Croissants, Daring Bakers September
The Daring Bakers go retro this month! Thanks to one of our very talented non-blogging members, Sarah, the Daring Bakers were challenged to make Croissants using a recipe from the Queen of French Cooking, none other than Julia Child! I’ve never been much of a croissant person, not because I don’t like them but because I love sugar, and they’ve never satisfied my sweet tooth. On the rare occasions when I chose to order a croissant over a muffin or a scone (that often happened during my brief employment with Flour… Joanne’s croissants are UNBELIEVABLE), I’ve been in love, and totally in awe of how they can be made so perfectly. When done right, they are lightly crispy on the outside, with these luscious, slightly-doughy and achingly tender butter-laden layers inside. I’ve always thought I’d make them someday, but was seriously daunted, so it wasn’t until this challenge was introduced that I had the nerve to give them a try.
Daring Bakers – Candies! Homemade Chocolates and Caramels
The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drive and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mavens challenged us to make sinfully delicious candies! This was a special challenge for the Daring Bakers because the good folks at http://www.chocoley.com offered an amazing prize for the winner of the most creative and delicious candy! (more…)
Toasted Nut Florentine Cookie Cups with Maple Mousse and Toasted Nut Toffee
The April 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Evelyne of the blog Cheap Ethnic Eatz. Evelyne chose to challenge everyone to make a maple mousse in an edible container. Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 27th to May 27th at http://thedaringkitchen.com!
This month’s Daring Bakers challenge totally snuck up on me. Come April 1st I read the challenge and planned out my entire game plan, and was so thrilled with my creativity! And then fast forward to just before Easter, when it dawned on me, I hadn’t even thought about the challenge in weeks! Typically these challenges require ingredients I don’t always have on hand, and a rather generous chunk of time to commit to the endeavor. So when the evening of April 26th came around and I STILL hadn’t gotten the challenge completed, I was feeling the heat! I buckled down and got to work, and managed to complete the entire challenge in one hurried evening. I tried my hand at making toffee for the first time – a pretty daring move when it was past 9pm and I wanted to be in bed within the hour. But I had to do it – these challenges are no joke! I was pleasantly surprised to find the toffee was fairly simple, and came out unbelievably well. I totally surprised myself! (more…)
Meringue-Filled Yeasted Coffee Cake: March Daring Bakers
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.
This challenge completely snuck up on me… so much so that on March 27th, the reveal date, I was scrolling through my Google Reader and noticed a pretty yeasted coffee cake. Wow, I thought, that’s so pretty. And then all of a sudden, I realized THAT was supposed to be coming out of MY oven… and somehow miraculously showing up on my blog later that afternoon. It was about 9am, my family was starved, but it would take about 3 hours for the coffee cake to bake. What to do?! Well, the obvious… I baked a regular coffee cake (Flour Bakery’s Apple Snacking cake, in fact), AND the two cakes for the challenge. Ahhh, the life of a baker. Never a dull moment. (more…)
Daring Bakers November: Dutch Apple Crostata
The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well. (more…)
