TWD: I'm back with Pufflets, Espresso Cheesecake Brownies, and Lime-Ginger Tartlets

Hello everyone! I've missed blogging with you. It's great to be back.

What happened? Well, I blame it on Murphy's Law of Old House Renovation Projects. But I'll leave the details on that to the end of the post. First I want to get caught up on some of the Tuesdays with Dorie recipes that I made, but didn't post on time.

These are the Cottage Cheese Pufflets, chosen by Jacque of Daisy Lane Cakes. Aren't they cute?


As many other folks reported in the Problems and Questions for this recipe, the dough was extremely moist and sticky. I ended up adding a lot of extra flour before chilling the dough, and more while rolling it out. (I like to use pastry flour when doing this, as it is less likely to toughen the dough.) This worked fine, and the results were not at all tough or dry. But next time, I will try draining some of the liquid from the cottage cheese before starting.

And the filling? I dove into the fridge and was startled by how many different open jars of jam we had! And only one had turned into a science project. (That one got tossed, of course.) So I made just a few pufflets with each filling. We had Dundee Orange Marmalade and Ginger Preserve, Rose's Key Lime Marmalade, Crofter's Apricot Conserve and Four Fruit Conserve, Smucker's Pineapple Preserve, and home-made greengage plum jam, blueberry conserve, tangelo marmalade and pink grapefruit marmalade.

Some of the pufflets are still in the freezer waiting to be baked up. Of the ones I did bake, the ginger and tangelo were my favorites. The pufflets were just a little underdone in the center despite being nice and brown on the outside. Still, the pastry was nicely flakey and tangy! Next time I will bake them a little longer. And Dorie is right, they don't keep worth a d***n. Eat 'em up fast, folks!


I also made the Espresso Cheesecake Brownies, chosen by Melissa of Life in a Peanut Shell. Sorry, I didn't take a picture before taking them into work, where they quickly disappeared! As other folks said in the Problems and Questions, I found the brownie batter rather stiff and the cheesecake batter rather runny. I added two tablespoons of sour cream to the brownie batter and it came out just fine. However, I overbaked them slightly and the cheesecake part developed deep cracks. We're talking Grand Canyon sized cracks here! The sour cream topping covered that up and also added a wonderful flavor note. I was thinking of omitting it and was glad I hadn't. But it was a bit runny for a dessert to bring into work. I think I'd substitute cream cheese for a portion of the sour cream next time.

I'm a fan of just plain brownies -- fudgy, with plenty of chocolate and some nuts and nothing else, please -- but these were good enough to give the plain brownies a run for their money!

And finally, here is the Creamiest Lime Cream Meringue Pie, as chosen by Linda of Tender Crumb.

OK, it's a tart (with an almond pastry crust) and it's topped with whipped cream, not meringue. (Neither of us here at the bungalow like meringue.) I used less butter in the lime-ginger cream -- only one stick. (But it was Euro-style butter with extra butterfat.) I think I added a bit too much grated ginger to my cream -- it came out more like a ginger cream with hints of lime. But it was still fabulous!

I tried a recipe from Rose Levy Beranbaum's Pie and Pastry Bible for the crust. It tasted great but came out too firm. You couldn't cut it easily and even biting into it was a bit of a problem. I've had this problem with Dorie's recipe too. Since both of these ladies really know their stuff, I think the problem must be with me. I must be doing something wrong. Hm. More experimentation is called for.

Oh, and by the way, the Lime Cream freezes beautifully. So I have plenty left to fill my tart-crust experiments. I may even try blending some with gelatin-stiffened whipped cream to make a lime-ginger mousse.

So -- what kept me away from the blog? Well, my Mom was coming to visit at the end of September and of course that meant we needed to do a really thorough housecleaning. And clear all the stuff out of the guest bedroom, which I have been using for a "project storage" area for a long time. And finish off the renovation project of repainting the living room.

Oh my, Murphy's Law that "Anything that can go wrong, will" really got us on the last one. Jim started opening up the cracks in the plaster for repair. And the old paint (which had appeared reasonably solidly attached until then) started flaking off...and flaking off...and revealing not one, but two layers of chalky calcimine underneath...

The project got pared down to just the north wall and a portion of the west wall. It still took a long time.

Much, much later, after much scraping, washing, patching, and skim-coating, we finally were able to apply the paint. That went quickly enough...

And now we have put all the bookshelves back against the wall and you can't even see most of the paint! Sigh.

All the books, records, CDs, DVDs and so forth from the living room are still in boxes in the dining room. We haven't actually eaten in the dining room for months. Maybe soon...

Oh, and my Mom's visit was great. We got the guest room, bathrooms and kitchen clean and she had no objection at all to eating out in the sunroom. (In fact, it gave her a better chance to birdwatch.) And we even managed to sit down on our new living room couch and watch a DVD together. (Hiyao Miyazake's "Kiki's Delivery Service." Love his animations.)

Last week's Caramel-Crunched Chocolate Tart is still in progress. I hope to post it soon and then we're on to the Split Level Puddings!

TWD: Applesauce Spice Bars, a little late

This week's assignment for the "Tuesdays with Dorie" group was to make Applesauce Spice Bars, from pages 117-118 of Baking: From My Home to Yours. I made them a little late and took them in to work on Friday for a co-worker's 65th birthday potluck. This is the only picture I have -- of the few that were left!


Many thanks to Karen of Something Sweet by Karen for choosing this recipe! It's a perfect recipe for a potluck. Moist (they won't dry out while sitting out on the potluck table), flavorful, delightful and easy to make!

I made a few changes to the recipe. I used about 1/3 cup of whole wheat pastry flour, and ended up using 1 cup of bleached all-purpose flour. (The batter seemed a little thin and I was afraid the fruit would sink, so I sprinkled in a bit of extra flour when I added the fruit and nuts.) I reduced the sugar in the cake to 3/4 cup -- next time I would reduce it to 2/3 cup.

And for the glaze, I had to improvise a bit because I was out of cream. So, I heated the sugar, butter and corn syrup together, then stirred in about 1/4 to 1/3 cup (2-3 ounces) of cream cheese. A hint -- it's better to soften and whip the cream cheese a bit before adding it. I didn't do this, and I had to beat the **** out of the glaze before it smoothed out. It needed a bit more sugar to balance the tang of the cream cheese, but the final result was very tasty! I may do this again.

The bars were moist and spicy and very tasty. The apple flavor was more in the background, but that was OK. These may be showing up at more potlucks!

TWD Late Report: Classic Banana Bundt Cake

The "Tuesdays with Dorie" recipe for August 4, 2009, was the Classic Banana Bundt Cake, chosen by Mary of The Food Librarian. For the recipe, visit this page on her blog, or this link on Serious Eats.


Well, I actually made this recipe on time, but it's taken me this long to write up my blog post. July is a busy time! Busy at work (everyone is ordering school uniforms and we sell them), busy in garden. It was a big success!

I've been coveting a full sized Bundt pan for a long time. I could have halved the recipe and made it in my lovely mini-rose pan, but this was the perfect excuse to buy this instead. To make my husband a little happier with the purchase, I also ordered Angel: After the Fall, volume 4. Ah, the wonders of ordering on Amazon! Bundt pans and comic books all in the same box!

I made only a few changes to the recipe. I swapped out 1/3 of the flour for whole wheat pastry flour, used yogurt (because the sour cream had turned into a science experiment), and added some walnut pieces. For some reason it just isn't banana cake to me unless it has nuts, preferably walnuts.


I also inadvertently decreased the baking soda to 1 1/2 teaspoons. I think that is why my cake had such a rounded top. Did you know that if your cake "domes" it can be a sign of too little leavening? Or too much gluten development? In this case, I'm sure it was the leavening. It always seems counter-intuitive to me. Doesn't it seem like a big rise in the center should come from too MUCH leavening? But no, all the cake experts agree it's the other way around.

Well, despite this minor flaw, the cake was wonderful. I didn't bother with glaze as I'm not a fan. One large slice was set aside for my husband and the rest went in to work. It was much appreciated!

Banana cake success! And a new Bundt pan! What could be better?

TWD: Black Raspberry Blancmanger

The assignment for this week's "Tuesdays with Dorie" was Raspberry Blancmanger, chosen by Susan of Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy. Thanks, Susan! I've read the phrase "quaking like a blancmanger" but never actually made or eaten one. It's very light and delicious! Check out Susan's blog if you want the recipe.


This was half the recipe, made in a 6-inch springform pan. I used purchased almond flour, which gave it a very smooth texture. For the bottom, I tried a variation of Dorie's Chocolate Pastry Crust, with more sugar and less cocoa. But it was a bit tough, I think I overbaked it. Still pretty good. I think a thin layer of sponge cake would be the very best bottom layer for this. The light texture would go better with the light, fluffy blancmanger. Or, crisp almond or chocolate cookies on the side...mmm.

The black raspberries are almost done for this year. We have a whole lot in the freezer and a few left for eating fresh.

See you all next week!

TWD: Brioche Apricot-Raspberry Tart

This week's project for Tuesdays with Dorie was a Brioche Plum Tart, chosen by Denise of Chez Us. Really it's more like a coffeecake, with a sweet bread dough bottom topped with jam and fruit. Check out Denise's blog for the recipe, or look on pages 54-55 of "Baking: From My Home to Yours."

I changed it up by using apricots, home-made black raspberry jam, and fresh black raspberries from our own garden. Unfortunately it was gone before I got around to taking a picture! So you'll have to visit some of the other TWD bakers to see what it looks like. Meanwhile, I'll tempt you with a closeup of our wild "blackcaps."


As I don't have a stand mixer, I made the brioche by hand. Here are my tips on doing this: mix flour and salt, place in bowl, and make a well in the center. Proof yeast and milk, and then mix with other wet ingredients, including melted butter. Pour into center of flour mixture, then mix with spoon or large spatula until it comes together.

Now for the tricky part -- this dough is way too moist and sticky to knead in the usual way. I started out with stirring, then found that it worked better to plunge my spatula under some of the dough and pull it up out of the bowl, stretching it as I went. Eventually that got tiring, so I oiled my hand very well and started pulling the dough by hand. I'd grab a bit and pull it up, leaving it attached to the rest of the dough so that the gluten got stretched.

Eventually the dough became very "lively" -- it would actively pull back into the bowl after I let go of it, sometimes moving around quite a bit before settling down again! I figured this meant the gluten was properly developed, so I went on with the rest of the recipe as written.

The only mistake I made was not to trust Dorie's baking instructions. After 20 minutes in a hot oven, the brioche dough was so brown around the edges that I got alarmed and turned the oven down. Bad idea. That just meant it took longer to bake, and the brioche dough ended up a bit on the dry side. It was still very yummy!

Next time I might add a little more butter to the dough. And I'd tent the tart with a ring of foil, so the center stays exposed and cooks better while the edge is protected. This would be good with all sorts of fruit!

TWD: Perfect Party Cake, orange version. Happy Birthday USA!

Happy Fourth of July! Let's celebrate with an orange-flavored version of Dorie Greenspan's "Perfect Party Cake." This was the Tuesdays with Dorie assignment for June 30, chosen by Carol of mix, mix...stir, stir. You can find the recipe on her blog -- as well as lots of interesting recipes and information about spices. Oh, and be sure to read the tips from Dorie (and Nick Malgieri) as well!


My choice of flavor was due to very practical considerations -- I had made a recipe of orange-flavored Italian meringue buttercream many months ago, and it was still sitting in the freezer needing to be used up! (The recipe was from The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. Sorry, it's not on the Web.) So, I went with orange-flavored cake, orange marmalade, and orange curd for the other cake components. (And home-made candied orange peel for the decorations.)


Cakes are still a "learning experience" for me but this one turned out quite well despite some problems along the way.


Here's the cake batter -- half of Dorie's recipe, in 6-inch pans. It seemed like a thin layer. I used orange zest and orange extract in place of lemon, and increased the amount to 1 1/2 times the original. I also reduced the sugar (by 2 Tablespoons for the half recipe) and added 1 Tablespoon of vegetable oil. Oh, and I weighed my flour, using that one cup of unsifted cake flour is 4.0 ounces.

Things I've learned about cakes along the way: use the right type of flour, and measure it the way the cookbook author does (best of all is if she gives weights--Dorie, please mention that to your publisher!). Have the butter soft, but not melted, and cream it with the sugar for a long time. Don't get impatient at this step! (I have to keep reminding myself of that.) Mix gently once you start adding liquid. And, pay attention to your oven temperature. Mine runs cool, so I always turn it up by 15 degrees. Then things bake just right.

In the picture above, see those foil strips around the cake pans? Those are my home-made "cake strips." They have wet paper towels inside. It slows down the baking of the outside edges of the cake, so it bakes more evenly. You can see them below, behind the cakes, opened up so they can dry out and be re-used.


Here are the cakes on the cooling rack. They rose nicely, but didn't fill the pans all the way. They didn't brown at all, but the edges were pulling away from the pans and the top was springy, so I pulled them out. They were fine, moist and fluffy and just right.

Making the other components and assembling the cake turned out to be more of a job.

Well, the marmalade wasn't that hard. It was just a mixture of store-bought (Dundee's) and home-made. Next time I would either strain out the bits of peel, or puree it finely in the blender or food processor. I thought the bits of peel were a distraction to the suave texture of the cake, filling and frosting. And, I'd use an even thinner layer of marmalade -- the flavor was a bit too strong. Marmalade is very assertive!

The orange curd turned out to be a PITA. Partly that was my own fault. Instead of sticking with the recipe from Rose Levy Beranbaum that has worked for me before, I decided to get creative and adapt Cook's Illustrated filling from their Lemon Layer Cake. The recipe intrigued me because it had gelatin added, for extra thickness. I made half the recipe, substituting frozen orange juice concentrate (undiluted) for the lemon juice. The result? Very eggy, barely tasted of orange at all. I added some frozen orange zest, then some fresh orange zest. Still not orangey enough. Some strained marmalade. Still not enough, and now it was getting runny. Finally I added about 1 1/2 tablespoons of Grand Marnier, with more gelatin sprinkled over the top and dissolved. Ah, that did the trick! Let's hear it for Grand Marnier! But, now I had to chill it overnight--and it still was a bit runny. Sigh.

Finally I sliced the cakes and filled them. The orange curd was oozing out all over. More chilling, then gently scraping / smoothing the extra curd on the sides of the cake. Finally I could frost this beast!

It's amazing. Frozen and thawed Italian meringue buttercream looks like a nasty, curdled mess. But get it back to room temperature and beat the heck out of it, and it smooths right out! Put one coat on, chill (and watch the 4th of July fireworks), put the other coat on, decorate, eat!

The cake was delightful. The curd tasted good, but next time I'll start with Rose's recipe and add gelatin. (And maybe Grand Marnier.) The buttercream was not too sweet and tasted nicely of orange, not butter (it also had orange curd and Grand Marnier). But I find the texture of buttercream to be a bit too slippery for my taste.

I like frostings that are very light and fluffy, but not sweet. Whipped cream is ideal, except that it doesn't keep well. Cream cheese frostings are great (as long as they're not too sweet), but a bit heavy. Hmm. Do you suppose it would be possible to make an meringue-and-cream-cheese frosting instead of a buttercream?


Thank you, Carol, for finally giving us the chance to make this cake for Tuesdays with Dorie! Be sure to check out all the other fabulous versions by the other TWD bakers.

TWD - the party will be later

Hi folks, just a quick note to say that the Perfect Party Cake will be coming along sometime this week -- just not yet! Frosting made & in freezer. Orange curd made & in fridge. Cake, well...not yet.