TWD: Caramel Pots de Creme

Wow, somehow I'm behind 4 recipes! Guess I've been baking, but not posting.

In the interest of time, I'll just do a quick catch up, then.

This week, Peggy from Peggy the Baker chose Caramel Pots de Creme for the Tuesdays with Dorie recipe.

Sounds fancy, huh? Really, it's caramel custard and man-oh-man is it heavenly. So simple too. I baked 1/2 recipe exactly as specified and it worked great. The custard was perfectly set. The only "fail" was covering the pan with plastic wrap... my first "visual inspection" of the pan in the oven surprised me with plastic wrap that was half melted. Thankfully, none of it melted into the custards. I followed up with an aluminum foil covering and all was well.

Needless to say, this was my favorite recipe of the four.


Last week, Patricia from Life With a Whisk chose Oatmeal Nutmeg Scones.

These were surprisingly good and I loved the slightly chewy texture the oatmeal gave. I didn't really detect the nutmeg but I could tell "something" was there.



Before that, Lindsay from A Little Something… Sweet chose Maple Cornmeal Biscuits.

I thought these were OK, something like a breakfast flavored cornmeal biscuit. I'm sure the cornbread lovers would enjoy these.



Finally, Peggy from Pantry Revisited chose Brown Sugar Bundt Cake earlier in the month.



I really enjoyed this bundt cake and it's rich caramelly taste. The pears were a nice addition, although I think their ghostly appearance turned off my kids.



OK, that pretty much covers the month of May. If you'd like to see the recipes, please check out each baker's blog, or Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking, From my Home to Yours".

TWD: Chocolate Pots de Creme

Christine of BlackCatCooking chose Chocolate Pots de Creme for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe.

This dish is much like pudding in taste and texture, but unlike pudding, it is baked in the oven rather than on the stove top. That's OK with me, I'm not a big fan of standing by the stove and stirring, stirring, stirring...


Something strange happened to my pots de creme. For some reason they separated into three layers after setting up in the fridge. The bottom layer was smooth and silky, the darker, thin, middle layer was almost fudgey, and the top layer was... just weird. It was thick and greasy. It almost seemed like the fat from the cream and milk separated out in this layer.

I'm sure it's my fault. When I added all of the ingredients together before putting them in pots and baking, I whisked the mixture really well because the chocolate was not mixed in well. I guess I whisked too much, like when you over-whip whipping cream, you know, it starts to get clumpy.

Oh well, live and learn. The bottom two layers were tasty. And I kind of figure I made this into a low fat dessert by not eating the top layer, LOL.

If you'd like to check out the recipe, visit Christine's blog (see link in first paragraph), or Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking, "From my Home to Yours.

TWD: Apple-Apple Bread Pudding

Elizabeth of Cake or Death? decided on Apple-Apple Bread Pudding for this week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe.

This dessert was like a cross between bread pudding and apple pie and it was darn tasty. I had to quickly pawn this off on the neighbors or it would have been breakfast, lunch, and dinner until the bottom of the pan was sadly reached.



I decided to make my own challah since I have no idea where to buy brioche or challah in my area. I used the recipe from "Baking with Julia" which is from baker Lauren Groveman who just happens to have the recipe posted on her site --> HERE. I made 1/2 recipe and didn't include the raisins, although that probably would have been good. The bread pudding used about half of the loaf. The rest of the loaf was hungrily snarfed down by my family, warm and heavy with butter.


OK, that's that. If you'd like to see the recipe, please visit Elizabeth's blog, or find yourself a copy of Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking, From my Home to Yours".

Daring Bakers: Traditional English Pudding

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.

For those that don't know, a "traditional British pudding" is a dessert that is cooked by steaming. It's more cake or pie-like than it is like typical American-style pudding. Esther also added a very interesting ingredient challenge, suet, a solid fat that comes from cows.

I wasn't quite up to using the suet as-is, since I didn't know the good parts from the bad, so I heated it until the fat liquefied then I strained it through cheesecloth. Below you can see the suet raw, after straining, and once it's had a chance to harden back up.






I guess I shouldn't have been surprised by how beef-ish my house smelled afterwards.

OK, so far, so good. I decided to mix the suet crust in the food processor. Here you can see pre- and post-processing (say that three times fast).




I lined my Pyrex blow with the crust and added apples mixed with sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice to the brim.

I have to admit I had my doubts when I noticed my crust tasted ever so slightly beefy.




Oops, didn't have quite enough crust left to cover the top properly. But, since the top would eventually become the bottom, I didn't sweat it.


I sprinkled the top with sugar and a little bit of Lyle's Golden Syrup.


It was at this point that I sadly realized that this particular "pudding" isn't actually steamed. It's baked. D'oh! Looks like I'm only only half finished with this challenge. But anyway, here's the pudding after baking and unmolding.




Isn't it pretty? It was delish too. The pastry was pleasingly flaky and crumbly, and didn't taste like beef after all. It was very good with apples. I would definitely try this again.

I chose to made the Toffee Apple Pudding from The Pudding Club website (recipe is---> HERE.)
OK, that's all folks. Thanks so much, Esther! I really enjoyed trying this most interesting dessert.

TWD: Real Butterscotch Pudding

You never know what adventure, baking or otherwise, the Tuesday's with Dorie baking group might present on any given week. Take this week, for example, where the adventure included exposing my child to a double dose of sin... swearing and alcohol.

Let me back up a bit and explain. There's a store in our area called The Party Source. It's one of the greatest stores EVER. For any type of holiday or celebration, this place has got the goods.

Don't want to cook? they have food and appetizers galore. You forgot the balloon bouquet or need grass skirts for your luau party? They got 'em. Need those sample size bottles of booze because you're making REAL butterscotch with REAL Scotch, and you don't really need a $40 lifetime supply of Scotch? Gotcha covered!


So anyway... it's Sunday afternoon and I'm on a mom-and-son outing. Our destination just happens to be close to the Party Source, so I think, "great!" I'll swing by and get some Scotch (I was going to sub Brandy in my butterscotch pudding and hope for the best). So there I am with the 7-year old, trying to hustle my bustle and find the single malt Scotch amongst the collection of sample sized bottles. As I'm searching, I keep hearing my son saying, "Mom, look at the name of this one!". Oh niiiice, the Scotch section is right above the bottles of "Hot Damn", which are directly at kid eye level. He keeps pointing out the colorful names as I'm searching, searching... (what the heck is single malt scotch anyway?) I see blended scotch, I see single malt Irish whiskey, but no single malt scotch. ("Mom! Look at this one...") Finally, I grab a bottle (never did find the single malt Scotch) and got the heck out of Dodge.

I can't wait to see where my son shares this little gem of an experience. Oh, yes... He. Will. There's no doubt in my mind that this "mom took me to a liquor store" story will pop up at a moment that will ensure maximum embarrassment.

Ooooh, the things we do for Tuesday's with Dorie....


Speaking of TWD, this week's pick was by Donna of Spatulas, Corkscrews & Suitcases. Donna chose Real Butterscotch Pudding.

And a fine pick it was! Wow, this pudding was delicious and addictive. It was a far cry from pre-made or boxed-mix pudding, which is the only butterscotch pudding I've ever tasted. I can't say I'm too crazy about the premade version, but home made? I would definitely make this again. Now I'm kind of sorry I didn't buy the lifetime supply of Scotch.

OK, Merry Christmas y'all! I hope everyone enjoys a happy, stress-free holiday. Christmas hugs to all of you wonderful bakers :)

TWD: Chocolate Pudding

Mmmm… finally, a chocolate dessert. Pure, unadulterated chocolatey goodness.

This week’s Tuesday’s with Dorie recipe was chosen by Melissa of “It’s Melissa’s Kitchen”. My family and neighbors and I thank you, Melissa!


One of these days I'm going to learn to "completely and thoroughly" read a recipe before getting started. When I got done with the final whiz of the pudding in the mixer (food processor proved to be too small), I thought it didn't seem very chocolatey. I added a little more cocoa but still it was only faintly chocolate. Then as I was cleaning up, I happen upon my bar chocolate... which was supposed to be in the pudding, NOT on the counter. Duh! I melted it and added it... Double DUH!


The verdict? It was very good and very chocolatey. I think I would change up the type of chocolate if I made it again, though.

The recipe calls for bittersweet chocolate, cocoa powder, and only 6 tablespoons sugar. I thought that would probably be too bitter for our milk-chocolate-luvin’ tastebuds, so I used a combination of semi-sweet and bittersweet. I also ended up adding about ½ cup powdered sugar because it was still just a tiny bit bitter. After it chilled for the requisite time, it tasted better.

Next time, I would probably try semi-sweet, and possibly some milk chocolate. I guess it’s hard to overcome a lifetime of eating (and enjoying) good old Hershey’s milk chocolate.


If you'd like to try it, you can find the RECIPE-----> HERE.

Better yet, go buy the book "Baking: From My Home to Yours", by Dorie Greenspan. It's worth it's weight in chocolate, I tell ya!

Stay tuned for next week's TWD adventure... Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler.