Daring Bakers February Challenge: Quick Bread

The Daring Bakers’ February 2012 host was – Lis! Lisa stepped in last minute and challenged us to create a quick bread we could call our own. She supplied us with a base recipe and shared some recipes she loves from various websites and encouraged us to build upon them and create new flavor profiles.

Wow! First time I completed a challenge on the first day! And luckily I did as I've spent the rest of the month in a cast.  It's still on, making typing a chore...

The day the challenge was issued, I had an apple on the counter that needed to be used, so I made an apple cinnamon quick bread. I mostly followed the Serious Eats recipe, but I substituted a little spelt flour for regular flour, upped the spices, and sprinkled the top with turbinado sugar before baking. 

Yum!
I love the sparkly top and the deep rich flavor. This pairs up well with a straight shot of espresso, especially after the second day when the bread becomes just a little drier.
The next bread I made was inspired by the Barefoot Contessa. I have her gorgeous book "Barefoot Contessa Parties!" and refer to if often--if for no other reason than to droooooool. Luckily, the recipe for her lemon cake is also available online. (Lemon cake, we DB'ers decided, becomes a healthy bread if you bake it in a loaf pan...)

Now, I had no fresh lemons in the house, so I just substituted the stuff from a jar.  Amazingly, it still tasted divine.  The pretty yellow color comes not from rind, which I didn't have, but from the wonderful eggs my chucks are laying.  They've adjusted to the move and are back on track with their egg-provision duties. 

Okay, the fingers are cramping up, the dog is tangled in the keyboard cord, and the pain meds are wearing off.  I'll leave you to drool over the other Daring Bakers' challenges, which you'll find right here!

November Daring Bakers: Crostata (tarts)

The first rustic tart I ever made was from a recipe by Martha Stewart. It was her ricotta crostata. I quickly fell in love with crostata quite madly and have made them many a time since.


Why the hard crush?

A) They're supposed to look homey and rustic, which means that every split in the crust, every over-darkened crag, every bit of seepage from under the crust means that it's looking more and more like it should. Flaws are the perfection in a crostata. Therefore, it's my kind of creation.

B) I've mastered the art of making crostata with relatively little mess. I make my crust in a food processor in large batches, then freeze it in single crust portions. So, when I'm ready to make a tart, I simply take a bag out of the freezer and let it rest for a few hours in the fridge or on the counter. I then roll out the crust on a sil-pat, pile on the fruit, then fold up. Easy and neat.

C) If, for some reason (of which there are way too many to count in my case), the crostata fails, there isn't a lot of time or fruit wasted in the process.

D) Crostata are good for using small amounts of fruit--think about the last of the plums from the tree, a few meager handfuls of huckleberries, or the couple of apples on the verge of going bad after sitting on the counter a bit too long. Any of these are sufficient for a crostata, and all are elevated to a fine rank simply with the enshrouding cape of butter, sugar, flour, and eggs.


Really, there isn't' anything not to love about a 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.

Today's crostata was three apples from the orchard of Mr. Boom's aunt. Maybe a third cup of sugar? A sprinkling of ground cloves, a double sprinkling of cinnamon, and a few dots of butter. Oh, and a healthy sprinkling of turbinado sugar on top just before baking.

Our Black Friday shopping consisted of a Christmas tree permit from the US Forest Service. Today we're decorating the tree and inhaling the warmth of crostata aromas. I love Daring Bakers, and I love the annual tradition of pulling ornaments from their boxes and engaging in a healthy dose of remember whens...

I hope you're having a great weekend, too, no matter how you choose to start the Christmas season.


Head over to the Daring Bakers to see other some of the amazing creations of the other Daring Bakers, and to download the recipe straight from the source!

FFwD: Marie Helene's Apple Cake

This week's French Fridays with Dorie challenge was Marie Helen's Apple Cake.

I can't tell you how wonderful my house smells right now....

Three features set this cake apart from any I've tried before.

First, there are no spices in this cake. At. All. How can you have an apple *anything* without cinnamon and cloves? Seriously, what gives?!

Second, the recipe call for rum. Due to a night in college taking care of a friend who had drunk too much rum, and therefore had rum coming out of every orifice with great velocity, I just can't get anywhere near the stuff. I substituted cognac, with sublime results.

Third, the ratio of batter to apple was disproportionate minute compared to other apple cake recipes I've used. In fact, due to having a plethora of teensy leetle apples, and my inherent laziness when it comes to peeling and coring apples, I think I used a smaller amount of apples overall than the recipe called for. Still, it was a lot of apple to a little batter.

As the cake cooked, my kitchen was filled with a deep, flavorful, soul-stirring aroma. Sans spices, so go figure!



I ate my piece outside, enjoying a little bit of late-autumn sun.

I love autumn. And this cake.

Yeah, okay. Especially this cake!

For the recipe, please buy Dorie's Book, Around My French Table. Per her request, members of the challenge decline from posting the recipe online.

Happy Halloween Apple Tart (by Kat)

Here it is, folks, the easiest apple tart in the world!

The inspiration came from Pioneer Woman, the perspiration came from Daring Cooks.

Roll out puff pastry dough to and approximate measurement of 6" by 12". You can use the frozen store bought variety, or go hog-wild and make your own as I did.

Cut a few apples in half, remove the cores, and slice up nice and thin. Don't peel the apples, because that's too much effort. In a bowl, combine the apple slices with a handful of brown sugar and let macerate (sit and get juicy) for about 15 minutes, or until your oven heats up to about 425F.


Layer the apples on nice and pretty-like if you're serving for brunch, or just heap 'em on if you're putting one in the oven to send off to school with a late riser for breakfast.


Cook until the pastry is puffed, the apples are soft, and the sugar shows some carmelization action. Cut with a very sharp knife or a pizza cutter. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve.

PW dished these up with vanilla ice cream and called it dessert. I called it breakfast.

I'll let you choose the right answer here, if there is one.