TWD: Pink Grapefruit Tart

(I'm still on time with this post :-)

I am always a bit reluctant from making tarts because I never manage to make the dough really right. But this dough was good to handle for me, although I didn't manage to roll and fit it in the shell (it broke while transferring). So I went half rolled dough half pressing dough and it was all rigth like that. I like the texture and taste of the dough so I think I am going to stay with this recipe as often as I can.

I also like the filling of the Pink Grapefruit Tart very much. Like with many tarts, you can prepare all the parts seperately and that can be a big advantage (if you have not so much time but are organized enough to start one or two days ahead) but also a disadvantage (if you are not so organized but would have time). I started two days ahead and that gave me plenty time for all the cooling periods needed here.

I did not really get the idea of the almond-lemon cream. My cream more or less "baked in", i.e. made something like a second layer to the tart shell. Ok - but what for? First I thought it is for preventing the tart shell to get soggy. But it is also a "dough" and does not have the consistence of a chocolate or at least jam layer. Anyhow - the taste was great, so why not?

The cremeux is mervellous! I like the light pink colour and also it's taste. I don't think the pictures give the colour as bright eas it was in realiyt. I used Aperol instead of Martini because that was what I had at hand - and I don't think it makes a difference. Maybe Aperol is a bit sweeter.

Preparing the fruit topping was aweful. I don't think I would do this ever again. Even though it is clearly worth all the mess. But I am a lazy baker. And as long as I don't find canned, stripped and ready-to-use- grapefruits, I will have to use other fruits for the next try.
But - as I said - I am a very lazy baker, so if you don't mind a bit more extra effort to have a very much extra looking tart, you should try it!

Have a look at the groups page to see the wonderful results of the other bakerds and buy the book by Dorie Greenspan for getting the recipe (p. 138)

PS.: I also made kind of a Crème Bruleed Chocolate Bundt from Baking with Julia (p 280-281), but, uhm, I didn't do the Crème Brulee, so I guess it doesn't count :-)

TWD: Brown Sugar Bundt Cake

When I read "Brown Sugar Bundt Cake" I thought: Hm. Dunno. Sounds not too exciting. I usually use brown sugar anyways. But then I read that the recipe calls for prunes and pears - complete change of mind! Prunes and pears are some of my favourite ingredients.

To make it short: This cake tastes wonderful and is easy in the making! I halved the recipe and still got two little children-bundts and three minis. (I use minis as "test-pieces" because I don't want to give somehting to my co-workers I have not tested before.) I made no changes to the original recipe but did cut the baking time due to the smaller mold I used.

Dorie says, the cake will be even better tomorrow, because the taste will spread through the cake. Well - I am looking forward to it! [P.S.: Now it is tomorrow - and Dorie is right, as so often!]
Thanks to Peggy from Pantry Revisited who has chosen this recipe for this week's TWD. Go to her page for the recipe or have a look at Dorie's book page 179.

P.S.: This was a big cooking and baking day for me. First, I made the bundt. Then I made some vanilla frozen yogurt (taken from David Lebovitz great book "Perfect Scoop") - my first frozen yougurt ever. Then I went to the monthly "Guerilla Bakery" - three friends baking once a month in a pop-up "store" (in fact it is their flat) and did taste some great little cakes: mini-cheescake with crumbles, peanutbutter cookies, lime cakelettes, lemon ricotta muffins and coconut-almond muffins. And no, I didn't eat all of it alone ;o]. Back home I started making vegetable soup, which is still simmering in my kitchen, made some strawberry-champagne-sorbet (also adapted from the champagne-raspberry-sorbet by David L.) and strawberry-rhubarb-compote. I guess my duty for this week is done :o] 

TWD: Nutty Chocolatey Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake

This is the second time I made a cake with a swirl, and this time I am as happy with the result as I was the first time! This cake ist just great - the moisty cake, the orange-nut-chocolate-combination for the swirl ... just wonderful. And look how pretty the swirl is!

I exchanged the chocolate chips for a chocolate spread (because I have to get rid of it...) that is infused with blood orange flavour, thus supporting the slight orange flavour in the batter.

It's made easily, looks pretty and is overwhelming in taste - what more can you ask for?

Thanks so much to Jennifer of Cooking for Comfort who opted for the great Nutty Chocolatey Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake! Go to her page to find the recipe, or have a look at Dorie's book (page 182).



P.S.: The February recipes are here! Hooray! This is going to be the last full month I bake along with the TWD-group until Easter Sunday, because I like to deny all sweets (and alcohol and meat) between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. Nothing religious. Just the feeling, some weeks without these things would be no harm after all the Advent, christmas, New Year and birthday gourmandizing. Last year I made some other recipes from the book instead that go without sugar (biscuits, scones, some muffins).  Therefore I am especially looking forward to Great Grains Muffins, Bourbon Bread Pudding and Chocolate Oatmeal Drops. (The Toasted Almond Scones were one of the recipes I pre-made last year during Lenten)

TWD - Double Apple Bundt Cake

It's fall! I like fall. I love fall. Fall is my time. Maybe it has something to do with my red hair and pale skin, what makes me the "autumn type". Maybe it has something to do with the possibility of wearing boots with your short skirts, what makes me always more comfortable than with ballerinas. Or maybe it is because I just love walking with a cappuccino to go in my hand through the red and brown leaves in the parks of Vienna before returning home for making a big pitcher of chai tea just for myself.

One of my favourite songs from my favourite band is about why they love their wives and girlfriends and all their freaky nuttiness that makes them even more adoreable, and one line translates to "because you love fall more than summer". I love this line! :o]

So, let's talk about this week's Tuesdays with Dorie, the Double Apple Bundt Cake, which is chosen by Lynne of Honey Muffin. You can find the recipe on her page or in Dorie's book on  pages 184 and 185.
It's a "double" apple bundt because you use apple butter and grated apples - and therefore end up with a pretty moisty, soft bundt cake.

It's easy made, has a great consistence, is full of autumn-flavour thanks to the appels and nuts (I skipped the raisins because I halfed the recipe, and it wasn't worth opening a whole pack of rasins for not even a handful of fruits).

I halved the recipe and made12 minis and really, really liked them. The right cake for the right time of the year! (see on the right side: a flying mini double apple bundt cake :o])

I joined TWD not even a year ago, so there are a lot of recipes I didn't bake with the group. With some I try to catch up. We had a birthday girl in the office, so I tried my luck with the Peanut Butter Torte. It was one of the early recipes in TWD, and it is easy to see, why: Because it is just incredible! It has a crust made of oreos, the filling is a mix of peanutbutter, salted peanuts, a bit of bittersweet chocolate and whipped cream. I love anything peanut, and peanutbutter is my nemesis, so it was easy to cinvince me of this torte. I am pretty satsified with the taste and looks of it, but the cream didn't firm completely. Therefore, it turned out more as a spoon dessert than a torte. But who cares as long as it is an oreo-peanut-peanutbutter-with-a-tad-of-bittersweet-chocolate-spoon-dessert!

TWD: Coconut Tea Cake

After many, many weeks, Lenten season has come to an end and so here comes an almost-in-time "Tuesdays with Dorie"-post! (Actually, this tea cake was due last week, but we were allowed to switch weeks.)

I had a coconut in my bio-basket the other week, so I decided to use it. Mary of Mary Mary Culinary gave me some hints how to transfer it into something I could bake with. And she was caring enough to take the time to have a look how it turned out. Thanks so much! (Btw.: What a great blog name! Is it just me or are there also other people who love blogs just for their name? Don't get me wrong - Mary's blog is also a delight for her pictures and all the wonderful stuff she creates in the kitchen. But I like words (does this sound odd?) and playing with language. So this is one of my absolute favourite TWD-blogs!)


I am not 100% convinced that that's what the shredded, toasted coconut should look like. Turning from white to brown just went in a second, so I missed the point when I should have taken them out. But they still didn't taste bad, so I used them nevertheless.

I opted for including some lime juice. The bio farmers at the market didn't have lime or lemons so I only used the juice from a store-bought, don't-use-the-zest-lime. I decided to take a bit more, to guarantee for the taste, because other bloggers wrote about a not very strong taste. And I decided to frost the cake with some white lime chocolate. I also opted for the rum, took a bit less sugar, and included a bit more of the shredded coconuts, not at least because my batter seemed to be very, very liquid. The recipe calls for 3/4 cups, and although I made only half the batter, I used the whole amount of coconut.
I made a small bundt and six minis. It would not have mattered to have a bit more batter, but it was ok like that, too.