Homemade Phyllo Dough and Baklava!

This month's Daring Baker's challenge was simply too good to pass up. Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge.  Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then to use that homemade dough to make Baklava. The Recipe can be found here.

Good Baklava is fantastic - but finding good baklava is often a challenge in Southern Oregon. So the opportunity to make it for the Daring Baker's challenge was simply too enticing to pass up. Besides, the opportunity to make phyllo is intriguing--I've been looking for a good reason to try my hand at phyllo and this was that opportunity.

So I set about making the homemade phyllo and baklava. The hardest part was simply finding an appropriate dowel to roll out the baklava with. The reason it was hard was that I didn't want to drive into town to the hardware store and had to find something at the general store that would work. I finally found a short pipe that with the benefit of a saw - would do the trick.

While the video makes it seem supremely easy to roll the dough onto the pipe/dowel, the reality is not quite that simple. Whenever I tried it, I ended up wrinkling the dough -- now crinkled fabric is pretty -- but it's not quite the look I was going for in my phyllo. So I ended up rolling it out in the beginning and end, but tried to roll it up on the dowel in the middle. Clearly, I have more technique to perfect, and used the final rolls to flatten it out as best I could.

Baklava itself though, is extremely simple to make. Just nuts a few spices and a food processor. Then patiently assembling the whole deal (imagine a lasagna). Cut it, pop it in the oven, and then start the syrup. Recut it, finish baking, an pour the syrup over the whole thing. There is a scary moment or two when you're pouring the syrup over and it looks like the whole thing may float away -- but it absorbs the initial onslaught quickly, and that's the magic of baklava.

So here we have it - baklava waiting for 24 hours to pass and the first taste to pass our lips -- it's gonna be good. :)

Daring Baker's Challenge: Meringue Filled Coffee Cake

The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.

After an absence of far too long, the Daring Baker's Challenge this month was too good to pass up. A Yeasted Meringue Filled Coffee Cake. Yum! That coupled with the return of my stand mixer (which broke on Thanksgiving) from KitchenAid*, and it seemed like the perfect way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon.

I opted to make Jamie’s All-American versions with cinnamon, chopped pecans and chocolate chips or chopped chocolate - it simply sounded too good to be true. While the recipe was fun to make, the results were less than amazing. We certainly won't be making this again, but rejoining the Daring Baker's Challenge was fun.

*Here's the backstory on the mixer in case you missed the saga...the mixer decided it didn't want to mix anymore on Thanksgiving while I was making the rolls. Happily, it was still under warranty, but apparently the pretty blue version I have isn't popular-and they usually send you a new/repaired one and you send them yours. But since I wanted to keep the blue version it took quite a while to negotiate me sending it to them, them repairing it and sending it back. But KitchenAid honored the warranty and took care of everything free of charge. And it now runs better than ever. Yea KitchenAid!

Daring Baker's Challenge: March 2010 Orange Tian

The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris. You can find your copy of these recipes on the Daring Kitchen website.

I have to admit, I was not looking forward to this challenge. I'm not a big fan of marmalade, nor orange desserts. And the individual servings looked tedious and troublesome. Therefore, I put it off until quite late in the month.

I do have to admit though, the marmalade is the best marmalade I've ever had -- and would chose to have it on toast. (In fact, it's pretty impressive on homemade brioche!).

I ended up making the Orange Tian in a tart pan, and assembled it right side up, rather than upside down and flipped as the instructions call for. It seemed appropriate since the base was a Pate Sablee. The completed dessert also surpassed my expectations and was surprisingly good.

Would I make it again? Not sure, but I wouldn't be opposed to it -- that's for sure. And that marmalade might just make a regular appearance in our household.

Daring Baker's Challenge: Tiramisu

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession. (Recipe is located here)

OK, I  have to admit, I wasn't pleased to see that this was the challenge this month. I'm not a fan of Tiramisu--I know, sacrilege to those of you who adore it, but between the soggy cookies/cake and the overly alcohol flavor, I never liked it. Nevertheless, the point of Daring Bakers is to try something you otherwise wouldn't have -- and this was definately the case.

The most difficult part of this challenge was making the 4, count them 4, different components to the creme before mixing it together. It was interesting to make Mascarpone Cheese from scratch, but also making zabaglione, pastry cream, and whip cream to mix together was --- time consuming. It would seem that since 2 of the 4 items have to be cooked in what amounts to a double boiler, that perhaps they could have been combined.

I ended up using espresso for the flavoring -- instead of the marsala. And I used a Danish Pastry flavoring in place of the Rum Extract. I have to admit, it was pretty good -- better than any tiramisu I've ever had before, that's for sure. The recipe called for it to be assembled in an 8x8 pan, but I didn't think I had enough ladyfingers for 3 layers in an 8x8 pan, so I assembled mine in a bread pan.

Even after waiting overnight to taste it, the ladyfinger biscuits held enough texture to make interesting -- although if I were to make it again, I think adding toasted hazelnuts or chocolate nibs would really enhance the experience.

Will I make it again? Not sure, but perhaps for company with lots of notice -- then again, maybe I'll make the easy and delicous Carmel Walnut Banana Torte.

Daring Baker Challenge: January 2010 - Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and http://www.nanaimo.ca/. You can find your copy of these recipes on the Daring Kitchen website.

I am really excited about this challenge! I've wanted to try to make Nanaimo Bars a number of times, but for one reason or another haven't made them yet. I'm also excited to get to try my hand at making graham wafers -- this should be a FUN challenge. Thanks Lauren for presenting it!

So first -- the Graham Crackers. Highly optimistic I started this endeavor. I originally started to do the GF version as I had all the appropriate flours already on hand. As I added the butter, and after cutting the butter in with the flour, the correct coarse "meal" appeared. After adding the honey, milk, and vanilla to the mixture, I felt confident I was well on my way. Lauren said it would be a wet sticky dough -- boy o boy, she wasn't kidding!

After attempting to roll and pat this out, only to find that I couldn't get it up off the counter in one piece -- in fact it had glued itself to the counter. I hoped it would get resolved as it cooled again in the refridgerator and bundled it up for a chill.

Alas, even after the chill, it was still too sticky to deal with. So back to the mixer it went and I added about 1 more cup of flour to get it to a more appropriate state.

After the addition of more flour it was much easier to deal with, although still quite sticky and fragile. To expedite the process, I cut the crackers out with a 4 inch English Muffin mold. This worked fairly well but has resulted in round Graham Crackers. C'est la vie!

Here's hoping that home-made graham crackers are worth the effort or this is a one-time only adventure. :)

Now for the tasting -- pretty good. I'm still not sure it's worth the effort everyday, but the flavors and textures are nothing like the store-bought version. Definately worth doing at least once in a lifetime.

By comparison to the Graham Crackers, the Nanaimo Bars were easy! Just three no-bake layers, and chilling time. The fact that I still lack a double boiler meant that I had to haul out the pyrex bowl over the sauce pan again (honestly that's the fifth time in the last month and a half!). I decided toasting the almonds and coconut would be prudent before I added them to the mixture so set about doing just that.

I had to try the tempering process I've seen a few times as I added the egg into the hot chocolate and didn't want it scrambled. (It worked!) There was a small moment of concern when I realized halfway through the second layer that I had left the Graham Crackers out of the first layer. But no worries, scooped it back into a bowl, re-softened the chocolate mixture and added in the Graham Crackers -- that made it look more like it should have to begin with.

Layer two was uneventful -- but yummy bowl scrapings to be had. Layer 3 needed to cool a little longer than I gave it as it was difficult to spread since it kept melting layer 2. But in the end, it got spread and stuck in the refrigerator to cool.

The taste is divine and the Nanaimo challenge one worth repeating -- although next time with store bought Graham Crackers.

The challenge was lots of fun and I'm looking forward to next month's challenge. Thanks again Lauren!

The Daring Baker: January 2010 Challenge

Well, I can't tell you what the January 2010 Daring Baker's Challenge is yet -- you'll have to wait until the 27th to find out. It's not my rules, it's the challenge's rules. But what what I can tell you is that I'm very excited to complete the challenge. It's actually a two part challenge. Part one got done today and part two is scheduled for tomorrow.

There was a spot of trouble on today's component, but I think it came out OK. Tomorrow's should be MUCH easier. The recipe for tomorrow is one I've wanted to make for quite a while, but generally consider it much too late at night to actually accomplish. So this should be lots of fun--and tasty too!

Enough -- can't say anything meaningful, so until next Wild Thyme in the Kitchen... :)

Yule Log

So, having decided to try the Daring Baker challenge, I picked out the challenge from December 2007 -- a Yule Log. The instructions were easy to follow and, the results are quite nice.

I did make a couple of changes to the recipe, based on what I had on hand. Rather than use espresso and rum/brandy flavoring, I used Cacao Powder and Praline Liquer - because I suspect that this combination is less flavorful than the originally specified flavors, I increased the amount by 1.5 times.

I also must confess, I ran out of eggs and was unable to complete the Merangue Mushroom components of the recipe. Instead, I decorated with coarsely chopped pecans and toffee bits.

As a trial run, this was a successful endeavor and has got me very intrigued to find out what the next challenge will be. I do think that in the interrim more of the challenge recipes need to be attemped. Specifically, I'm really intrigued by the Bagel Challenge. Finding a decent bagel is a very difficult endeavor and making them sounds not so hard. It's difficult to justify making Bagels during the holiday season though -- but it may just be the ticket in January.

Until next time!

Taking the Daring Baker Challenge

I stumbled today across the Daring Kitchen Challenge website. This looks like fun. Once a month a new challenge is posted, and everyone commits to making these wonderful recipes. So here goes, diving in, and starting with a recipe from a previous month, just to get my feet wet.