Daring Bakers Go To The Opera

I have to admit, I was a little hesitant about completing this month’s Daring Baker’s Challenge. Well, maybe intimidated is more accurate! I mean, could I possibly pull off such a complicated sounding recipe such as this Opera Cake? I had never even heard of such a dessert until a little less than a month ago when our lovely hosts Ivonne, Lis, Fran and Shea announced that this would be our challenge for May. I initially read the recipe over a couple times and each time thought, 'this sounds too hard!’ I didn't pick up the the recipe again until a few days before the long Memorial Holiday weekend and this time, after a few more reads, I actually felt excited about attempting this challenge. This is gonna sound corny but as I was reading the recipe for the third and fourth time I began to think about what being a Daring Baker means and why I joined DB in the first place. I knew one reason I joined was to stretch and challenge myself in the baking arena; another was to learn more from others who shared a passion for baking; and most of all, I joined the DB'ers to have fun! And was this Opera Cake FUN to make! Yes, it did entail many steps, and YES, I did have some frustrating moments especially when the butter cream which turned out so lovely on Saturday night, did not look so hot on Sunday morning. Still though, this recipe allowed me to be a little more creative by choosing the flavorings which was an orange and almond theme. I chose to add some Mandarin oranges in between the layers of the jaconde, added Grand Marnier to the white chocolate ganache, almond extract was used in the syrup, and I topped the finished cake with almond slices and more oranges. Oh my gosh, this cake was delicious! The Opera Cake made its "debut" at a family get together this past Sunday and was a huge hit! The flavors worked well together and despite all the butter, cream and chocolate, there was still a lovely lightness to the cake. Are you up for the Opera Cake challenge? If so, you can find the full

recipe on Ivonne's site if you click here. I'll see you at the Opera!

Lollipop, Lollipop...!

This month's Daring Baker's Challenge, Cheesecake Pops, was one of the most fun, creative, and whimsical recipes I've tried in a long while. I sort of felt like a candy maker as I dipped each cheesecake-on-a-stick into melted white and dark chocolate and then sprinkled all sorts of goodies onto the lollipops. I chose a bunch of different toppings for the pops like crushed graham crackers, chocolate and candy-coated sprinkles, crushed almond rocca, flaked coconut, and crushed chocolate wafers. This recipe makes a huge batch (I'm still making them as I type this!) so my lucky coworkers will be getting their share of lollipops come Monday morning. My boyfriend took a sample of a lollipop this morning and absolutely loved it. So a big thank-you to Deborah of Taste and Tell and Elle of Feeding My Enthusiasms for choosing April's DB Challenge. And if you'd like to check out other DB'ers version of Cheesecake Pops click HERE, or to make your own, check out this recipe on Deborah's site. Enjoy!

A Perfectly Fine Cake--Daring Baker's Challenge For March

I completed my cake this morning! Yippee. I really loved the taste of this cake—it's very chiffon-like with its light, airy texture and that hint of citrus. I pretty much followed the recipe to a tee except I decided to create mini layer cakes instead of 1 large one. I halved the butter cream

frosting recipe for this reason and unfortunately, my frosting never got thick enough during the mixing process. (Did any other DBers have similar problems with their butter cream frosting)? So, I ended up with a rather runny frosting that didn't quite make the prettiest presentation but I did my best with what I had to work with and am pretty pleased with the results. It sort of reminded me of a snowball with all the coconut flakes so I added the cherry on top to give it a bit more balance. Even though the cake did not turn out as "perfect" as I would have liked, I still had fun with this challenge and plan to serve my mini party cakes later today when my two brothers and their families come over to visit. This month's challenge for the Perfect Party Cake (a Dorie Greenspan recipe, by the way), was hosted by Morven of Food, Art, and Random Things. If you would like to bake your own party cake click here for the recipe, and party on!

A Leapin' Good Daring Baker's Challenge!

Today is of course Leap Day and the last day of February, so what better way to "celebrate" than by baking and eating some delicious, homemade bread! In this installment of the ever-so-exciting Daring Baker's Challenge, we were given the task of baking Julia Child's French Bread. I have to be honest and tell you that I almost did not attempt this one because after reading the recipe and the very detailed instructions, I felt a bit intimidated by it all. I am also leaving for a 3 week trip to Asia tonight so I didn't think I had the time dedicated to baking the bread. But miraculously yesterday, I woke up early (3:40am to be exact), feeling willing, ready and able to tackle the challenge after all, and since I had the whole day off from work, I went for it. The bread making process, though a long one with 3 different risings, was very enjoyable and even relaxing. There's something quite meditative and peaceful about bread making, isn't there? And though my French bread may not be the prettiest on the block ( I had a hard time forming my long baguette), it sure tasted delicious! We toasted a few slices for breakfast this morning. I loved the crispy crust and the slightly chewy inside. My boyfriend slathered his with peach jam but I ate mine plain and simple. I will definitely be packing some of this with me for our plane trip this evening! If you would like to give this challenge a try for yourself, check out the recipe which was chosen by Breadchick Mary of The Sour Dough and Sara of I Like To Cook.
Since I'll be on vacation, this will likely be my last post for the next several weeks. So thank-you Mary and Sarah for February's French Bread challenge. I'm happy I made it! Aur revoir for now!

The Daring Bakers Pucker Up

Being the lemon-lover that I am, I was happy to find out that this month's Daring Baker's challenge was lemon meringue pie. Let me just say that I am not an experienced pie baker by any stretch of the imagination but I certainly am an experienced pie eater! And lemon meringue happens to be one of my favorites so I was eager to start baking. To make the challenge less daunting for me, I made the pie over the course of one and a half days. First I made the buttery pie crust, stored it in the fridge to chill, and then tackled the lemon filling and meringue the next day. I liked the look of my finished pie—the meringue had that light and glossy look and actually appeared slightly blow-torched after baking. Even though I found my pie to be a little on the runny side, it still tasted delicious. I loved the tanginess of the lemon filling and the crust though not perfect, was as buttery and flaky as any pie crust I've eaten before. Overall, I was pleased with my first attempt at lemon meringue pie. What a great challenge to start 2008 with! Who knows, maybe this will be the beginning of more pie baking in my future. Thank-you Jen, of the Canadian Baker, who chose this month's recipe. If you would like to give this pie a try yourself, check out her blog for the complete recipe.

One Potato, Two Potato...

Boy, this was challenging! I wasn't sure how my bread would turn out but as you can see from the photos, I managed to get through the November Daring Baker's Challenge in one piece. Honestly, I was semi-panicking throughout the process because my dough was soooo soft and sticky and hardly manageable that I almost threw in the towel (and threw out the dough!) half-way through. But, like any other Daring Baker would, I trudged along, determined not to quit and actually, my curiosity on how the dough would turn out got the best of me (thank goodness). I decided to make a black olive foccacia and some mini loaves, and to my amazement, the end-products were delicious! I've never baked a potato bread (or tasted one) before so I really did not know what to expect. What I got however was worth all the hard work and perseverance. Thanks Tanna of My Kitchen In Half-Cups, for thinking up this month's Potato Bread challenge! (If you'd like to try your hand at this recipe, click here).

Daring Baker's Challenge For October

What better way to ring in my second Daring Baker's Challenge than by having some neighbors over for some Bostini Cream Pie and board games? That's just what we did over the weekend and had a lot of fun doing it. I have to say that making this challenge was a lot of fun itself. I couldn't believe how many eggs I cracked for this dish, but I also realized how much I was learning and honing some important baking skills. I think this was actually my first time making custard and I'm happy to say, I didn't burn it! The Bostini Cream Pie was a lovely dessert, not to mention rich and delicious. I loved the creamy, vanilla-ness of the custard and the orange tanginess of the light chiffon cake. The chocolate topping made it even more decadent. I think my neighbors enjoyed it too. Thank-you Mary from Alpineberry for selecting a creative and pretty dessert for us this month. (If you'd like to try making a BostiniCream Pie yourself then click here and you'll be on your way)

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Look At These Pretty Buns

I have never made cinnamon or sticky buns before, and I have never been a Daring Baker before. Put the two together and what do you get? My first ever Daring Baker challenge for the month of September, of course! I was pleased, honored, and excited when I became a member of the Daring Bakers for I knew that I would be joining a rather talented bunch of people who month after month have been creating many mouth-watering, tantalizing treats that I admired. Needless to say, I was a bit nervous and a lot excited when I found out that this month's recipe was for cinnamon and/or sticky buns. I love to eat both of these sweet treats (who doesn't like Cinnabon, right), and I decided that I wanted to try my hand at baking both. This month's challenge was hosted by Marce of Pip In The City. Looking at the recipe, I found it to be pretty easy to read and follow, and I even had most of the ingredients on hand already. As expected for yeast-bread recipes, this one takes a long time because of the two fermentation processes (the first one being about 2 hours and the second one close to 90 minutes). Otherwise, the actual dough-making, the dough-rolling, and the prepping of the caramel for the sticky buns and fondant glaze for the cinnamon buns was not very time consuming at all. I think I worried a little when it looked like my dough was not doubling up in size during the two hour rising process. I wondered if maybe my house was a little too cool on this particular evening? By the time the two hours rolled around however, the dough had risen but still not sure if it was actually "double" like the recipe stated. I kept my fingers crossed and proceeded on anyways, hoping that everything would work out in the end. And pretty much it did! The baking time for the sticky buns may have been a little too long for my oven (I baked them for 33 minutes), because the raisins looked a little burnt but otherwise, the buns looked and tasted great. My boyfriend was partial to the cinnamon buns and my brother liked the sticky buns. Me? Well, I liked both and am quite relieved I made it through my first challenge!