too mangled to be picture worthy)

Then the same cake that Megan made a while back, the brown sugar orange blackberry cake from Gourmet. However, I couldn't find any blackberries and raspberries were cheap, so I made it with those instead. I feel like the raspberries were maybe a little too tart to quite compliment the cake, and also that raspberries go better with lemon than with orange, but it was still quite tasty. I especially liked the crunchy coating on the cake layers from the ground walnuts.

[racheld]

And they're worth another look.

[FWED]

Well about every two weeks we get together with close friends for dinner. When it is at their house I am asked to provide an appetizer and a dessert and when I am the host they are asked to do the same. This time I was asked to do an apple pie but to do something different. So here it went. Below is the photo of the "different apple pie and ice cream". It consists of a pie pastry shell filled with apple slices sautéed in butter, sugar, and lemon zest topped with a caramel sauce. The ice cream is a cinnamon/apple spice vanilla. The sauce is more of the caramel. The pic shells were made of pie dough rolled out and cut into circles with a large circular cookie cutter. These were then baked on a flexy pan turned upside down ( you could also use a muffin tin turned upside down). The pie dough drapes naturally to the contours of the pan.

[Lumas]

Then the same cake that Megan made a while back, the brown sugar orange blackberry cake from Gourmet.

Looks really good. It seems like the sides of the cake stuck to your pans? I was always having this problem because I used oil and flour, but Ling told me JUST to use a spray oil and the cakes come out perfect now. No sticking. Sorry if I am wrong and it didn't stick.

[juliachildish]

Actually no, I didn't really have a problem getting it out of the pans. I'm assuming it looks like that because of the darker areas on parts of the cake? Those are from ground walnuts that were spread in the pans-I did have a problem getting the walnuts to go up on the sides of the pan, which is why the darker areas are uneven and don't cover the sides. So I did have problems! They just didn't include getting it out of the pan...And the crumbs and cracks are just because I decided to move the whole cake to another plate to serve it, and it collapsed a little on the way.

[Parmhero]

A Lesson in the Key of Lime

I saw that stores in my area were carrying Key limes, so I decided I would make a Key lime pie from real Key limes. But since I had never made a Key lime pie before, I had to do some research to determine what constituted an authentic Key lime pie.

Say What?

I discovered that while all authorities agreed that an authentic Key lime pie consisted of three key ingredients—Key limes, sweetened condensed milk, and egg yolks—there was controversy about what constituted the crust and topping of an authentic Key lime pie.

For example, the Wikipedia states that: “Authentic Key lime pies are topped with meringue before baked.”

Contrarily, the GourmetSleuth reports that: “The traditional preparation does not put any meringue on the top of the pie.”

An entry on What's Cooking America reports that: “Aficionados of key lime pies argue endlessly about the proper way to make one. Graham-cracker or pastry crust? Meringue on top or whipped cream, or neither? Cooked or uncooked filling? The one thing that they do agree on is that under no circumstances should you ever add green food coloring. The filling of authentic key lime pie is a light yellow.”

On about.com, we find that: “Key Lime Pie recipes have few variations. The most common variations are the topping and the crust. The toppings are either a meringue or whipped cream.” The author favors whipped cream.

However, the about.com author also says that, “Traditionally, a regular piecrust is used, but a graham cracker crust is becoming more popular. Since a Key Lime Pie is kept and served cold, the regular crust tends to get soggy, but a graham cracker crust does not.”

Hmmm. GourmetSleuth and other authorities say a graham cracker crust is the traditional way.

On joyofbaking.com, we find another variation— that the meringue topping, like whipped cream, can be added after the pie has cooled. “Once the pie has baked and cooled there are two ways to garnish this pie. While some use a meringue topping I like whipped cream as its smooth texture and sweet taste just finishes off this pie perfectly.”

Self-Baking Pie

Authorities do agree that original Key lime pies generally were not baked—that the reaction of the lime juice with the condensed milk and egg yolks created a custard.

For example, from foodreference.com, we learn that:

“Because of the Keys isolation before the railroad was opened in 1912, fresh milk was hard to come by. So Gail Borden's invention of sweetened condensed (canned) milk in 1859 came in handy. It also meant that you could make a custard pie without the necessity of cooking it. The Key lime juice by itself was enough to curdle the condensed milk and egg yolks. No one knows who made the first one. They were probably made with pie crusts at first, but soon the Graham cracker crust became the standard.”

And from whatscookingamerica.net, we learn that:

“It was not until the 1930s that the first recipes were written down. Until then everyone just knew how to make the pie. No fresh milk, no refrigeration, and no ice was available in the Keys until the arrival of tank trucks with the opening of the Overseas Highway in 1930. Because of this lack of milk, local cooks had to rely on canned sweetened condensed milk, which was invented in 1856 by Gail Borden. Key lime may be the star ingredient of the key lime pie, but it is the sweetened condensed milk that makes it so smooth and delicious.”

(More confusion: Notice that whatscookingamerica.com has Gail Borden inventing condensed milk in 1856 and the Keys’ isolation ending with the Overseas Highway opening in 1930, while foodreference.com has Gail Borden inventing condensed milk in 1859 and the Keys’ isolation ending with the railroad opening in 1912.)

What's the Difference?

From www.keylime.com, we learn:

"The key lime (Citrus aurantifolia Swingle) is in a class all of its own. Much smaller than regular "Persian" limes, the key lime ranges in size from a ping-pong ball to a golf ball (about 10cm to16cm in circumference).The peel is thin, smooth and greenish-yellow when ripe. The flesh is also greenish-yellow and full of highly poly embryonic seeds (two or more plants from one seed). The interior is divided by 10 to 12 segments, quite juicy and has a higher acidity than regular Persian limes. Key limes have a very distinctive aroma, which makes them valuable for culinary use."

No Key Limes from the Keys

We also learn that Key limes no longer are grown and exported from the Florida Keys: “Homestead was the last place in Florida where Key limes were grown commercially, but the groves have been lost to hurricanes, citrus disease and encroaching development.” And sadly: “Today the key lime is almost a phantom and any remaining trees are only found in back yards and their fruit never leave the Florida Keys.”

About the origins of the Key lime trees themselves, we learn: “The Key lime tree, which is native to Malaysia, probably first arrived in the Florida Keys in the 1500s with the Spanish.” And that “They are also know as Mexican or West Indian limes.”

Finally, a March 2006 road trip report by Charles Passy in The New York Times confirms that there is no single, indisputably authentic version of Key lime pie: “The pie can be found in places from roadside diners to swank hotel restaurants. And if you drive out along the Key lime pie trail — U.S. 1 from Key Largo to Key West — you’ll find no two pies are quite alike.”

So, do you have to cook a Key lime pie today? From the Key Lime Shop FAQ we find this Q&A:

Q- Do I have to cook a Key Lime Pie?

A- No. The acids (which are high in Key Limes) actually cook the pie itself, but we think a cooked pie is tastier and has a better texture.

My Pie

Recipes varied in the number of egg yolks to use—generally from 2 to 4.

I went with the basic GourmetSleuth recipe and used four egg yolks, one 14. oz. can of Bordens sweetened condensed milk, a little over a half cup of fresh squeezed key lime juice (about 2 dozen Key limes), and I used about 2TB of Key lime zest, a bit more than the recommended 2 tsp.

I went with a plain graham cracker crust—I used 18 original Nabisco graham crackers, about 2 TB brown sugar, and one stick of butter, melted. I pulverized the graham crackers in a food processor and mixed in the melted butter and sugar in a bowl with a rubber spatula. I worked the crust into shape in a glass pie plate with my fingers. I baked my crust for 12 minutes, then filled it and baked the pie for 15 minutes.

(Some recipes add ground nuts to the graham cracker crust. For example, Paula Deen uses ½ cup almonds in her crust. Adding ground nuts is a nice touch, but I decided to do the first one “pure.”)

I’m not a big meringue fan, and I found the GourmetSleuth credible in that authentic key lime pies do not use meringue. I also sided with the GourmetSleuth and others who favored whipped cream as an optional topping served as a dollop.

So I made whipped cream with heavy cream, a little brown sugar, 1 TB sour cream, and pure vanilla extract.

The limes

So here she is. My maiden Key lime pie:

A slice

Add a dollop of whipped cream, bam!, a pecan halve, wham!, and there you have it, Voila!

The pie was excellent—a delicious melding of tart, sweet, creamy, buttery lime custard and cookie cracker crumb crust.

One last note of interest:

As of July 1, 2006, Key Lime Pie is the Florida state pie.

Edited October 4, 2006 by Parmhero (log)

[ludja]

Yum, that looks great parmhero!

You should consider starting a new thread on key lime pie and use this nice informative post where it will be able to be seen and referenced in the future also! It would be a great topic as there are lots of different ways to go with this pie as you alluded to...

After seeing your post I may need to make one of these soon!

[CanadianBakin']

Well about every two weeks we get together with close friends for dinner.  When it is at their house I am asked to provide an appetizer and a dessert and when I am the host they are asked to do the same.  This time I was asked to do an apple pie but to do something different.  So here it went.  Below is the photo of the "different apple pie and ice cream".  It consists of a pie pastry shell filled with apple slices sautéed in butter, sugar, and lemon zest topped with a caramel sauce.  The ice cream is a cinnamon/apple spice vanilla.  The sauce is more of the caramel.  The pic shells were made of pie dough rolled out and cut into circles with a large circular cookie cutter.  These were then baked on a flexy pan turned upside down ( you could also use a muffin tin turned upside down).  The pie dough drapes naturally to the contours of the pan.

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What a great "apple pie"!

[emilyr]

A Lesson in the Key of Lime

I saw that stores in my area were carrying Key limes, so I decided I would make a Key lime pie from real Key limes. But since I had never made a Key lime pie before, I had to do some research to determine what constituted an authentic Key lime pie. 

...

One last note of interest:

As of July 1, 2006, Key Lime Pie is the Florida state pie.

←

This looks awesome!

Here's a couple links to my aunt's search for the perfect KLP.

Column #1

Column #2

[Ling]

^I love how candid your aunt was when admitting she favoured the commercial key lime pie.

Today I made extra snappy gingersnaps with leaf lard! Mmm...

[Pan]

Key limes are native to Malaysia? Then why is the Malay word for lime "limau," which is the same word (spelled slightly differently) as the Portuguese word? No, I don't think the Portuguese borrowed the Malay word, because what of "lemon," in that case? By the way, I think the appearance of those limes is similar to garden-variety limau in Malaysia, but I'm not sure if there's some special name for that variety.

Great demo!!

Edited October 4, 2006 by Pan (log)

[misstenacity]

An unphotographed dessert tonight, slowly served up in tiny bites with my diminutive favorite spoon:

Fage Total 2% yogurt with homemade fig preserves.

Edited October 5, 2006 by misstenacity (log)

[gfron1]

Amygdalota me Orange

These are almond cookies dipped in orange blossom water, powdered sugar, shaped like a pear.

A little distraction from pig snout desserts

[alanamoana]

gfron1,

i get the idea that the amygdalota are very similar to mexican wedding cookies? we used to make a mexican wedding cookie recipe and dip them in orange blossom water and then vanilla sugar...looks similar...

very cute, by the way! did you use whole cloves as the stems?

edited to add: scratch what i just posted...i checked the other thread on amygdalota and you mention they are chewy, not crumbly...which is what a mexican wedding cookie is.

Edited October 5, 2006 by alanamoana (log)

[gfron1]

Yes they are more chewy than crumbly - no crumbs missed my mouth in the eating of this cookie

And yes I did use the whole clove for the stem. The orange water/sugar dipping process formed a glaze, so while the pic makes it look like there was loose powdered sugar - there wasn't.

[Ling]

Grand Marnier cheesecake (and an out-of-season strawberry )

[gfron1]

Great picture Ling!

[Lumas]

Vegan Muffins With Apricot Jam in the center

[Patrick S]

For dessert, apple cake from a recipe found at Payard's website. Simple but satisfying.

Flickr

[Chufi]

Nigella Lawson's marzipan cake.

It has equal amunts of marzipan and flour, which makes a very almondy, dense cake. Also, this was my first time making and using ganache... good stuff!