You know what I love about the Daring Bakers Challenges?  I always learn lessons…lots and lots of lessons.  But before I get on to our lessons for this month, let me get the official stuff out of the way:

This month’s challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

You’ll notice that all DB posts have the above lines in them.  That’s because the fabulous founders of the Daring Bakers, Lis of La Mia Cucina andIvonne of Cream Puffs in Venice have come up with a nifty blog checking system that allows for the DBers to be high tech!  I’m oddly enamored of this new system and felt the need to share…I have my quirks, we all know that.

But, as usual, I digress.  So on with the challenge!  When I first saw the DB Challenge for January, I immediately thought, “Oh, this is going to be easy.  There are only six ingredients.  How hard could this be?”  Oh what a silly, silly little girl I am.  I was lulled into a false sense of security because the recipe looked easy.  But as we all know, looks can be VERY deceiving.  So let’s break down how the first attempt at this challenge went:

6:05 pm (the night BEFORE the challenge was due):  I get out all the ingredients and whip up the batter.  Easy peasy, I think to myself.  I’m bopping around the kitchen listening to Christina Aguilera on Slacker.com (fantastic online radio site by the way…totally have a techie crush on it right now), thinking I’ll be done with this thing in no time.  I even confidently predict I’ll have the post finished and ready to publish way before that night’s new episode of Top Chef.  Oh what a silly, silly girl I am.

7:15 pm:  Realize I don’t have a stencil, but think “I went to a fine arts school…I can make one.”  Yeah…we won’t discuss how that went.

7:55 pm:  Finally get the tuiles in the oven.  Here’s the problem:  I didn’t have a Silpat mat OR parchment paper.  Both of which would have made getting the freakin’ tuiles off the baking sheet doable.  My bright idea?  Spray Pam on aluminum foil and put that on a baking sheet.  Yeah…we won’t discuss how that went either.

8:30 pm:  Crying in a corner because not only did the tuiles get stuck to the aforementioned aluminum foil, I didn’t really know how the heck to mold them well.  My fingers are still smarting from trying to get stuck (and did I mention piping hot) tuiles to mold around a wooden spoon.  The word disaster comes to mind.  Roo and Scout didn’t help matters by deciding at that precise moment to use my bar stool as their personal jungle gym.

So on my lunch break this afternoon, I headed over to the Bed Bath and Beyond for two things:  a Silpat mat and a cornet mold.  This is where I learned yet another very important lesson:  I should not be allowed to go to a store that sells kitchen gadgets unsupervised.  Actually, I was “supervised” by my co-worker Dan but he mostly talks about economics and ignores the fact that I’m buying half the store.  So I ended up with a few more things than I probably needed.  Another important lesson I learned:  the Bed Bath and Beyond near my office sucks ass (they didn’t have a stencil or a cornet mold).

The second attempt went MUCH smoother and I would definitely love to make these again.  I opted to make the savory tuile option (yayyyy!!! I love having options), which came from the cornet recipe from “The French Laundry Cookbook” by Thomas Keller.  I tweaked the recipe ever so slightly, omitting the black sesame seeds and instead using a sprinkling of fresh pecorino romano cheese on top of the dough.  I also put a nice little grind of fresh ground pepper into the dough, which gave the tuiles a lovely punch.

Savory tuile/cornet recipe
From Thomas Keller “the French Laundry Cookbook”

1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons (65 grams/2.1/4 ounces) all purpose flour
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt (= 2/3 teaspoon table salt)**
8 tablespoons (114 grams/4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened but still cool to the touch
2 large egg whites, cold
2 tablespoons black sesame seeds

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk the softened butter until it is completely smooth and mayonnaise-like in texture. Using a stiff spatula or spoon, beat the egg whites into the dry ingredients until completely incorporated and smooth. Whisk in the softened butter by thirds, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary and whisking until the batter is creamy and without any lumps. Transfer the batter to a smaller container, as it will be easier to work with.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Make a 4-inch hollow circular stencil. Place Silpat on the counter (it is easier to work on the Silpat before it is put on the sheet pan). Place the stencil in one corner of the sheet and, holding the stencil flat against the Silpat, scoop some of the batter onto the back of an offset spatula and spread it in an even layer over the stencil. Then run the spatula over the entire stencil to remove any excess batter. After baking the first batch of cornets, you will be able to judge the correct thickness. You may need a little more or less batter to adjust the thickness of the cornets.

There should not be any holes in the batter. Lift the stencil and repeat the process to make as many rounds as you have molds or to fill the Silpat, leaving about 1 1/2 inches between the cornets. Sprinkle each cornet with a pinch of black sesame seeds.

Place the Silpat on a heavy baking sheet and bake for 4 to 6 minutes, or until the batter is set and you see it rippling from the heat. The cornets may have browned in some areas, but they will not be evenly browned at this point.

Open the oven door and place the baking sheet on the door.*** This will help keep the cornets warm as you roll them and prevent them from becoming too stiff to roll. Flip a cornet over on the sheet pan, sesame seed side down and place 4-1/2 inch cornet mold at the bottom of the round. If you are right-handed, you will want the pointed end on your left and the open end on your right. The tip of the mold should touch the lower left edge (at about 7 o’clock on a clock face) of the cornet.

Fold the bottom of the cornet and around the mold; it should remain on the sheet pan as you roll. Leave the cornet wrapped around the mold and continue to roll the cornets around molds; as you proceed, arrange the rolled cornets, seams side down, on the sheet pan so they lean against each other, to prevent from rolling.

When all the cornets are rolled, return them to the oven shelf, close the door, and bake for an additional 3 to 4 minutes to set the seams and color the cornets a golden brown. If the color is uneven, stand the cornets on end for a minute or so more, until the color is even. Remove the cornets from the oven and allow to cool just slightly, 30 seconds or so.
Gently remove the cornets from the molds and cool for several minutes on paper towels. Remove the Silpat from the baking sheet, wipe the excess butter from it, and allow it to cool down before spreading the next batch. Store the cornets for up to 2 days (for maximum flavor) in an airtight container.

We had to make something to go along with the tuiles, so I opted to make a roasted garlic hummus for dipping!  I used Mark Bittman’s recipe for hummus, using the mashed roasted garlic option for an add in.  And it was very rewarding to sit down to this lovely snack after the disaster that was Wednesday night.  I even watched my TiVo’d episode of Top Chef, allowing myself to pretend it was Wednesday night and all was a success.  Like I said, I have my quirks…but this should surprise no one.

I’ve missed the Daring Bakers! When I took a bit of a sabbatical from food blogging, I also took a break from the Daring Bakers. But I’m back and just in time for a sugar rush! Challenge hosts Dolores from Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity, Alex from Blondie and Brownie, Jenny of Foray into Food and Natalie of Gluten A Go Go found what can only be described as a dentist’s worst nightmare. This month’s challenge recipe is Shuna Fish Lydon’s Caramel Cake, as published on the Bay Area Bites blog, an ode to sugar at its finest. It’s a cake…with caramel in the batter…topped with a carmelized buttercream. My teeth ached just reading the recipe. For my first challenge back in the saddle, however, this was an easy yet versatile recipe…even more so since I turned them into cupcakes.

My love of cupcakes is pretty well known (some would call it obsessive, but I ignore such rudeness), so when I saw the challenge didn’t specifically call for us DBers to make a cake, I decided to use the batter for cupcakes. Before I started baking, I read over the experiences of other DBers, a majority of whom said both the cake and the frosting were VERY sweet. Considering I don’t even like caramel, I knew I was going to have to reduce some of the sugar in the recipe to make it palatable. With this adjustment in mind, I got out Big Red and started in on the cupcakes the day before my Thanksgiving feast.

CARAMEL CAKE WITH CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

10 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 Cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
2 each eggs, at room temperature
splash vanilla extract
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350F

Butter one tall (2 – 2.5 inch deep) 9-inch cake pan or 2 muffin tins lined with cupcake liners.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and salt & cream until light and fluffy.

Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl. Scrape down bowl and increase speed. Add eggs/vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform.

Sift flour and baking powder.

Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dry ingredients. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time. Add another third of the dry ingredients, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dry ingredients. {This is called the dry, wet, dry, wet, dry method in cake making. It is often employed when there is a high proportion of liquid in the batter.}

Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds, making sure batter is uniform. Turn batter into prepared cake pan or muffin tins.

Place cake pan on cookie sheet or 1/2 sheet pan. Set first timer for 30 minutes, rotate pan and set timer for another 15-20 minutes. Your own oven will set the pace. Bake until sides pull away from the pan and skewer inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool cake completely before icing it.

If making the cupcakes, bake for 15 minutes, rotate the tins and bake for another 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cake will keep for three days outside of the refrigerator.

CARAMEL SYRUP

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (for “stopping” the caramelization process)
In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.

When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back. NOTE: I took a tip from a fellow DBer and placed aluminum foil over the sauce pan with a small hole to pour water through in the middle. Then I poured the water through the hole slowly, thus keeping the splattering (and HOT) caramel from flying out and burning me.

Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}

Note: For safety reasons, have ready a bowl of ice water to plunge your hands into if any caramel should land on your skin.

CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound confectioner’s sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons caramel syrup
Kosher or sea salt to taste (I used 1 teaspoon of the salt to cut the sweetness of the frosting)

Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool.

Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add confectioner’s sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to take any more, add a bit of cream and or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture looks smooth and all confectioner’s sugar has been incorporated. Add salt to taste.

Note: Caramelized butter frosting will keep in fridge for up to a month.
To smooth out from cold, microwave a bit, then mix with paddle attachment until smooth and light.

The cake was very moist and delicious, if a bit on the sweet side (next time I would reduce the sugar to a 1/2 cup total). Not only that, the entire thing was a breeze to make from start to finish, including the frosting! Hands down the best recipe to bring me back into the Daring Bakers fold!

I was not about to make the same mistakes I made with my very first Daring Baker challenge. I had most definitely learned my lessons last time and applied them whole heartedly with this new challenge. So on a Friday night before going to bed, I fully read the recipe, jotting down each time the dough required chilling. This helped me to calculate the total time needed to make this bread. I made out a bit of a schedule, made sure I had all the ingredients and set off on my baking adventure the following Saturday…during a fucking heat wave in DC.

Oh it was HOT! And I was going to turn on the oven?!?! Well no one said being a daring baker was going to be easy! The recipe was a bit time consuming BUT it was certainly not difficult. Especially with my nice little timeline and schedule in front of me. It also helped that I made sure the Diva wasn’t underfoot.

My plan was to make a strawberry and chocolate mascarpone cheese braid. I had these lovely strawberries from my CSA and I couldn’t resist using them. So I pulled out the dough I had started the previous evening (I am using the recipe from Sherry Yard’s The Secret of Baking) and rolled it out to the specified size.

Using a measuring tape I cleaned and sanitized, I measured out the strips that would constitute the braid, meticulously following the recipes instructions.

Finally, it was time for the filling. The chocolate mascarpone was easy enough to make (whisking together the cheese and cocoa powder with a hint of vanilla extract) and even easier to spread on the dough. I hulled and sliced the strawberries up, planning on simply placing them atop the mascarpone. Yes, it really did look beautiful.

I even put in a bit of corn starch after slicing up the strawberries to avoid the very problem that arose: a soggy mess.

Apparently, even with the cornstarch, the strawberries were too juicy. I won’t show you the picture I snapped of the braid coming out of the oven after I baked it. The pastry puffed up VERY nicely and the parts that weren’t drenched in strawberry juice were flaky. It’s a recipe I will definitely use again for those reasons alone. But I wasn’t to be deterred, so taking the remaining dough, I made a smaller braid using spiced apples instead.

Unfortunately, this one didn’t puff up as nicely as the strawberry braid. I suspect it was because of the small stature or the fact that I may have rolled it out too thin. Either way, my plan was to try again in the following weeks since I had so much time to complete it. In fact, I was going to make it this very weekend for a dinner party on Saturday evening.

However, and this is where the joking is put aside, I had to spend all of Saturday morning and afternoon at the vet’s office. Something we thought was an allergic reaction turned out to be the return of the Diva’s cancer (she survived a bout with it almost two years ago). The prognosis, sadly, is not very good but we will know more once she sees the oncologist. Needless to say, I didn’t feel much like baking or cooking Saturday night, so I missed a fabulous Barefoot Contessa themed dinner party at Carmen and Aster’s (pictures were taken of the food, so I may post them for you all to enjoy later in the week). So I present to you my two braids: one puffing up nicely but coming out quite a bit soggy and one not soggy at all but not as puffy as the original.

I so promise I will not be the comic relief of the Daring Baker’s all the time. I look forward to the next challenge and will once again use the schedule and timeline approach that worked so well for me this go round. But no more juicy fruits!  To see my fellow Daring Baker’s danish braid, creations, head over to the Daring Bakers’ Blogroll!