TWD: Perfect Party Cake

This week, the Tuesday's with Dorie bakers are celebrating with Perfect Party Cake, chosen by Carol of mix, mix… stir, stir. I get a little sentimental over this cake, as it was my first Daring Bakers challenge, and my first blog event ever. (Awwwww.)

The first time around, I made it exactly as directed, with the berry filling and Swiss meringue buttercream. My thoughts at the time were that the cake was a tad dry. But on the up side, it was the first meringue buttercream I actually liked. I found it to be less buttery than those I had tried before. You can read about it here if you like.

Here's my first party cake.


This time around, I knew the berry filling and meringue buttercream wouldn't fly with my brother-in-law, a.k.a. the birthday boy. So I switched it up and used cream cheese icing with a filling of dulce de leche (store bought) layered with more cream cheese icing.


I followed the Perfect Party Cake Tips from Dorie on the TWD forum in hopes of getting a moister cake. They seemed to help, although I have to admit that I wrapped and froze my cakes while still warm. I used to do that back in my cake-decorating days and it helped a lot with making the cake more moist. (I have heard concerns from some over whether that's good from a food safety standpoint. But hey, my family members are still all kicking, so who knows.)

And how was it? with the cream cheese icing and dulce de leche.. Incredible! The cake was more moist this time and the filling was out of this world, although perhaps not for the faint of heart.

The one drawback, though, was that the dulce de leche layered with icing was not stable and after short car ride, the top three layers of cake slid slightly off the bottom layer (I was able to fix it OK, and it was for family, so no big deal). If I were to use this filling again, I would pound some skewers or pointed dowels into the cake and down into the cake board for stability after filling and before icing. (I wouldn't use the layered filling for a stacked cake, I don't think... too scary.)

OK, that's it for this week! Please stop by Carol's site above for the recipe, or check out Dorie Greenspan's book, "Baking, From my Home to Yours".

Cookie Carnival: Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

This month, the Cookie Carnival bakers made Strawberry Shortcake Cookies from Martha Stewart's site.

These "cookies" were really sweetened little biscuits with chunks of strawberry scattered throughout.

Mmm, they were so GOOD! I will definitely make these again. The kids (normally chocolate chip cookie snobs) were scarfing them down faster than me.

The directions say they are best the day they are made, and I agree. By the second day they were headed toward soggy land.

They were a little strange to make up, not like your typical cookie dough. They were somewhat crumbly before adding the strawberries, but once the strawberries were in, they moistened the dough and it came together.

Here they are before baking.



OK, over and out! See you next month.

Daring Bakers: Bakewell Tart... er... pudding

When I was in 9th grade, we had our first *real* dance, complete with long dresses, corsages, and dinner out with our dates.

The theme song for the dance was put to a vote beforehand. I'm pretty sure the school staff was not amused when the ballots were counted and the winning song turned out to be "Another Brick in The Wall" by Pink Floyd.

(For the not-Pink-Floyd-fans out there, it's a decidedly anti-education song.)

Anyway, the end of the song always stood out in my mind, the part where the meanie school-master is screaming:

"If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding.
How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?"

It was many, many years later that I learned that the pudding of which they spoke was not the same pudding I knew and loved. (It's still not clear to me what makes a pudding a pudding, I might add.)

And so I sit and ponder what exactly makes a pudding a pudding as I nosh on this month's Daring Bakers challenge, Bakewell Tart... er... pudding, and watch Pink Floyd videos on YouTube.


This particular... I'll just call it "dessert"... was fairly simple. A tart crust is filled with a thin layer of jam and then frangipane, an almond filling, and baked. I have to admit that I thought it was just OK the first day. It was a tad dry. But by the second day, it was pretty good!

My mediocre first impression might have been my fault... I used a mini pie pan rather than a tart pan, so mine was thicker than it was supposed to be, I think. I'm thinking a higher proportion of jam to frangipane would have made it more appealing.

It's definitely worth another try.

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England. Thanks ladies!

See you next month!

TWD: Coconut-Roasted Pineapple Dacquoise

Andrea of Andrea In The Kitchen chose Coconut-Roasted Pineapple Dacquoise for this week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe.

Oooh, fancy!!

This was not your "whip it up in no time with minimal fuss" dessert. Oh, no. There was serious time and labor involved, people, and sink-fulls of dirty dishes to prove it.

With this type of dessert, one has to question whether it was ultimately worth it. Well, let me lead you through the process and then I'll tell...

First we made dacquoise, a meringue with ground nuts and coconut folded in. The meringue was spread into three thin layers and baked for 3 hours in a low oven.


(I quartered the recipe and ended up with 3" by 6" pieces.)

Next, fresh pineapple is quartered, sprinkled with confectioners sugar, and broiled in the oven.




Finally, cream is heated to a boil and poured over white chocolate to form a thin ganache.


This is whisked, chilled thoroughly, and whipped to a soft peak. I have a lot of Guittard "white ribbons" hanging around and so used them, the white chocolate wannabees that they are.

Next came the fun part... layering. First meringue, then ganache, then pineapple. Times three. Rinse, lather, repeat.






Next, refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours. (I skipped the sprinkling of toasted coconut around the sides out of respect for my coconut-hating hubby.)

And after all that you get... the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters? in dessert form?


Is that funny or what? But no matter... this dessert was...

Darned GOOD!! if you're a pineapple and coconut fan that is. I loved it, my hubby did not. (My one tiny criticism was that it was messy to serve and eat.)



Yep, I'll go ahead and say that was worth it.

Thanks Andrea! I would have never tried this if you hadn't picked it.

Cake Slice: Pina Colada Cake, and an Award

This month, the Cake Slice Bakers made the Pina Colada Cake, from the book "Sky High: Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes", by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne.

My Pina Colada Cake took a wild ride through three airports, two planes, two taxi rides, and several rental car rides before making it to it's final destination atop a lovely cupcake tower at my sister's wedding. (The cupcakes were done by Be My Cupcake in Cedar Park, TX.)


The Pina Colada Cake was made up of a lovely rum-soaked brown sugar cake with a pineapple-lime-vanilla filling, all wrapped up in a coconut buttercream. Since I knew this cake would have to hold up to the rigors of air travel, I opted to ice it with my sturdy cream cheese icing and then cover it with fondant. I wasn't sure how the coconut buttercream would fare and decided to play it safe. Bummer, though. I was anxious to try the buttercream since all of the icings in this book have been wonderful so far.

And how was it? The cake was delish! My sister and her new hubby really loved it.

Feel free to stop by the Cake Slice Bakers Blogroll to see how everyone else fared this month. For the recipe, click ---> here.

I also want to give a shout out and thanks to Chris from The Mixed-Up Files of... Me for giving me the Kreativ Blogger award. Thanks, girlfriend!


The RULES of this award are:

(1) Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
(2) Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
(3) Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
(4) Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
(5) Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
(6) Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
(7) Leave a comment on each of the blogs, letting them know they have been nominated.

I'm going to nominate Vibi from La Casserole Carree and Natashya from Living in the Kitchen with Puppies for this award. Girls, feel free to do what you want with this award. Post it or not, it's up to you.

Aaand lastly, seven things about myself (ugh)... OK...
1. I'm embarrassed to talk about myself.
2. I never really got South Park.
3. I can't think of anything interesting to say for #3.
4. I think high heels are a conspiracy against women.
5. I rarely watch TV. I've never seen Survivor, Dancing with the Stars, American Idol or most of the other hit shows.
6. I'm 43 and I'm still waiting for the real adults to show up and manage this household.
7. I still have a thing for Loverboy.

TWD: Honey-Peach Ice Cream

Hey everyone! We just got back from vacation. As soon as school ended, we jetted down to Texas for my sister's wedding and a little sight-seeing. I've got a wee little wedding cake to share and some trip pics, but I'll post them later in the week.

Right now, we've got some Tuesday's with Dorie to talk about. Tommi of Brown Interior selected Honey-Peach Ice Cream for this week's recipe. Thanks, Tommi!


Based on the discussion on the TWD forum, I opted to steep my peaches, er, nectarines, in my hot milk/cream mixture. I wanted the fruit flavor to really shine through.


It looks a little gunky, I know, but a quick pass through the strainer and all was well.

I cooked all of the nectarines, and also pureed the whole batch because I, like apparently lots of other folks, don't like chunks of icy fruit in my ice cream (too ouchy on the teeth.) There were still a few small pieces.


And how was it?

Good! ...nice and fruity tasting. I couldn't really detect the honey flavor, though. I'm looking forward to trying it with some perfectly ripe, tasty peaches (the selection of peaches at the store this week was not good).

OK, that's all folks! Thanks for stopping by and if you'd like to see the recipe, please stop by Tommi's site above, or check out Dorie Greenspan's book, "Baking, From my Home to Yours".

TWD: Parisian Apple Tartlets

If you can believe the folks over at NY Apple country, the world's longest apple peel was created by Kathy Wafler Madison on October 16, 1976, in Rochester, NY. It was 172 feet, 4 inches long. She was 16 years old at the time.

That's about as long as half of a football field, including one end zone. Way to go, Kathy!

I wonder if there's a record for "Number of Apples Peeled in a Lifetime". I'm pretty sure I would be in contention to break that record someday.


So it was with confidence that I tackled this week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe, Parisian Apple Tartlet. Thanks to Jessica of My Baking Heart for this great pick.

Talk about an easy recipe! Peeling the apple was the hardest part. You take a circle of puff pastry, arrange four apple sections on top, and sprinkle on some brown sugar and butter.


Pop it in the oven and you're done!


And how were they? Surprisingly delicious! At first, I thought they tasted like warm, soft apples. But when combined with the brown sugar-glazed, flaky crust? Awesome! It was even better in the spots where the sugar ran over the sides and caramelized along the bottom.

My only "criticism", and it's not even really a criticism, is that the apples are pretty bare by the time they come out of the oven. At least mine were. There was no brown-sugary goodness on top, like in the picture in the book. No problem, though. I grabbed some caramel and started drizzling, more for looks than anything.

OK, chalk it up as another successful week for TWD. If you'd like to see the recipe, please stop by Jessica's site above, or check out Dorie Greenspan's book, "Baking, From my Home to Yours".