Showing posts with label TWD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TWD. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

TWD: Perfect Party Cake

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This week's Tuesdays with Dorie (TWD) recipe was chosen by Carol of mix, mix... stir, stir: Perfect Party Cake. This cake consists of a light and fluffy lemon cake filled with a lemon buttercream and raspberry preserve. Dorie gives you the option of personalizing it to your own taste. If you aren't crazy about buttercream you can just use sweetened whipped cream instead. If you don't like raspberries you can use any other type of berry preserve you'd prefer or even add fresh fruit.
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We're not fans of buttercream, but we decided just to follow Dorie's recipe to the T! This cake was pretty simple to make. The cake turned out wonderful! Fluffy, moist and had just the perfect hint of lemon to it. The buttercream was pretty simple to make. Overall, we were happy with this cake and thought it was really good, but next time we would just use sweetened whipped cream. Even though the buttercream was good, it wasn't great and we just don't think it's worth the 3 sticks of butter! Yes 3 sticks!!
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You can find the recipe here!
Enjoy!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

TWD: Coconut-Roasted Pineapple Dacquoise

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Do you guys like our new blog design?! We are so excited to have it up and couldn't be happier thanks to Samantha at Temptation Designs. She was so great to work with and was concerned about how we wanted our blog to look! We definitely would reccomend working with her. Shes great!
This week's TWD recipe, Coconut Roasted Pineapple Dacquoise, was chosen by Andrea. You can find the recipe on her blog, Andrea's Kitchen. This is 3 meringue layers filled with white chocolate ganache whipped cream with broiled carmelized pineapples on top!
The picture for this recipe always stood out to us whenever we looked through Dorie's book. Everything seemed to be going well with this recipe! The meringue turned out great, we had no promblems with the white chocolate ganache whipped cream, but then everything quickly turned into a disaster!! After baking the meringues for 3 hours we took them out of the oven only to find that they were stuck to the pan!! With help from the TWD bloggers we realized that we used wax paper instead of the recommended parchment paper.... The wax paper melted into the merinigue and the pan.... So all we could think to do was to salvage as much as we could and make a trifle layer with the broken pieces of the meringue.
So how did it taste?? Well we were so dissapointed with what happened that we were to frustrated to taste anything. We went straight to bed. We checked on it this morning and 3\4 of it was gone. We guess somebody really liked it!
We did try each individual layer as we were making everything and on their own everything tasted really good! Especially the white chocolate ganache whipped cream! Oh well! We don't think we would make this again. We look foward to next weeks Perfect Party Cake!
Stay tuned!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

TWD: Honey Peach Ice Cream

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This week's Tuesdays with Dorie (TWD) recipe was chosen by Tommi of Brown Interior: Honey-Peach Ice Cream. It's peachy, creamy, and the honey gives it a smoothness and flavor that totally set it apart from all other ice creams.
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This was very easy to make! You just boil your milk mixture and your honey/peach mixture, then blend it all together in a blender and wait for it to chill. Then you put it in the ice cream maker for and hour and then it's ready!
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This is our favorite honey! It's imported from Italy. We find it to be less sweet than the average honey you find in the grocery stores.
The recipe tells you to not puree half of the peaches and save some chunks of peaches to toss in the ice cream mixer at the last minute, but we personally didn't want frozen peach bits in our ice cream, so we just pureed all the peaches.
If you would like the recipe, you can find it here. Make sure you visit the TWD Blogroll to see what everyone else thought about this cool, summery treat.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

TWD: Parisian Apple Tartlet

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The Tuesdays with Dorie pick for this week was Parisian Apple Tartlet chosen by Jessica of My Baking Heart. This was recipe was so simple and only four ingredients were needed to make it!
Don't you just love recipes like that?! Dorie suggested that you use an all butter puff pastry dough. In the past, we've only used Pepperidge Farm's frozen puff pastry dough. We learned about Dufour puff pastry dough. We found some at Whole Foods. It's quite expensive. $11.99 per container! We were excited to work with this dough. It got rave reviews online!
The only thing we changed from this recipe was its shape. We couldn't find any of our round cookie cutters. Actually, we were just to lazy to look for them! =) We just made them into rectangles.
We made two versions: some with apples and some with peaches and blueberries. Lisa's boyfriend, Rinaldo, made his own apple version along with a cherry and blueberry one. He's a pretty good cook but he can't compete with our baking! ;)
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Sorry that the photos aren't too great! Maria was out yesterday so I, Lisa, had to take the pictures and of course Maria had the camera in her car! I had to use to regular camera and it's not the greatest! =( Oh well!
We liked this recipe a lot! We really recommend the Dufour puff pastry dough, but we just wish is was cheaper! You can find the recipe here!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

TWD: Cinnamon Squares

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This week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection are the Cinnamon Squares. They were chosen by Tracey of Tracey's Culinary Adventures. These squares have a thin layer of cinnamon, sugar, chocolate and espresso powder in the middle of a cinnamon cake that’s topped with a bittersweet chocolate frosting. We weren't really sure what to expect from this recipe. We like cinnamon, chocolate and espresso, just never had them all together.

The only changes we made to this recipe was that we baked the cake in a 9" round springform pan, rather than the 8" square dish.

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Overall, we thought these squares were pretty good. Some members in our household enjoyed them a lot and said they were really good, but we thought they were so so. We would rate them a 3.5 out of 5. Maybe if we made them next time we would take out the espresso powder.
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Wednesday, May 27, 2009

TWD: Chipster-Topped Brownies

We know, we know! We're a day late with this post. We've just been really busy, but we will try to get back to posting on Tuesdays! We almost skipped this recipe but then we thought, how could we skip on this recipe!! This week's Tuesdays with Dorie (TWD) recipe was chosen by Beth of Supplicious: Chipster-Topped Brownies. You can find the recipe here!

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These turned out really yummy! We don't know how no one thought of this recipe before. Brownies AND Chocolate chip cookies! What more could you want. =)
We cooked these for 10 minutes longer and keep them covered for half of the time.
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The brownie layer was moist and chocolatey and the cookie layer was golden brown and crunchy. We used bittersweet chocolate for the brownies because we couldn't find unsweeted chocolate! We definietley would make these again, but next time just bake them a little longer because the very middle of the pan was a little undercooked!
Make sure you visit the TWD Blogroll to see what everyone else thought about this weeks recipe!
* Recipes notes:
- We used 9 oz of bittersweet chocolate in place of the 6 oz bittersweet and 3 oz of unsweetened chocolate.
- We omitted the walnuts from the brownie layer.
- We placed a foil tent over the brownies for half of the cooking time,

Thursday, May 21, 2009

TWD: Fresh Mango Bread

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This week's Tuesdays with Dorie (TWD) recipe was chosen by Kelly of Baking with the Boys: Fresh Mango Bread. We love mangoes and were very excited to see how this recipe would turn out. We have never baked with mangoes before!
This recipe was very easy to make. It's just like any banana bread recipe. The smell of this bread as it was baking was AMAZING! It took an hour and a half to cook fully and we couldn't wait till it was done so we could dig in! We weren't really sure what to expect, but this bread tasted very similar to banana bread. The mango flavor wasn't too strong. Our brother who hates mangoes ate this bread (not knowing there were mangoes in it) and he liked it a lot too!
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Thanks Kelly, for choosing this recipe. If you would like the recipe, you can find it here. Make sure you visit the TWD Blogroll to see what everyone else thought about this recipe.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

TWD: Tartest Lemon Tart

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Ok we're back on track with Tuesday's with Dorie (TWD). We missed a few weeks in a row... Between Maria's wedding and both of us fixing up our new homes, it leaves little time for baking. This weeks recipe was this lemon tart. When we first read the recipe we were kind of worried... the recipe included one and a half lemons... the ENTIRE lemons! Without the seeds of course. We don't know about you, but we have always read that you should never use the white part in lemons because it's very bitter...
We still followed the exact recipe because we wanted to see what would happen. So what did we think?...
At first bite, it tasted just like any other lemon bars. Then once you swallowed that bite and let it flavors set in, you could taste it... the bitterness.. It was just a little bit though. Maria tasted it more.
Our mom tried it and thought it was really good! She loves anything lemon. She didn't know that the recipe called for the enitire lemons so maybe that's why? Who knows!
The recipe was chosen by this blog, Babette Feasts.
We would make this again, but as many members did, just use the inside of lemon and the skin. This recipe was super easy and fast to make! =)
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Monday, April 13, 2009

TWD: Chocolate Amaretti Torte

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This week's Tuesdays with Dorie (TWD) recipe was chosen by Holly of Phe.MOM.enon: 15 Minute Magic: Chocolate Amaretti Torte. Aside from ground almonds, one of the main ingredients in this torte are amaretti cookies. We LOVE amaretti cookies. We have a cake that we have made several times and everybpdy always loves it. Its a cake with almonds and amaretti. We tried to recreate the cake after we had it in Italy at our Aunt's house. Took a few tries, but we got it down!
We were excited to try this recipe, but we are sad to say that we weren't crazy about this cake. We weren't crazy about the texture. It just wasn't anything special and did not meet our expectations. Oh well! Better luck next time.
You can find the recipe here!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

TWD: Banana Cream Pie

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This weeks Tuesday's with Dorie's (TWD) recipe was chosen by Amy of Sing for your Supper. Amy chose Banana Cream pie as you can see! This was our 3rd TWD recipe and we've liked all of them so far. We've had Banana Cream pie in the past, but we've never made it on our own. We've made many different kinds of pie, but never Banana. We made this on Friday after work and we couldn't eat it until Sunday early morning. You see, we gave up sweets for lent... and the only day we can have sweets in on Sunday... We've been suprised on how well we've been doing! We never thought we could bake stuff and half to wait 1-2 days to eat it!! The pie was delicious! Everyone in the house liked it. Our brother Carmine LOVED it and said "I've never had banana cream pie this good!"

We suggest that you buy Dorie's book if you don't already have it. Trust us when we say, you'll LOVE it!
You can find the recipe on Amy's blog here.
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The recipe was really simple to make. I think it took us less than 2 hours to do everything! It's a basic pastry cream, made with brown sugar instead of white sugar, with just a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg in it. Once you have the crust and filling ready all you do is bake the crust and let it cool, then layer it with pastry cream and bananas, and then top with fresh whipped cream. Dorie adds a touch of sour cream to the whipped cream and we thought that was a great idea! We liked the flavor a lot! We couldn't get any decent pictures of a pie slice... so sorry! We're working on perfecting our picture and blog layout! hang in there with us! =)

This weekend was crazy for us because on top of this pie we had to bake TWO birthday cakes! Here are some pictures.

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This was for our niece Priscilla's 3rd birthday. She wanted a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cake!

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It was a chocolate cake with a nutella and mascarpone whipped cream! YUMMY!

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The second was for our Brother Dominic. We kept it pretty simple.

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This was a lemon chiffon cake with a lemon curd filling.

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Tuesday, March 31, 2009

TWD:Coconut Butter Thins

When I first saw that this recipe was chosen I was SO happy. I LOVE anything with coconut!! I actually haven't baked too many goods with coconut, so I was excited to try these! Overall, I thought these cookies were pretty good. The coconut flavor was subtle, so I think that I expected these to be very coconut-y and my expectations were too high! I loved the technique of rolling out the dough in the ziploc bag! Will definitely keep that in mind for other recipes! You can find the recipe here! Can't wait till next week.... Stay Tuned =)

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

TWD: Blueberry Crumb Cake

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On St.Patrick's Day, the Tuesdays with Dorie (TWD) group was accepting new members! I signed up but, I'm still not sure if it's official yet, but I decided to start anyways! This is my first TWD post and i look foward to posting a new recipe every tuesday! This weeks recipe was Blueberry Crumb Cake. I enjoyed this cake a lot. Its really good to have for breakfast or even for a midday snack with tea or coffee. =) I love any kind of sweet with blueberries. Lets begin with the recipe!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place the rack at the middle position in the oven. Butter an 8-inch square pan and put it on a baking sheet. To make the crumbs: Put all the ingredients except the nuts in a food processor and pulse just until the mixture forms clumps and curds and holds together when pressed. Scrape the topping into a bowl, stir in the nuts and press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface. Refrigerate until needed. (Covered well the crumb mix can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.)
Blueberry Crumb Cake
To make the cake: Using your fingertips, toss the blueberries and 2 tsp of the flour together in a small bowl just to coat the berries; set aside.
Blueberry Crumb Cake
Whisk together the remaining 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Working in the bowl of a stand mixer or in another large bowl, rub the sugar and zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and aromatic. Add the butter and, with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat the sugar with the butter at medium speed until light, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one by one, beating for about 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla extract. Don’t be concerned if the batter looks curdled — it will soon smooth out. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture and the buttermilk alternately, the flour in 3 parts and the buttermilk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients.) You will have a thick, creamy batter. With a rubber spatula, gently stir in the berries.
Blueberry Crumb Cake
Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and smooth the top gently with the spatula. Pull the crumb mix from the fridge and, with your fingertips, break it into pieces. There’s no need to try to get even pieces — these are crumbs, they’re supposed to be lumpy and bumpy and every shape and size. Scatter the crumbs over the batter, pressing them down ever so slightly.
Blueberry Crumb Cake
Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until the crumbs are golden and a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool just until it is warm or until it reaches room temperature.
Blueberry Crumb Cake
Blueberry Crumb Cake by Dorie Greenspan For the crumbs: 5 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature 1/4 cup sugar 1/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar 1/3 cup all purpose flour 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 cup chopped walnuts For the cake: 1 pint (2 cups) blueberries (preferably fresh, or frozen, not thawed) 2 cups plus 2 tsp all purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg 2/3 cup sugar grated zest of 1/2 lemon or 1/4 orange 3/4 stick (6 tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature 2 large eggs, at room temperature 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 1/2 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt
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