TWD: Cranberry Crackle Tart

And again... I forgot to post :-(
When I saw that the Cranberry Crackle Tart is due already as the second recipe from the new book for Tuesdays with Dorie I was a bit afraid, because it looks wonderful on the picture but also a bit difficult.
I have to say: I was wrong. It is not half as tricky as I thought!

I made the tart with the Galette Dough and I have to say I adore this dough! It is the first tart dough I really manage. I have no idea why I never got used to tart doughs in the last five years of baking. It always kept me from doing a lot of tarts and pies although I really like them. But this dough is - for me - extremely easy to handle. I am sure I will use it from now on whenever possible!

The filling is a mix of merengue an cranberries. As fresh cranberries are rarely seen in Austria I had to use (soft) dried ones but I guess they come very close to the original. Maybe it is even a bit of an advantage as I think they are a somewhat lighter in weight than fresh ones - so they do not weigh so heavy on the fragile merengue.

I did bake the tart too long, so the filling got too dense. It didn't harm the taste of the tart - which was great! - but the looks. During baking I was so afraid the filling would not be firm enough, and you have no chance to try it like with cakes. So I let the tart in the oven for about 15mins longer. The result: the filling got a bit firm, shrunk and I ended up with a much flatter tart than the original.

As so often - no problem for my colleagues, they ate the tart in a snap. It helps if you don't tell your 'test-guineapigs' what it should like :-)

Have a look what the tart actually should look like, and buy the book by Dorie Greenspan, to find out about the recipe!

TWD: Cranberry Walnut Pumpkin Loaf

Bread-baking is great! Usually I'm more on the quick-bread side, but because I am ill I had some time to do this. I stretched the procedure over three days but you could do it in two.
This was the first time my dough did really rise. Maybe because it reckognized that I have time, too :o]
I read that for many other TWD-ers it dind't work and some didn't especially like the recipe - well, I'm one of the lovers! But I have to admit, that on the one side I am tempted to do this again and again, and on the other side I guess the Cranberry Walnut Pumpik Loaf is just too time consuming.

I made the pumpkin-puree myself as it is almost impossible to get canned one in Austria. But that's fine, because it's easy in the making anyways.

I quite like how it turned out. I made half the recipe and ended up with a mini and one normal loaf. Huge amount, for half the recipe... Besides the time-factor it is easy in the making  and the taste-combo of pumpkin (only slightly), nuts and cranberries (more dominant) is convincing. If you like bread-baking, try this perfect autumn-recipe!

For the recipe, head over to the blog by this weeks host Rebecca: This Bountiful Backyard.
Or have a look to the wonderful book "Baking with Julia" by Dorie Greenspan on pp. 108/109.

TWD: Hazelnut Biscotti (Pistacchio Cranberry Biscotti)

I am too late with posting, but I made them in time!For these biscotti did opt for the "playing around" options and made Pistachio-Cranberry Biscotti. The combo was great in colour and taste.

The biscotti are very very easy to make and can also be eaten by my lactose intolerant friends, as there is not even butter in the recipe.

I liked them very much and am sure to make them again. I am not sure if I would opt for any other ingredients the next time, because I was so convinced of these, and so were my colleagues at work!

To find out about the (original Hazelnut Biscotti) recipe have a look at our hosts blog: Jodi of Homemade and Wholesome and Katrina of Baking and Boys or have a look at "Baking with Julia" by Dorie Greenspan on pp 315-316.

TWD: Rugelachs

This is Rugelachs, part II. I made the Rugelachs from Dorie Greenspan's "Baking" not too long ago as one of the rewinds end of 2011.

Rugelachs are not all that common where I live. But ever since I held "Baking" in my hands for the first time, I was very muched appealled by their looks. I really like them but had always been  a bit timid. They are not really hard in the making and even if you are no heroine in food presentation, they always look good anyways - but: it involves many steps and a lot of waiting time in between. Nevertehless, it is for sure worth the fuzz and if you have the time you should try them!

I made mine with orange marmelade and cranberries and loved them! If you are interested in the recipe, head over to Margarets page "The Urban Hiker" or Jessicas page "My baking heart" - or have a look at pp. 325-327 Dorie Greenspan's/Julia Childs Baking with Julia.

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: Not-Just-For-Thanksgiving Cranberry Shortbread Cake

I had no idea what a Not-Just-For-Thanksgiving Cranberry Shortbread Cake as chosen by Jessica of Singleton in the Kitchen chose for this week's TWD, should look like. So I did what every decent 21st century women does - I googled it.

Therefore I hope, what I made is pretty close to what it should look like. Anyhow, it did taste excellent, but it was not too hard to convince me, because I adore shortbread. They are really my favourite kind of cookies. Because they are sweets, but more and the fat-and-a-tad-salty taste than on the complete sweet side. And that is just my cup of tea.
The cranberries match perfectly. I am glad I didn't switch to plums - my first intention. Because it is impossible to get fresh or frozen cranberries here. Only dried ones. Dried with a heavy load of sugar. But we have something similar, lingonberry-jam, which is served with deer. So that's what I used. I know, I know, I skipped making the jam myself. But honestly, you cant' really buy fresh lingonberries, only the ready-made jam. I mixed them with some of the dried cranberries, and ended up with a good mix for the filling.

Without the jam in the middle, the cake would be a bit too dry. All in all it was pretty, pretty easy to make (uhm, maybe only because I buyed the jam...) and fast and at least one of my colleagues (and me!) loved it!

You can finde the recipe on Jessicas page or on pages 208-209 of Dorie's book

TWD: All-in-one Holiday Bundt Cake

I am still a cameo-participant of TWD, but never mind, I go on baking and trying to improve my cake-abilities and maybe someday I will do it on the blog-roll :o]!

This week, the fourth of the November recipes was on the schedule, the All-in-One Holiday Bundt Cake from pages 186 and 187, chosen by  Britin of The Nitty Britty.

I had some trouble with the ingredients:
I have never ever seen canned pumpkin purree in my whole life, but some other bakers were so kind to help me out and affirm my decision to take self-made purree. I wasn't sure about the consistence of canned purree, but the self-made version turned out to be fine. I just put the pumpkin in the oven instead of cooking it in a pan, as I would usually do, so it didn't get too moisty.
Then, it is really not that easy to get pecans. DM doesn't have them, the usual supermarkets for sure definitely don't have them. But even at the Naschmarkt I didn't find them, what really came as a surprise as usually there is nothing you can't get there. (Maybe I didn't look thoroughly enough?). At my almost last hope, a high-end bio"grocery", they usually sell it - but they ran out of stock. Finally, I found it in a little shop specialized on sweets and decorations for bakers. It the very last minute.
And then again the cranberries. Cranberries are just not very usual in these latitudes. But I found dried ones, and this time not-sugared ones.
I skipped the optional maple-icing, as maple-syrup is again not very usual (though not that hard to get, but still very expensive).

So I had everything together, but I hope I won't have to do such a schlepp through the city every week!
(I won't, at least in December - I already had a look at the upcoming recipes for next month, and I got to say - wow, I am really already looking forward to December!!)

So, here is how it turned out:
As always I made a "real" one, and some little ones for trial and error and tasting. I halfed the recipe but still got a "children-bundt cake" and some made in a mold for brioche out of it.

Here the big one, straigth out of the oven (will it come out of the mold? Will it break? Will it stick to the pan? Panic!)

No, everything went fine!

And here the inside-look and one of the little ones (some I topped with dark cranberry-chocolate. It was ok, but the chocolate would not have been necessary - made me learn to stick to the recipe...)







I know, I know, I still have to  work on the presentation and the looks of my cakes and tartes, but for the moment I am sososo, well, what to say...  proud is not the rigth word, maybe more: astonished, that it is really me who makes these delicious cakes, that I am satisfied with that.

If you want to see what it looks like if really excellent bakers do it, just have a look at some of the other bakers result! Some Most are really just amazing!!