TWD: Depths-of-Fall Butternut Squash Pie

This week we had the option between two of my biggest challenges: Madeleines, which are hard to handle for me, as I have no Madeleine-mold, and they just do not turn out as they should in Callisson-molds or anything else. And - when I made them for the first and only time in my life they didn't get fluffy and soft as they should. I am no Madeleine-Master....
The second option was a challenge as well, as I am physically not able to do a decent pie/tarte crust. No idea why. I just always always always have troubles with them.

Nevertheless, I choose the Pie. I love pumpkins. And when we first made a pumpkin pie for the TWD-group I was more than thrilled by the result. We don't celebrate Thanksgiving round here, therefore it never came to my mind to make something sweet with pumpkins - although now it seems so evident, because they naturally bring a sweet taste with them.

Besides the crust, which was an, uhm, let's say adventure, as always - the filling and baking was very easy. I had to cover the pie with foil very soon (after about 15/20mins) and did bake it slightly longer. For the optional dried fruits I voted for cranberries because it seemes more interesting than rasins and more thanks-giving-ish. Instead of the nuts I used pumpkin kernels and it worked out perfectly.

I can only say that I love this pie! The pumpkin and pears and cranberries match perfectly. If you haven't already - go and try it! It's just what I imagine Thanksgiving should taste like in my humble european view!

For the recipe you can go to Valerie's blog "Une Gamine dans la Cuisine". She did pick this Fall Butternut Squash Pie for us this week. Or have a look in Dorie's book on pages 328-329.

For the Mini-Madeleines, look here how they turned out for my fellow bakers. The recipe can be found on Di's blog "Kitchen Notebook" or on page 172 in "Baking".

TWD: Honey Nut Scones and Far Breton

Far Breton was actually the recipe I thought I would chose when my turn arrives - but in the very last moment I made up my mind and picked the Fig Cake from last week. The more I was glad when I read that the Far is on the schedule just one week later. And as I made it now, I am very, very glad I didn't choose it as "my" selection, because I managed to completely ruin it. And as I have no idea what went wrong at which stage I guess this is just not made for me.

In the end, both recipes for this weeks TWD turned to very very delicious - the Honey Nut Scones, chosen by Jeannette of the Whimsical Cupcake, were awesome. And the Far Breton, chosen by Nicole of Cookies on Friday, was completely not what it should have been, but spooned out of the mold stil very, very tasty.

I love scones in any way, but this scones recipe is definitely a keeper. I made only half the batch and had them for Sunday breakfast with some goat cheese. Just won-der-ful! Nothing else to say about the recipe that can be found at Jeannette's page or in Dorie's book on p. 31. Baking time was maybe slightly shorter, but despite that - just stick to the recipe and you will end up with a perfect breakfast treat.

For the Far, I made also only half the recipe. This recipe is written down in Dorie's book on pp. 202-203 - or have a look at Nicole's page. The first problem arrived when I filled two mini spring forms with the batter. It just ran out. The recipe calls for lining the bottom of the springform with parchment, what I did. But obviously this is a translation problem or just my lack of understanding of baking. The parchment left a mini leak in the form, so the batter ran out and made a massive mass in the oven. I quickly realized the problem and arrived and saving some of the batter and transfering it to another (porcellain) form.

Then the Far became very brown on the top very quickly. Covering the form with foil didn't help a lot. When the top was already burnt at the edges - the batter was still almost liquid in the middle. Then I decided to take it out of the oven and make a spoon-dessert of it. Like that it did taste very good. I like prunes a lot and the batter is very tasty. But from my time in Paris I know what a Far should be - and this was not similar in any way.
I took a picture, just to show I made it, but will spare you from the rest of the ugly pics...

I'm not sure if I will have the guts to try it again. But the scones will be on my Sunday-breakfast-table soon again!

TWD: A Fig Cake for Fall

It's now almost two years that I started baking with "Tuesdays with Dorie". I am one of the lucky last that had the opportunity to join. The story how I found the group is a strange one - at least all my friends and colleagues, who usually are the benefitors of my bakings - do think so. Baking is a somehow strange hobby for my friends. Cooking - sure. But baking?!?

In summer 2009 I had the chance to work in Paris for some month. I was there from may to August, and believe me - there are worse things in this world then spending summer in Paris! (Actually, I like autumn in paris more, but summer is great as well! And after all - it's Paris, so how could anybody complain...)
I was looking for a yoga-studio with english speaking instructors and found a blog entry from somebody obviously American who had some other hints and tipps for foreigners in Paris as well. As I made my way through the blog I found out it's a cook's blog, actually, a dessert cook's blog who moved to Paris some years ago and started writing about cooking. Therefore, his blog was full of tipps about bakeries and restaurants and cafés in Paris - just what I urgently needed!
(If you are a bit into Dorie's world, than you will have guessed from the start that I am writing about David Lebovitz). Funnily his book (The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World's Most Glorious - and Perplexing - City) came out just that summer and I catched a book reading and signing. I loved him! He is such a great entertainer, but I guess thats something typical American.

The same year I came back to Paris for some more work in autumn for a few weeks. And there was a panel discussion in the American Library with David L. and two other authors - of whom Dorie Greenspan was one of. I had read about her in David's blog and somewhere, don't ask me how and why, saw that there is a group baking it's way through one of her books. Strange idea, I thought, never heard of somehting like that. (Now I know that there are other groups, similar to this, too, but believe me - no one of all my friends has ever heard of something like that before!)

When I saw Dorie at this discussion she was that nice, interesting and fascinating that I had to ask her for a signature in one of her books and then I took all my guts and said: "Well, you know that there is a group baking all recipes from your book" -  "Yes!" she said, and smiled, "I know, they are so great. I love this group!" I asked her if she thinks that everybody in this group is an experienced baker and if it would be difficult for a newbie like me (I had never ever baked anything in my whole life before). "No, for sure not! There are very very experienced bakers, almost professionals, and there are also hobby-bakers and starters like you. If you want to hear my opinion: Everybody should bake, because it can make you happy - it makes me happy. And the group is very, very supportive to everybody. The founder - she is such a great person. Ask her for joining! She is the nicest person you can think of."
And so I did - and here I am. When I joined the group I didn't think I will have the opportunity to pick a recipe due to the many bakers - the more I was excited that it actually did work out!

I wanted to choose a recipe that fits with the season. The Fig Cake for Fall has autumn already in the name, and: I love cornmeal and I love figs! I am sorry, because I read in the P&Qs that figs are not avaliable everywhere right now. I was only thinking about Vienna/Austria, where I live - and was not so foresighted to think about that fact, that most of the group is living in the US. And I have no overview when which fruits have season over there. So - I am really sorry and hope you all found a way to substitute for the figs!

And here we go (because I am European and a non-english-native I will also give European measures. If anybody should read this, having the same problems but capable of German - I can only recommend this page)

A Fig Cake for Fall

(taken from Dorie Greenspan's "Baking - From my Home to Yours, pp 198-199)

 

GROWN IN climates that bring to mind the word "sultry", figs conjure sun and heat and sensuality. But the fig has an autumnal side too, reminding us of warm months while it heralds shorter days and cooler nights. This cake plays to the fruit's affinity for fall and chill-wheather foods like cornmeal, honey and ruby port. The buttery cake is a moist, appealing round, sweetened with honey and distinguished by the addition of yellow cornmeal. The cornmeal and honey provide a somewhat Italienate base for the fruit, which is lightly poached in port and honey before it is pressed into the batter. And there's a bonus - once the figs are poached, the remaining syrup is boiled for a few minutes and becomes a lovely sauce. Sauced, the cake jumps from an everyday treat to a company dessert.

MAKES 8-10 SERVINGS

SERVING: Offer wedges of the cake topped with the port sauce (which can be warmed, if you'd like). Whipped cream or icecream alongside would be even lovlier.

STORING: Wrapped well, the cake will keep at room temperature for 2 days.

3/4 cup ruby port [about 0,2 l]
1 cup honey [300g]
2 thin slices lemon
16-20 fresh figs, stemmed and halved
1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal [225g]
2 teaspoons baking powder [the best is to just use a usual teaspoon herefore]
1/4 teaspoon salt [here, again: just take about the quarter of a usual teaspoon]
1/4 cup sugar [55g]
grated zest of 1/2 lemon
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces, at room temperature [180g]
3 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract [5ml]

FOR THE FIGS AND SAUCE: Stir the port and 1/2 cup of the honey together in a small saucepan. Toss in the lemon slices and bring to a boil over medium heat. Lower the heat, add the figs, cover the pan and cook for 4 to 6 minutes, or until the figs are soft but not falling apart.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer the figs to a bowl. Raise the heat just a little and cook the poaching liquid for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until slightly thickened; the syrup should coat a metal spoon. Remove the pan from the heat and set the sauce aside.

GETTING READY TO BAKE: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F [175°C]. Butter a 9-inch springform pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper, butter the paper and dust the inside of the pan with flour, tapping out the excess. Put the pan on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.


TO MAKE THE CAKE: Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. 


 

Put the sugar and grated zest in the bowl of a stand mixer or another large bowl, and rub them together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist, grainy and aromatic. Toss in the butter. 



With the paddle or whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until creamy, about 3 minutes.

Add the eggs one by one, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Pour in the remaining 1/2 cup honey, add the vanilla extract and beat for another 2 minutes. The mixture may look curdled and not so pretty - keep mixing, it will get better soon. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated; you'll have a fairly thick batter.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and jiggle the pan from side to side a few times to even the batter, then scatter the poached figs over the top.
 



Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until the cake is puffed and golden brown and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cake to slightly warm or to room temperature before serving it with the sauce.

-----------------------------

I still have only a hand-mixer and for the first month I baked without cup- and spoon-measures (they are not usual in Europe - I had to import them when I visited some friends in the States). I learn at least one new english word every week when I try to figure out what the recipe is all about. And I learned: Dorie is always right! If she tells you to butter foil - do it. If she asks for lining the bottom of a spring pan with parchment - don't doubt. Dorie knows best. Period. 




Thanks everybody who tried out the recipe despite the fig-problem and I hope you enjoyed it! And thanks to anybody who made the effort to respond my questions, leave a comment or even read my 2 cents in the last two years! I really appreciate and value that!

I might be not the most enthusiastic commentator on your blogs, but that does not mean I don't read it and would not be blown away every week from anew by the results all of you create!

[And I HAVE to say (despite nobody who reads this will understand): 'Ich hab das Schönste auf der Welt gesehen: Paris im Herbst' ]

TWD: Ginger-Jazzed Brownies

If you like ginger and if you like chocolate this is the perfect recipe for you!
These Ginger-Jazzed Brownies, chosen for this week's TWD by Hindy of Bubie’s Little Baker are not very fudgy, but a bit more soft than really cake-like brownies.
For my taste preferences, they could have been even a bit more moisty. And even a bit more ginger-y.

I am a ginger-lover since some years now, therefore I was very much looking forward to this recipe, and didn't get dissappointed. I dressed them up a bit with a chocolate glaze and some chopped candied ginger.

I wonder if you could swap the corn syrup for honey and the chocolate glaze for lemon glaze as both are usually a good flavour combo with ginger. Next time, I'll try these changes!

For the recipe turn to Hindie's page or have a look into Dorie's book on p. 101.

TWD: Basic Biscuits

Biscuits, biscuits, biscuits!
I love doing biscuits, I love eating biscuits  - I love biscuits!
Therefore, I am always happy if someone chooses a biscuit recipe for the weekly TWD rotation. As did Jennifer of Cooking for Comfort this time. Go to her page to find the recipe for Basic Biscuits, or have a look into Dorie's book on page 21.

This recipe truely deserve it's name. It is very basic and not too hard to handle. Because I live in Europe and have no biscuit cutter, my biscuits are usually, well - lets call them "creatively shaped". Maybe the only thing not really classic about these biscuits. They do not raise a lot, so I got slightly flat biscuits. But I don't mind at all!

I sprinkled some of them with slivered almonds, and think they did match very well. But in the end, the recipe does not need any dressing up, as the biscuits are perfect just the way they are!

TWD: Apple-Nut Muffin Cake

October!

Here in Vienna we actually get a full compensation for the terrible summer. Maybe you guys in the US can't belive it, but in Europe we had the probably most awful summer in decades - rain, rain, rain and cold weather. But now it is indian summer, and the "summer" dominates". You can sit outside in the evening and get sunburnt when you stay out around noon. It's not too hot, but just perfect. Wonderful!

Therefore, this week's TWD-recipe, The Apple-Nut Muffin Cake, did correspond perfectly with the calender - but not so much with the weather. Katrina of Baking and Boys has opted for this wonderful autumn-recipe.

This is a good, in my perception almost classic, apple-cake recipe. Nothing too extraordinary, nothing too difficult. Apples, nuts, raisins, that's it. Add some oats and you get an interesting tiny crunchy texture. Go to Katrin's page to find out about the recipe, or have a look into Dorie's book on p. 37.

I have no square pan, so I made it in my loaf form (and additionally one muffin, to have a "test-piece") and it did work out fine. Funnily, when the cake was already in the oven I figured out I completely forgot to add the butter. But to my surprise - I didn't miss it at all! Does this work with all cakes? Or was I just extremely lucky? 

TWD: Flip Over Plum Cake

Wonderful first autumn-recipe! And exactly as Dorie introduces it: quick, quick, quick and it can't get any easier!

If you find 10 mins to bring the batter together you're in!
Baking time was a bit longer than indicated. Still, the cake was very pudding-like. Maybe next time I would even increase the baking time - but if you are ready to eat the cake with a dessert-fork, then everything will be fine. I had to decrease the butter: When I poured in the batter I saw that there was definitely too much "butter-soup" in the pan. But the rest was easy, simple, just-stick-to-the-recipe-and-nothing-can-go-wrong!

I adore these easy cakes! It tastes great and the syrup has just the right flavour-combo of spices. And I can imagine this cake with other fruits, too. (Maybe cherries? Blueberries? Apricots?) and also with some sugar to decorate it or even streusel. Not that the cake needs some dressing up...

Have fun with this recipe for Flip Over Plum Cake chosen by Becky of Project Domestication for this week's TWD. Go to her page to find the recipe or have a look in Dorie's book on p. 40.

TWD: Salt&Pepper Cocoa Shortbread

 When I read "shortbread" I was all excited. I love shortbread, I love baking it, my colleagues love eating it - perfcet.
When I read "salt&pepper" I was even more excited. Savory shortbread! Can it get any better?
When I read "cocoa" my excitement was all gone. Cocoa? With salt and pepper? In shortbread? Why?? Why spoil them?

I was very much tempted to leave the cocoa out and exchange it for grounded nuts or just use more flour. But in the absolute very last minute I thought - stop. No. Don't. very often the recipe that do not sound that appealing turn out best. And I learnt so far that it is mostly better to stick to Dorie's recipes, because she is always right.

So. Salt&Pepper COCOA shortbread. The recipe was chosen by Tia for this week's TWD. Go to her page "Buttercream Barbie" to find the recipe or have a look in Dorie Greenspan's book on p 128.

As all shortbread it takes some time for chilling the dough thoroughly. I rolled the dough too thin (What happen always when I do shortbread. Learnign effect? Me? Never!) I opted for not making logs and round shortbread but to cut rectangles and use my Eiffeltower- and Statue of Liberty-forms.

The first batch was spoiled, but it was all my fault. I forgot that the line between "still too soft" and "burnt" can be very thin and be passed in half a minute. So, the first batch was for the trashbin. But the second one turned out fine.

The verdict? Well. I like them. Compared to my expectations - I like them a lot. My colleagues on the other side where excited, thrilled, ardent. Why? I guess because me - I knew what was in the cookies. They didn't. So they really had a surprise-moment when they found out that these shortbread cookies, with their chocolate-colour, are not that sweet at all, and have a savory after-taste. Therefore - they are a winner!

TWD: Classic Brownies

Back after two weeks in Chicago and New York - great summer holiday! Even though Irene almost destroyed it. But only almost.

The name of the recipe "hits the nail by it's head", as we like to say in Austria: These Classic Brownies are indeed what you would expect from brownies you call "classic": an easy, simple in the making, basic recipe that results in good, just right brownies. I kept the nuts fairly big and did chop them only very coarsely, because the picture in the book also shows relatively big pieces. And it was good like that! I baked them slightly longer then the recipe calls for (abour 40mins insetad of 33), and they turned out cracky on the surface and smooth-soft in the middle. Exactly what a classic brownie should be like!

(event though I have to admit: the brownies I like most are very, very soft and chewy in the middle, and cake-like brownies are not my kind of treat - but these weren't cake-like, just a good middle-of-the-road between cake-like and completely soft)

Not much more to say about them. Find the recipe on Anne's page, who opted for this recipe to be the TWD-group's duty for this week, or have a look into Dorie's book on pp. 88-89.

TWD: Cornmeal and Fruit Loaf

 And another breakfast-recipe for the last week auf August! Caitlin of Engineer Baker chose Cornmeal and Fruit Loaf from p. 43 in Dorie's book for this week's TWD. You will find the recipe also on Caitlin'spage.

The recipe is pretty easy and quick. I made some exchanges: I used polenta instead of cornmeal, but I guess that doe almost not really count as an exchange, as it is fairly similar.
I opted for a fresh pear but dried apples.
And I reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup, used nutmeg an no cinnamon - and  did include some freshly grounded pepper (I used a colour-pepper-mix). And I added a bit dried rosmeary, althoug there was no recommendation for it in the "playing around" section. But I recently developped a fond love for rosemary and think it matches very well with the pear.

I am pretty happy with the result! The cornmeal/polenta gives it a tiny crunchy side I like very much. As it is an easy-made, fast recipe, that is open for some exchanges, I guess I will do it some day again, in one version or the other.

[The pictures show the little test-piece I made, but the original-sized loaf was not standing behind in taste and looks!]