So I did. Results? It was really, really good. There are some things I will do differently next time, but all in all this is awesome. One thing I will do differently is to make homemade whiskey sour base instead of buying it. I know!  I bought the mixer because I was experimenting, if you have a good whiskey sour base recipe use that. The ratio is 1/3 cup Bourbon to 2/3 cup mixer. I tried it 1/4 cup to 3/4 cup and it was a little weak. There are also two ways to add the bourbon. You can add it raw if you aren’t worried that a few molecules of alcohol will get through the heat of the oven, or you can simmer it for a few minutes to evaporate the alcohol. If you simmer be sure to cool it before using.

Please note that there were only two eggs when I took this picture…the hens were lazy. Because the liquid used is not milk I added an extra measure of butter for the fat. This made the cake absolutely moist and tender. Be sure to cool it the recommended time because it will fall apart if it is too warm.

Once the cake was done I soaked it in a simmered whiskey sour syrup. This was really good, IF you like Whiskey Sours. It probably isn’t something you are going to want to take to the church picnic, or have on a weekly basis but if you are looking for unique you may have found it here.

Whiskey Sour Bundt Cake

• 2 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup butter, room temp
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup whiskey sour (1/3 cup bourbon to 2/3 cup mixer)
• zest from one lemon
• 1 cup coarsely chopped maraschino cherries

1. Preheat oven to 350F and spray or butter and flour a nonstick bundt pan
2. sift dry ingredients into a bowl and set aside
3. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy
4. Add vanilla and then add eggs one at a time, beating well after each
5. Add flour and whiskey sour mix alternately, beating well after each addition
6. Add zest and cherries, fold in
7. Spoon into a bundt pan and bake for 50 – 60 minutes or until done
8. Allow to cool on counter for 10 minutes  and then remove from pan
9. Prick the hot cake with a fork and pour the syrup over the top
10. Dust with confectioners sugar

serves 12-16

Syrup

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup whiskey sour

Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat

images:marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

Nah…it’s just Texas weather.

So I spent the week shopping with my girls. I need to still get the boys outfitted for winter but that is usually a little easier. Both girls are hard to fit. Shiloh is nearly 14, tall and long legged so it would be hard enough without the hooker-wear all the stores seem to be carrying. Trying to find a simple dress for church that is not so low cut that it shows a mile an a half of nubile 14 year old cleavage is almost impossible. While we were shopping I remembered WHY I let Shiloh wear jeans and sweaters to church.

Yes…that IS a pink BB gun….

Nothing redneck about our family…nope.

Anyway, so now my checking account need a mainline fix from Fort Knox.  Two more reasons I need to dust off the sewing machine and add sewing back to my to do list.

With all the fall weather I am feeling like autumn desserts. The house always smells so good when you are baking with the spices and pumpkin and apple flavors of fall. And what better time to eat desserts than when you are going to be wearing so many layers that you look huge anyway, right?

Speaking of layers…

Kyrie is unusual, y’all know that. Well today it was cold and dark and drizzly for Texas. She was wearing 5 shirts (yep I swear) and her new winter coat…and panties. That’s it. I said, “So, K-bug, don’t you think you should put some pants on? ” She looked serious for a minute and then said, “Nope. I have on 5 shirts so it balances out.”

I am guessing that 53F legs and 150F torso averages about 100F all over? Not sure…..

Ready to do some Autumn surfing? Here are some of the coolest desserts ever -

• Black Bottomed Mini Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites from Picky Palate
• Chocolate and Strawberry Mascarpone Cake from Passionate About Baking
• This Weeks YeastSpotting from Wild Yeast..head over there and drool..I ‘ll wait.
• Sour Cream Pumpkin Coffee Cake from Megan’s Cookin’
• Raised Waffles with Sauteed Chai- Spiced  Apples from Cookie Pie
• Pumpkin Shortbread Cookies from Adventures in Shaw
• Date Spice Loaf from Smitten Kitchen
• Congrats to Lori of RecipeGirl for TWO prizewinning pies!
• Toffee Apple Upside Down Cake from Inn Cuisine
• White Chocolate Bread Pudding from Baking Bites

image:marye audet

image: Cori from Brambleberry Cottage

Post from: Baking Delights

I used her Double Apple Cake as the basis for my cake. It was moist and full of autumn flavor: apples and spice. Among the other changes I made I substituted dried cranberries for the raisins called for. I think for best flavor you should use an heirloom type baking apple or a granny smith. Something with a tart, apply flavor. Make sure to let the cake stand, well wrapped, overnight because the flavors really do change. I served it with a smear of dulce de leche, sliced granny smith apple, and a sprinkling of pecans and dried cranberries. Vanilla ice cream or a nutmeg spiced whipped cream would be nice as well.

Since this is an easy, make-ahead dessert it is perfect for making on the weekend and having during the week. It is very sweet so a few slices of a tart apple on the plate are a welcome garnish.

Moist Double Apple Bundt Cake

• 2 cups of flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp  cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (seriously, grate your own…it is easy and it makes a huge difference in flavor)
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 10 tbs butter at room temperature
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs at room temperature
• 1 tsp maple flavoring
• 1 cup apple butter
• 2 apples grated – don’t peel if they are organic
• 1 cup pecans, chopped
• 1 cup dried cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Grease and flour a bundt cake  pan
3. Sift the flour, spices, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together. Set aside
4. Beat the butters and sugar at medium speed about 3 minutes.
5. Add the eggs, one at a time beating for a minute or two after each addition
6. Add the flavoring and switch mixer speed to low
7. Spoon in the apple butter slowly, mixing all the while
8. Add in the grated apple
9. Still on low mix in the sifted dry ingredients mixing only until blended
10. Fold in the pecans and cranberries carefully.
11. Spoon into bundt pan, smooth the top and back for 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted between the metal tube and the outside edge comes away clean. Time will depend on moisture content of the apples. My cake took 70 minutes to bake
12. Allow to cool in pans for 5 minutes, turn out and finish cooling completely
13. Wrap tightly and hold overnight

Serves 10-12

Post from: Baking Delights

Root Beer Floats are one of my guilty addictions. I have loved them since I was small. I like classic root beer floats but also love them with coffee or chocolate.  The trick to it is to get good root beer, hard to find nowadays. If you can get the real stuff from the health food store, or better yet make your own, you are on your way.

You can also get root beer flavoring at most grocery stores. You can certainly get it on line. The flavoring allows you to make root beer anything.  A while back I posted a recipe for this Root Beer Float Marble cake and I thought that today you would not mind me reminding you of it.

Here is the recipe for root beer float cake.

image:Marye Audet

Post from: Baking Delights

The girls were excited to see the kit. We have dvds of Ace of Cakes and love to watch them. Shiloh, my 13 year old has worked with fondant in the past so was looking forward to working  with it again. Remember this image?

So, Shiloh read the directions carefully and began to take the stuff out of the kit.

And the cake is fondant-ized-

Now for some decorating. Everything including sprinkles and fondant comes with the kit. We happened to have some fondant presses and molds so Shi did create a flower for the top:

When Shiloh was done Kyrie used the kit to make me a perfect imaginary cake:

So here are my thoughts.

The girls loved it. Shiloh, at 13, had no problem following directions and doing it completely without help. I would think an 8 year old would need some supervision and input to be successful. Shi had a little trouble with the frosting tip which is like an air brush. It took her about 2 minutes to get the hang of it.

The cakes were tasty. All products are gluten free and these were made with cornstarch. I think it is great that they are gluten free but wish there was an option; the cornstarch had a funny texture in my mouth. The cake is very small. Which Shi didn’t like. She hoped it would be a bit bigger. All in all she gave the set an 8/10. The thing she liked best was using the air compressor to decorate with once she go tthe hang of it. She said that they thing she didn’t like was the texture of the fondant. It was gooeyer than the fondant we use. However this will obviously not be a problem if your child is not used to working with fondant.

My main complaint is the huge amount of plastic, and the fact that it isn’t American made. I try to make a point of staying away from the type things that certain large discount stores sell. Generally I feel like girls should have the opportunity to learn skills on real utensils.  I do however applaud the attempt to get kids interested in the kitchen. I give it a 7/10.

I would probably buy this as a gift for someone else’s child. A child with much experience in the kitchen may be bored.

If you have a child that likes to decorate cakes and you don’t like the mess in the kitchen of conventional equipment this is the way to go. It is cute. I am thinking it will fly from the shelves in November. Retail is about $35.00 You can find out more at Girl Gourmet

images:maryeaudet

Post from: Baking Delights

Sugar Bomber is committed to causing copious drooling in as much of the population as it can reach in as short a time as possible. It is a cause I can believe it so I applied to be a Dictator. Yes a dictator.

My children always knew it. Now it has been made public. Basically when I find a dessert locally I submit the image to Sugar Bomber.

Today I had the great pleasure of taking out a dear friend. I have wanted to be able to do something for her for years…and I finally was able to bless  her. I took her to the Landmark here in Dallas for lunch. Jeff Moschetti is such an amazing chef…and the food was as delicious as always. We ended with small desserts. I got a chocolate financier with macerated raspberries and she got carrot cake. Check it out:

What a carrot cake!

I love how these desserts are plated. Let’s face it, it is probably the thing that sets really top restaurants from the mediocre ones is the way that the food is presented.

Check out Sugar Bomber for tons of sugary yumminess from all over. And you know? The best way to learn creative plating is to look at a lot of images.

images:Marye Audet

Post from: Baking Delights

I made it just in underthe wire once again.  I finished this cake during a birthday party for Shiloh last night!

First of all the required verbage:

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE’s blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.
We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

I have to admit here that we have been at crisis mode at our house since November with it being almost unbearable in the last month.  I say that to explain why I didn’t get January’s challenge completed and why I only did the cake this month, not the ice cream.  If I had done the ice cream it would have been the Mint Oreo Chocolate that I posted awhile ago.

Anyway.  This cake was easier than I thought it would be and was very chocolatey.  Dharm said that the chocolate would make the difference…and carry the flavor since the cake only has three ingredients.  I chose to use a combination of:

• Lindt Dark Chocolate with Chili 7 oz
• Ghiradelli Bittersweet Chocolate 3.5 oz
• Semi Sweet 6 oz

I was happy with the combination, although next time I think I would either add some good chili or use all Lindt Dark Chocolate with Chili.

The cake itself was moist and creamy.  I added a ganache to the top because I love ganache and I wanted to.

If you are in need of an awesome dessert in a hurry then this one is it.

Chocolate Valentino
Preparation Time:  20 minutes
16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter
5 large eggs separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.
2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. {link of folding demonstration}
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C
9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C.
Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.
10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE’s blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef, thanks to them both for an awesome challenge!

images: (c) 2009 marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

I have wanted to make this every since I saw it in the November/December issue of Food Network Magazine.  I loved the idea of it totally.

The thing is that when I copied their cake recipe it was not what I wanted.  It did not roll well, it broke and it was a weird texture. Didn’t like the chocolate flavor, or lack thereof, either.

Sorry, Food Network.

But other than that it was awesome.

So, if you have a rolled cake recipe that you are comfortable with then use it by all means.  If not the following is the recipe that I use.

The other thing that I did was to use Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk instead of the milk they called for.  I allowed it to heat and caramelize which added a little more complexity to the filling.

Sorry, the images are of the cake that I made using their recipe and you can see that it did not roll well.  But it was amazingly delicious, and unusual enough that everyone is going to be impressed.

Rolled Cake

5 eggs room temperature

1 c sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 c cake flour, sifted

1/4 c dark cocoa

1 1/2 oz finely grated German Sweet Chocolate

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

Combine eggs and sugar and beat until thick and lemon colored, and a ribbon forms when you lift the beater, about 5 minutes.  Add vanilla and chocolate.  Fold in the dry ingredients carefully.

Spray a 15×10 inch jelly roll pan with cooking spray, line with wax paper or parchment, and spray again.   Spoon the batter carefully into the pan, smoothing it out into corners and being careful not to deflate it.

Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Do not over bake!

While the cake is baking prepare a large towel (I use a bath towel) by laying it on the table and sprinkling with confectioners sugar.  Tip the finished cake onto the towel, and working quickly, trim  1/8 inch off the edges of the cake. Roll up in the towel and set aside to cool.

Coconut Pecan Filling

1 can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk

3 egg yolks, beaten

1 stick unsalted butter, chopped in chunks

1 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups toasted coconut

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans or macadamias

Heat the condensed milk over low heat stirring constantly.  It will begin to caramelize. When it gets a golden color carefully add some to the egg yolks to temper and whisk back into the pan.  Add the butter and stir until thick and very creamy.

Stir in the vanilla, coconut and pecans.  Allow to cool slightly but if you allow it to cool too much it will be hard to spread.

Unroll the cake and spread with the filling.  This is a thin layer, if you want it thicker double the filling recipe.  It is very rich so keep that in mind.

Image: (c) marye audet 2009

Post from: Baking Delights

This month’s challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux.
They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand.

Florilège Gourmand is all in French and the hosts this month, Hilda of Saffron and Blueberry and Marion of Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux, created 12 pages of recipe for us to experiment with.

YAY.

Needless to say I will not be copying it off here.

I put a white chocolate design on the top and allowed it to drip down the edges.

The cake had numerous layers.

1)  Dacquoise (almond)
2)  Ganache Insert (chocolate)
3)  Mousse (coffee and chocolate)
4)  Praline/Crisp Insert
5)  Mousse (Coffee and chocolate)
6)  Creme Brulee Insert (Vanilla)
7)  Chocolate Cream Chantilly
8 OPTIONAL) Dacquoise (didn’t do)

And then a chocolate glaze over all.

I left off the dacquoise on the top.  I used my 9 inch spring from pan and it was too big for the filling ingredients so I also made a layer of chocolate cream chantilly to go over the creme brulee.  It then had to be frozen.  It was still frozen when I took the picture.  You had to serve it at just the rigth temperature for optimum flavor and texure but by then it was sort of too gooey to get good slices.  Thus, the picture.

It wasn’t difficult to do but it was tedious.  The chocolate flavor was rich and intense.  I probably would not make this cake again because it seemed like too much work for a cake that even my family of sweet-lovers thought was just ‘o.k.”

My daughter, Erin, and I talked about it and decided that if I was to do it again the mousse would be flavored with Bailey’s Irish Cream to cut some of the cloying sweetness of the chocolate.

I also decided that sometime this spring I am buying a Kitchen-Aide.  Not my favorite mixer because it doesn’t do a great job on bread in the amounts that I make it BUT I hate having to hand whisk everything because mine doesn’t get to the bottom on small amounts (like three egg whites).  I am going to get a Bosch as well as a KA!  Just as soon as I sell a body part or something.

Check out the other Daring Bakers cakes…they are pretty amazing.

Images: (c) Marye Audet

Post from: Baking Delights

Ethan’s 15th birthday is Monday.  His birthday is the 29th anniversary of Marc and my first date, too.

Anyway, we celebrated it last night with friends and family.  He had three of his closest friends spend the night.  Of course one of the little brothers (of two of the friends) is best friends with Sean and Nick…so he stayed too…and then Kyrie and the grandkids, Amanda and Gabe, begged to have a sleep-over…

That is how I ended up with 12 kids in my house this morning.

Twelve.  The three littles are in the back room watching cartoons.  The big ones are in the den playing video games (one of the friends was nice enough to bring his game system ) and the medium sized ones are here in th office on one of the other computers.  Eventually they will all go home and we will be back to controlled chaos.

All of the kids that are here (with the exception of the grands) are from big families of 6 or more kids and are homeschooled.  I am always amazed at how well they all get along and interact.  There is no yelling at the littler ones, or complaining…they are letting everyone play..and it is peaceful, albeit a little loud.  Did I mention the numerous guitars?  Shiloh made breakfast this morning (I think one of the boys has a thing for her..who coud blame him? and asked her if she was cooking breakfast..so she made pancakes and apparently this one boy at 15 of them.)

With that many kids and then the adults that were here I decided to make two cakes instead of one.  They were the same base but I used french silk in place of the peanut butter mousse on one of them..I will post pictures of that one later..

The cake is good.  Moist, rich, chocolate….topped with a rich peanut butter mousse and then a thick ganache glaze it was almost too much.  Even Marc could not eat more than one piece..although the piece was quite large.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Cake

12 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup Sharffen Berger Cocoa
• 2 oz bittersweet chocolate chopped
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water
• Peanut Butter Mousse (recipe follows)
• Chocolate Ganache Glaze (recipe follows

Directions:

1.  Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 13 x 9 inch pan
2.  Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.
3. Melt butter.  Stir in chocolate until smooth and melted.
4. Add eggs, milk,chocolate mixture, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes.
5. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
6.  Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool completely.
7. Cover with the peanut butter mousse.  Chill
8. Cover with a smooth layer of the ganache.  Refrigerate about 4 hours before serving.

Peanut Butter Mousse

• 2 cups creamy peanut butter
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Beat the peanut butter and cream cheese together until blended.
2. Add sugar slowly, beating well until all the sugar is incorporated.
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating about 3 minutes after each addition.
4. Add vanilla
5. Spread on cooled cake in a thick layer.

Ganache

• 1 cup cream
• 12 ozs bittersweet chocolat, chopped

Bring cream just to a boil.  Stir in chocolate until smooth.  Spread over the peanut butter while still warm smoothing it as you go.
In retrospect, even though this is a very rich cake, I think I would give this a layer of caramel syrup between the cake and the peanut butter…just to see what that would be like…Chopped peanut butter cups on the top would be great as well.

Images: marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights