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My first Daring Bakers‘ challenge! I just bought Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours, so I thought this challenge was exceptionally appropriate: Perfect Party Cake. Lemony cake with a rich lemon buttercream frosting, a filling of frosting and blueberry preserves and coconut sprinkled all over the top. A perfect spring time cake!

Unfortunately, the cake didn’t turn out so perfectly. The first problem was that my cakes didn’t rise. One was definitely higher than the other, but there was no way I would be able to cut each in half. So I decided to just make it into a 2-layer cake, instead of 4 layers. This was actually okay, but the cake did lose something, missing those extra two layers in terms of its texture.

Seeing as I didn’t have as many layers to fill with the frosting, I only made half of the frosting. Considering the full recipe called for 3 sticks of butter, this was fine with me.

I chose blueberry preserves for the centre, and while the taste was fantastic, a stunning combo with the lemon, there were dried blueberries that disrupted the light texture of the cakes and the frosting.

All around? This cake tastes perfect, there’s a wonderful lemony note to it that I love. The coconut on top is a good combo, and the frosting is magical, light and yet still rich. I likely won’t make this cake again, but I am enjoying it right now.

Perfect Party Cake
From Baking: from my home to yours

CAKE
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 t grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 T) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 t pure lemon extract

FINISHING TOUCHES
2/3 c seedless raspberry preserves, stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable
About 1 1/2 c sweetened shredded coconut

LEMON BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 t pure vanilla extract

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9-x-2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl. Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.

3. Add the butter and, working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.

4. Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.

5. Add the rest of the milk and eggs, and the remaining dry ingredients. Finally, give the batter a good 2 minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.

6. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them and peel off the paper lines. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up.

LEMON BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
1. Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or other large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream. Remove the bowl from the heat.

2. Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one (I don’t, so I continued to use my hand mixer.) Add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6 to 10 minutes. During this time, the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again. On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla. You should have a shiny, smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream.

ASSEMBLE THE CAKE
1. Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half. Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.

2. Spread it with one third of the preserves. Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream.

3. Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer. Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top.

4. Press the coconut into the frosting patting gently all over the sides and top.

Dorie offers lots of “Playing Around” suggestions, but I pretty much stayed with what the main recipe called for, except for substituting the raspberry preserves with blueberry.

I’m looking forward to future Daring Bakers’ challenges! This was a lot of fun, and it’s not a cake I would’ve made on my own. Thanks!

Soli made me my first fish tacos ages ago, but even with persistent prodding, has yet to post this fine accomplishment. But these fish tacos deserve to exist outside of just my memory, so here’s my feeble attempt at remembering what had to happen to create them.

For me, the fish part of the taco wasn’t as exciting as the sauce that was used on top. I can’t imagine any other protein being as fresh and delicate as the fish though, so it carried the sauce well and made the whole meal feel rather light.

Ohh, the sauce! Rather than use store-bought taco seasoning, which is more salt than spice, Soli ground up his own.

I think it must be a pretty failproof combo – you can add whatever spices you’re fond of, and however much you’d like. I can’t recall what he threw in there, but taco seasonings seem to include staples such as chili powder, dried onion, cumin, garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper.

Once you’ve prepared the seasoning, get a sauce going. Equal parts (1/2 cup) of sour cream and mayo, and 1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro seem to be the standard. Soli threw some chopped tomatoes in there, along with some lemon juice. A few spoonfuls of the seasoning, and stir!

A little spicey, a little tangy, a little sweet – it’s a sauce I could spread across pretty much anything.

I don’t remember the fish that was used, but anything white and light can make a good taco – think cod, or maybe mahi mahi.

Take about a pound, cut into 1-inch cubes, and throw them into a bowl with lemopn juice, a couple tabelspoons of vegtable oil and more of the seasoning. Toss, and then pour it all in a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat until the fish flakes apart when poked with a fork.

Take your tortillas, fill it with some of the fish, add shredded cabbage, some tomatoe and the sauce, squeeze some lime juice over the whole thing and roll!

I am definitely on a Dorie-streak, and I think that’s perfectly okay. I’m finally getting around to posting about the buttery, sweet corn muffins I made from her cookbook, Baking: From My House to Yours.

The recipe was actually for “Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins” and included such fantastic ingredients as chili powder, jalapeno pepper and cilantro. That version didn’t suit the meal we were having that night, so I attempted the “Plain Corn Muffins” recipe in the margins. Two recipes in one! The bonus is that these were sooo easy to make. Fast and simple and pretty much amazing.

These muffins are the plain ones, and they were incredible. Nice and slightly crunchy, very sweet, with a deep corn flavour to them. They were excellent right out of the oven, and I recommend heating them if you’re going to eat them a few days later.

Savory Corn Muffins
adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours
Makes 12 muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal, preferably stone-ground
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg yolk
¼ cup corn kernels (add up to three tablespoons more if you’d like), fresh, frozen or canned (in which case, they should be drained and patted dry)

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-sized muffin pan or fit the molds with paper muffin cups.

2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda.

3. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, melted butter and egg yolk together until well blended.

4. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don’t worry about being thorough – the batter will be lumpy, and that’s just the way it should be. Stir in the corn kernels.

5. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

6. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the tops are golden and a thin knife inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully each muffin from its mold.

I have to admit it, I haven’t yet unmolded my flan, prepared just tonight for this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie challenge, so stay tuned for the final results. But everything up until now has turned out wonderfully – it seemed to have baked up beautifully, it smells great and vanilla-y, and it was fun to make. I would’ve never made flan out of my own choice, but if this works out as well as it seems to, then this may be a new favourite.

EDIT!

I couldn’t wait, and popped it out before the 4-hour mark. It came out easily, with a flood of caramel. Still lukewarm, but absolutely delicious. Eggy, creamy, with a texture I love. It’s very rich – seems to me to be a perfect flan recipe.

Caramel-Topped Flan
adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours
makes one 8″x2″ flan

CARAMEL
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons water
squirt of fresh lemon juice

FLAN
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/4 cups whole milk
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a roasting pan or 9″x13″ baking pan with a double thickness of paper towels. Fill a teakettle with water and put it on to boil; when the water boils, turn off heat.

2. Put a metal 8″x2″ round cake pan– not a nonstick one– in the oven to heat while you prepare the caramel. (If you are using individual molds or ramekins, then skip this step.)

CARAMEL
1. Stir the sugar, water and lemon juice together in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan. Put the pan over medium-high heat and cook until the sugar becomes an amber-colored caramel, about 5 minutes-remove the pan from the heat at the first whiff of smoke.

2. Remove the cake pan from the oven and, working with oven mitts, pour the caramel into the pan and immediately tilt the pan to spread the caramel evenly over the bottom; set the pan aside.

FLAN
1. Bring the milk and heavy cream just to a boil.

2. Meanwhile, in a 2-quart glass measuring cup or in a bowl, whisk together the eggs, yolks and sugar. Whisk vigorously for a minute or two, and then stir in the vanilla. Still whisking, drizzle in about one quarter of the hot liquid-this will temper, or warm, the eggs so they won’t curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the hot cream and milk. Using a large spoon, skim off the bubbles and foam that you worked up.

3. Put the caramel-lined cake pan in the roasting pan. Pour the custard into the cake pan and slide the setup into the oven. Very carefully pour enough hot water from the kettle into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the cake pan. (Don’t worry if this sets the cake pan afloat.) Bake the flan for about 35 minutes, or until the top puffs a bit and is golden here and there. A knife inserted into the center of the flan should come out clean. (Small, individual molds will take less time– start checking for doneness around the 25-minute mark).

4. Remove the roasting pan from the oven, transfer the cake pan to a cooking rack and run a knife between the flan and the sides of the pan to loosen it. Let the flan cool to room temperature on the rack, then loosely cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

5. When ready to serve, once more, run a knife between the flan and the pan. Choose a rimmed serving platter, place the platter over the cake pan, quickly flip the platter and pan over and remove the cake pan–the flan will shimmy out and the caramel sauce will coat the custard.

I have developed the very time-consuming habit of absorbing as many baking blogs as possible. Even though this has put me in a constant state of hunger, it has also started me baking a little more – refueled the fire, I guess. But even more important than that, it introduced me to the world of Dorie Greenspan. This weekend, I finally received Baking: From My Home to Yours, and I am enthralled, to say the least.

It’s a gorgeous book, and I think it’s going to yield gorgeous and tasty results. The first recipe I tried was for the Cinnamon Squares, and “cinnamon” is definitely the right word to describe this cake. I find that in most recipes that call for cinnamon, it’s mostly a background taste and I’m always sorry it’s not a bit more prevalent; I’ve taken to automatically adding more cinnamon than is asked for at this point. Well, this cake doesn’t need my touch! It smells fantastic baking, and it’s absolutely brimming with the power of cinnamon. Not to mention the cinnamon-coffee-chocolate ribbon that runs through the centre. Light and buttery, it could almost double as a breakfast cake if it wasn’t for the blanket of thick frosting on the top.

Cinnamon Squares
from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My House to Yours
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

CAKE
1 ¼ cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon plus 2 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoons instant espresso powder (I used ground, dark coffee)
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
¾ cup whole milk
2 large eggs
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 stick plus two tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, or ½ cup store-bought mini chocolate chips (I used regular-sized chocolate chips)

FROSTING
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into four pieces

CAKE
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan and line the bottom with parchment or wax paper. Place the pan on a baking sheet.

2. Stir 2 tablespoons of the sugar, 2 ½ teaspoons of the cinnamon and the espresso together in a small bowl.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, the remaining 1 ¼ cups sugar, the baking powder, salt and the remaining 1 tablespoon cinnamon.

4. In another bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs and vanilla.

5. Pour the liquid ingredients over the flour mixture and gently whisk until you have a homogenous batter. Now, using the whisk or a rubber spatula, fold in the butter with a light touch, just until the butter is absorbed. You’ll have a smooth, satiny batter.

6. Scrape half of the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle the chocolate over the batter and dust with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Cover with the rest of the batter and smooth the top again.

7. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the cake is puffed and beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan; a thin knife inserted into the center will come out clean. Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and let it rest for 15 minutes before unmolding it onto another rack. Peel off the paper, invert it onto the first rack, and cool to room temperature right side up.

FROSTING
1. Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and fit the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Cook, stirring gently and often, just until they melt. Be careful not to overheat the mixture so much that it thins out; the chocolate should be smooth, very shiny, thick and spreadable. (if it thins, leave the frosting at room temperature for a bit, until it thickens a little)

2. Using an offset metal icing spatula or table knife, spread the frosting in generous sweeps and swirls over the top of the cake. Allow the frosting to set at room temperature, then cut the cake into 9 squares.

Things to consider (at least, I will) when making Cinnamon Squares.

1. Be careful with baking time! I baked mine for 35 minutes, checked it, and it looked great: golden, slightly browner edges, and a knife came out clean. However, it was quite underbaked in the center. Next time, I’ll rotate the pan halfway through the baking time, as well as go for the full 40 (+) minutes.

2. The frosting was rich and delicious – but I found it to be too much for the cake. It is almost ganache-like, and while I appreciate that, not on such a light and fluffy cake. Next time, I think I’ll go with a buttercream frosting, perhaps a coffee-flavoured one, to accentuate the coffee in the middle of the cake.

Overall? A fantastic cake, and gorgeous too. It was a great Dorie first experience.

This is a lazy dish, but a great deal of tasty and hearty! Good if you have leftover rice. It closely follows a pasta sauce recipe I use:

2 diced carrots
1 diced celery stalk (leave and all)
1/2 cup butter
2 cans of yer favorite tomato soup
1 small can tomatoes
1 cup rice (cooked, day old, or uncooked)
1 or 2 ground dried chilis (I used a mexican chili I like)
1 tablespoon dried or fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Melt butter over medium heat. Add carrots, celery, basil, chili, salt and pepper. Heat through for 5 – 7 minutes.

Add tomatoes (crushed if necessary) and soup with the suggested amount of water. Bring to boil and then simmer. If your rice is not cooked, add it now and cook for suggested amount of time (Before using them, I like to rinse all my metal cans and dried and canned grains, legumes, etc…) . If your rice is cooked, add it 15 minutes later and heat for 5.

20 minutes later, serve and add a healthy tablespoon of sour cream and splash of you favorite hot sauce (think you’re tough? try this: Matouk’s)

I was sorting through my piles of cookbooks over the weekend, and came across one that I’ve barely used, and should probably bring into my usual rotation: Canadian Living’s Best, the chocolate edition.

I attempted the Chocolate-Nut-Baklava, and oh my, am I glad I did. As Soli as told me dozens of times, it’s not a traditional baklava, but that hardly matters – it’s sweet, sticky, buttery, flaky and fantastic. Packed with chocolate chunks, pecans and dates, filled with cinnamon, and soaked with a glorious honey-orange sauce, it’s just wonderful.

Chocolate-Nut-Date Baklava
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Makes 24 servings

2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup chopped dates
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1 tbsp granulated sugar (I left this ingredient out – it hardly needs it!)
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp grated orange rind
12 sheets phyllo pastry
2/3 cup butter, melted

TOPPING
¾ cup liquid honey
¼ cup orange juice
1 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (I skipped this – this is sweet and chocolaty enough as is!)

1. Toast pecans on baking sheet in the centre of the oven at 350 degrees F for 5 – 10 minutes, or until fragrant; let cool. In a bowl, toss together pecans, dates, chocolate, sugar, cinnamon and orange rind; set aside.

2. Place one sheet of phyllo on work surface, keeping remainder covered with plastic wrap and damp towel. Brush the phyllo lightly with butter. Fold in half, place in a greased 13×9x2-inch pan and brush again with butter. Repeat with three more sheet of phyllo, for a total of eight layers.

3. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the chocolate mixture. Lightly brush two more sheets of phyllo with butter; fold each in half and place over chocolate mixture. Sprinkle with another 1/3 of the chocolate mixture. Brush two more sheets of phyllo with butter; fold each in half and place on top. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate mixture. Brush remaining phyllo with butter; fold each in half and place in pan. Brush top sheet with remaining butter. Tuck in any excess.

4. Using a sharp knife and without cutting all the way through to filling, make long diagonal cuts, 1-1/2 inches apart, through top layers of phyllo, first in one direction, then opposite, to form diamond shapes. Bake in center of 350 degrees F oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown and flaky on top.

TOPPING
1. Meanwhile, in small saucepan, whisk honey with orange juice; bring to boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for five minutes, whisking occasionally. Spoon over hot baklava. Let cool completely on rack.

2. In bowl over saucepan of hot (not boiling) water, melt chocolate, stirring occasionally. Drizzle over baklava. (I skipped this part, but I can see how it could be delicious!)

3. Cut baklava into diamond shapes and serve!

Pretty much every weekend, Soli makes me breakfast. After seeing some breakfast potatoes online, I requested them in this past weekend’s breakfast. And look what I got!

I think the recipe is pretty standard. Chop up some potatoes, parboil them, toss with some oil and pan fry them up. Also in them were some sauteed onions, garlic salt and pepper. A shot of vodka was thrown in towards the end – nice touch!

Fry up some eggs, prepare some baked beans, add a couple pieces of bacon and a pickle, and there it is. The breakfast of champions.

These snowy winter days call for comfort food. Not much else fits that bill like cheesy, creamy, hot macaroni and cheese. I couldn’t find a recipe I liked enough to follow exactly, so I created my own, using these two as my base. What came out what a slightly spicy, extremely cheesy pasta dish.

Using three different cheeses added dimension to the dish – every bite is completely unlike the other! The blue cheese really gave it a punch. I also really enjoyed the panko breadcrumbs over the usual sandwich-breadcrumbs; they were lighter, and weren’t at all in competition with the pasta.

A salad goes great on the side. A version of Soli’s tabouleh made an excellent match this time around.

Baked Mac n’ Cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

¾ pound elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 ½ tablespoons dry mustard
2 ½ cups milk
½ cup cream (10%)
1 onion, sliced
1 bay leaf
1 ½ teaspoon paprika
1 ½ teaspoon cayenne
12 oz cheese (I used about 6 oz sharp cheddar, 4 oz emmental and 2 oz blue cheese
Salt
Black pepper
TOPPING:
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup panko breadcrumbs

1. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the paste to al dente.

2. While the pasta is cooking, in a large saucepan, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving until there are no lumps left. Stir in the milk, cream, onion, bay leaf, cayenne and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.

3. Grate / crumble the cheese together and mix. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese mixture and stir until the cheese is melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Drain the macaroni and pour cheese mixture in with the pasta, stir together. Pour macaroni into a 13×9x2 baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.

5. For the topping, melt the butter and toss the bread crumbs in it until they are coated. Sprinkle over top of macaroni.

6. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F. Remover and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Soli ( <3 ) made another awesome soup this week, and because he’s still behind (where’s the fish taco post?!?), I’ll do my best to report on his incredible wild mushroom soup.

Using a mashup of two recipes and some of his own cooking-intuition, the recipe went something like this:

Wild Mushroom Soup

8oz shitake mushrooms
8oz white mushrooms
8oz oyster mushrooms
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 small onions, chopped
3 – 4 small potatoes, peeled and cubed
½ cup white wine
6 cups vegetable broth
1 cup cream
1 bay leaf
1 cup fresh parsley

1. Remove stems from mushrooms and cut the mushroom caps into quarters. Toss mushrooms with the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the thyme. The salt and the pepper. Spread evenly on a baking sheet and roast in an oven at 400 degrees F, or until tender and golden, about 30 minutes. Keep your eye on them though, and toss them occasionally.

2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat the butter and add the garlic, potato, onion, thyme and salt and pepper. Cook until onions are softened, about 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add the wine, stock, roasted mushrooms, bay leaf, thyme and cream; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender.

4. Puree the soup, and return to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste.

5. To serve, add ¼ cup of chopped parsley to each bowl, with a drizzle of truffle oil.

YUM!

The parsley really makes this soup interesting and fresh, but it’s fantastic without as well.