Danishe Braid - June Daring Bakers

Okay I'm late to post but I was really excited to do the challenge this month so I did it quite early like on the 4th. lol.

Danish braid was the choice from this months hosts Kelly of Sass & Veracity, and Ben of What’s Cookin’? .

Danish pastry is a laminated dough much like puff pastry except danish pastry is made with yeast. To create the 'braid' the pastry is rolled into a large rectangle and the filling placed down the centre, the edges are then cut into strips and the strips 'braided' together overlapping each other, the finished result looking much like plaited hair.

The recipe included a apple filling but I chose to go in a different direction with several fillings; apricots filling, a fig jam with apples and chocolate filling, and a strawberry and nutella filling.

Unfortunately I only got photos of the Apricot Danish. All were delicious and I will make this recipe again sometime soon I think.

While the recipe is long and requires careful reading and concentration, the pastry is not difficult of terribly time consuming, most of the time is taken up with resting and fridge time, the rolling takes no longer than a few minutes each time.

^Apricot filling

^Fig jam with apple slices

Here is the ricipe


“Danish Braid” from Sherry Yard’s The Secrets of Baking

Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough

Ingredients

For the dough (Detrempe)

1 ounce fresh yeast or
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole milk1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

For the butter block (Beurrage)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

DOUGH
Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed.
Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated.
Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Without a standing mixer:

Combine yeast and milk in a bowl with a hand mixer on low speed or a whisk. Add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice and mix well. Sift flour and salt on your working surface and make a fountain. Make sure that the “walls” of your fountain are thick and even. Pour the liquid in the middle of the fountain. With your fingertips, mix the liquid and the flour starting from the middle of the fountain, slowly working towards the edges. When the ingredients have been incorporated start kneading the dough with the heel of your hands until it becomes smooth and easy to work with, around 5 to 7 minutes. You might need to add more flour if the dough is sticky.

BUTTER BLOCK
1. Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.
2. After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
4. Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

APPLE FILLING

Makes enough for two braids

Ingredients
4 Fuji or other apples, peeled, cored, and cut into
¼-inch pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Toss all ingredients except butter in a large bowl. Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat until slightly nutty in color, about 6 - 8 minutes. Then add the apple mixture and sauté until apples are softened and caramelized, 10 to 15 minutes. If you’ve chosen Fujis, the apples will be caramelized, but have still retained their shape. Pour the cooked apples onto a baking sheet to cool completely before forming the braid. (If making ahead, cool to room temperature, seal, and refrigerate.) They will cool faster when spread in a thin layer over the surface of the sheet. After they have cooled, the filling can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Left over filling can be used as an ice cream topping, for muffins, cheesecake, or other pastries.

DANISH BRAID
Makes enough for 2 large braids
Ingredients
1 recipe Danish Dough (see below)
2 cups apple filling, jam, or preserves (see below)

For the egg wash:

1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk
1. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.
2. Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.
3. Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.

Egg Wash
Whisk together the whole egg and yolk in a bowl and with a pastry brush, lightly coat the braid.

Proofing and Baking

1. Spray cooking oil (Pam…) onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.
2. Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.
3. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.

Cookie Carnival

I seem to always be baking, almost everyday.

That's okay, I don't mind it, who am I kidding? I love baking.

But for some reason no matter how much I bake there never seems to be any biscuits in my biscuit jar?!

I knew there had to be a solution to this, and guess what? I found one, and it comes in the form of a blog event. - No way! - Oh, yeah way!

The Cookie Carnival is hosted by Kate at the Clean Plate Club and every month a biscuit (or cookie depending on which continent your on) recipe is chosen and everyone bakes it up.

This month is Snickerdoodles.

I have never had snickerdoodles before, so this was a nice little adventure, and my 3 year old, Evie had a ball helping me. Snickerdoodles taste like a sugar cookie but rolled into balls instead of being cut out of a sheet, and they are rolled into cinnamon sugar before baking. Evie just loved doing the rolling in the sugar part. ;)

The recipe calls for vegetable shortening, I'm not sure where to get that here at all so I just subbed in 90gms of butter instead. Making a total of 200gms of butter in the recipe.

These were yum, I'm sure they wont be in the jar for long, they are just too tasty.

Thanks Kate! Bring on next months cookie!

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients
Makes 4 dozen.
* 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 110gms (1 stick) unsalted butter
* 1/2 cup pure vegetable shortening (I used 90gms butter)
* 1 3/4 cups sugar, plus more if needed
* 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon, plus more if needed
* 2 large eggs
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 205 deg C (400 deg F), with one rack in top third and one rack in bottom third of oven. Line baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper; set aside.
2. Sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine butter, shortening, and 1 1/2 cups sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add eggs, and beat to combine. Add dry ingredients, and beat to combine.
3. In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar and the ground cinnamon. Use a small (1 1/4-ounce) ice-cream scoop ( I used a measuring tablespoon) to form balls of the dough, and roll in cinnamon sugar. Place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the cookies are set in center and begin to crack (they will not brown), about 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheets after 5 minutes. Transfer the sheets to a wire rack to cool about 5 minutes before transferring the cookies to the rack. Store in an airtight container up to 1 week.

A dozen egg whites

As you can guess, I had a few left over eggwhites hanging around, I had no idea what to do with them.
Then I remembered Tartlet's macrons. French marcons are a biscuit made from eggwhites, ground almond's, and sugar.
I have never eaten a macron before, but they look so pretty and with so many possible flavours. When I see something I have never had I must find a way to get it. Since there is no posibility of finding somewhere to buy them where I live (country South Australia) I am left with one solution - make 'em myself.
And with all these extra egg whites, what better opportunity.
So I looked up Tartlet's tutorial in Desserts magazine.
The first batch flopped, and I figured that my merangue was not stiff enough. So second batch around I stopped being so impatient and beat the merangue until it was very stiff.
And then, I actually couldn't believe that they turned out. Somewhat browner than Tartlet's pictures but still they worked. Shiny little domes, with frilly feet, just like the pictures in the magzine. As you bite the domes crackle and you get a tender almost chewy centre.
I was forced to pause in the middle of my little happy dance to wrestle my macarons out of husbands hands or I would not have had any left to photograph, as it was the five in the photo were all that was left this morning.
I sandwiched them with a dark chocolate ganache and some plum jam.
They are a bit sweet to eat too many in one sitting, but I'd like to try some of Tartlet's other flavoured macarons, perhaps using half peanut or pistachio in stead of almonds.

Macrons

3 (100g) egg whites
50g granulated sugar
200g confectioners' sugar
110g blanched almonds, whole or ground

1. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue.

2. Combine the almonds and powdered sugar in a food processor and give them a quick pulse if you use already ground almonds (that you have ground yourself separately.) It will break the powdered sugar lumps and combine your almonds with it evenly. If you use whole almonds, pulse thoroughly for a minute or so.

3. Add them to the meringue and start to give quick strokes at first to break the mass and slow down. The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes. Test a small amount on a plate: If the tops flatten on its own, you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple more folds.

4. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper baking sheets.

5. Preheat the oven to 180C (300F). Let the macarons sit out for an hour to harden their shells a bit and bake for 10-13 minutes, depending on their size. Let them cool completely before filling.

6. Pipe or spoon some of your filling on one shell and sandwich with another one.

Pretty Perfect party cake

My daughters 2nd birthday deserved a special cake, and since our new facination with the fairies, I chose to do a Dolly Varden cake. I grabed myself a doll from the Barbie Mariposa movie. She's a funky looking fairy, not a prissy fairy.

I followed the tutorial here though next time I think I may use a dolly varden cake pan.

I used Dorie Greenspans Perfect party cake the recipe is here. I made double the recipe to have enough layers, because I had to choose the tallest-damn-doll known to man.

I turned out fantastic, tasted great, looked so pretty. And you should have seen the little birthday girls face when she saw it, she was stunned, the most adorable expression.

Hay Donna!

Donna Hay has tonnes of great recipes these chocolate puddings from the June '08 Mag are one of them.
Easy to make, easy to eat. Can't beat it.
A lovely cocoa-y cake with a yummy rich sauce. Just the right comfort food to get over my nightmare train ride. Lol.


















Self Saucing Chocolate Puddings
75g Flour
1 1/2 tbs hazelnut meal
45g brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 1/2 tbs cocoa powder
125 ml milk
35g butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
90g brown sugar
250 ml boiling water

Preheat oven to 180 deg C Sift flour, hazelnut meal, sugar, baking powder and 2 tbs of cocoa into a bowl.
Add the milk, butter, egg, and vanilla, mix well to combine.
Spoon into 4x250ml capacity oven safe dishes and place on a baking tray. Mix together the remaining cocoa and sugar and sprinkle over the puddings and pour over the water. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or untill tops are firm. Serves 4.

Riding the Nightmare Train

The lead up to this post began with a panic attack.
Yes, I know that stupid, it is afterall only a cake.
That is what I thought too when I was asked to do a Thomas The Tank Engine Cake for a first birthday.
Pfft. Sure. I said. No worries.
Ha! My big mouth bites me again!
I hunted up some online help, and came across this tutorial. It sounded easy enough. God knows I never would have had a chance of completing the Thomas cake with out this tutorial. But the drama started when I began trying to figure out how to make the actual cake, where to get a pan, will the dimentions be right?! OMG can you hear the PMS stress attack?!
Long story short I ended up with three slab cakes.
The buttercream started to separate as I was decorating, posibly due to the heat in my hands, I don't know. The red frosting is more of a candy red than a Thomas red, but I gave up trying to get it darker when I had so much colouring that the frosting was getting runny.
In the end it turned out hmmm... okay I guess. Several people have told me that it looks great. The recipient was really pleased with it, but all I care is that it's finnished, out the door and NEVER coming back!

Spongie Lemon Cheesecake

I LOVE citrus in cheesecakes, lemon esspecially. This cheesecake is so light and fluffy with a delicate lemon flavour, you can smell it across the room, hear it calling to you, begging to be eaten, savouring every bite...

Mmmmm... Yummy.

It's not like normal cheesecakes that are quite dense and thick, the texture of this 'spongie' cheesecake is incredibly light, so light I was worried that it would collapse. It rose beautifully in the oven, the water bath prevented any cracks, a turned out to be rather stable afterall - no collapsing. Horay!

Another great thing about this cheesecake is there is no crust, just a few biscuts crumbled on top to look pretty, and add a little texture.

And very delicious cheesecake.

I try to make a habit of saving the web address of any recipes I find on line to link to them for future reference, this time however I seen to have left it out. I'm not sure where I got this recipe so if you know please tell me and I will list it here.

Spongie Lemon Cheesecake

Ingredients
300g Philadelphia cream cheese at room temperature
75ml whole milk
150g sugar
4eggs separated
45g cornflour
3/4tsp cream of tartar
2tbs lemon juice + lemon zest
Procedure
Preheat the oven to 120 deg C. Prepare a cake tin with greaseproof paper. Boil water & pour it in a large roasting pan & place it in the oven to prepare a bain marie/ water bath. Ground about 4-5 digestive biscuits finely for the crumble.
Beat the cream cheese until soft. Add half the sugar, egg yolks, milk, cornflour, cream of tartar, lemon zest & lemon juice & mix well.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form & add the remaining sugar gradually. Fold 1/3 of the mixture delicately to the cream cheese mixture & finally incorporate the rest.
Pour the mixture in the cake tin, place it in the roasting pan & bake for 30mins. Then, increase the temperature to 180 deg C until the surface of the cheesecake isn't wobbly and has a golden yellow colour. Turn off oven & leave the door ajar to let it cool slowly. Take out of the oven, & after it has completely cooled down, remove it from the cake tin. Place a plate on top of the cheesecake & turn it upside down such that the bottom is now the top. Remove the greaseproof paper carefully and sprinkle the ground biscuits over for the crumble.

Chocmint Cake

Another order from the cafe today, another carrot cake, a chocolate cake, and two cheese cakes.


The cheese cakes I'll get to shortly. I want to start with the chocolate cake.


I went with my favorite chocolate cake recipe frosted with both a whipped chocolate ganach and a white chocolate mint whipped ganache.


The result is quite attractive and very yummy.



White Chocolate Mint Ganache Filling
dapted from Cafe JohnSonia
340g good quality white chocolate
125ml heavy cream
18g butter
10ml pure peppermint extract
2-3 drops of green food colouring
Chop the white chocolate into small chunks and place in a medium sized bowl.
Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water--making sure the bowl is big enough that it doesn't touch the water
Add the cream and butter. Stir occasionally until the chocolate and butter melt. Remove bowl from heat.
Add the extracts and food colouring directly to the bowl.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the ganache thickens. Make sure it doesn't get too thick, or you won't be able to whip it, or spread it very well. If you want to, you can whip the ganache on medium speed with an electric mixer. It may get quite a bit thicker--too thick to spread. Just place it in the microwave for a few seconds to soften it to spreading consistency. Spread between the two cake layers and return the cake to the fridge to set up. Then frost with the chocolate icing.

Chocolate Fudge Icing
165g sticks salted butter (use unsalted if you like it better)
50g bittersweet chocolate
86g cocoa powder
560g powdered sugar
100ml milk
Place the butter and bittersweet chocolate in a large, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on 50% power for 2 minutes, stir well to remove any lumps of butter or chocolate.
Add the cocoa powder and mix well. Using an electric mixer, beat in the powdered sugar a little at a time, alternating with a little milk until the icing has reached a spreadable consistency. (Sometimes it needs a few minutes in the fridge to firm up.)
Use as needed. This recipe made just enough icing to fill two layers and frost the whole cake. The third layer is filled with the choc mint.


CAKE
from here
220g unsalted butter
500ml water
250ml canola oil
900g sugar
115 high-quality unsweetened cocoa powder
540g all purpose flour
4 large eggs
250g buttermilk
1 tablespoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180°c. Line the bottom of two 25cm cake pans with parchment paper rounds, grease with butter, and dust with flour.
Combine the butter, water, and canola oil in a medium saucepan set over medium heat. In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, cocoa, and flour. Pour the butter mixture into the sugar mixture and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, then whisk in the buttermilk. Whisk in the baking soda, salt, and vanilla all at once. Transfer the batter to the prepared pans.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of each layer comes out clean. Monitor the layers carefully for doneness; each one maybe done at a different time.
Remove the cakes from the oven and cool on racks for about 15 minutes before inverting onto baking racks. Cool the cakes completely, at least 2 hours, before frosting.
Cut each cake into two layers, frost the bottom layer with the chocolate fudge frosting, top with the second layer, spread on the mint frosting, add the third layer and frost with fudge frosting, top with the final layer and cover the cake with the fudge frosting decorate with the left over mint frosting.