scaryladyatho

Who knew panna cotta was really this easy? I needed a quick dessert for this evening; friends coming over on a Monday – now there’s a novelty – and this one just fell into my lap. The fact that I don’t have to heat the kitchen to make it is just an added bonus.

So, I don’t have the cute jar/bowls that Dorie has, but you know what works? 1/2-pint canning jars! Practical and inexpensive!

I loved the creamy top, not so much the mango puree. I’d like to try it again – this time with peaches.

So, I skipped the entire month of March – who knew a month that in the past, for me, seemed to be a 90-day endurance test, flew by in about 72-hours!

But, I’m back with April. These cupcakes were the very first thing I baked out of this book on the day it arrived! And, they are delicious! And, baking them on Passover/Easter weekend seems absolutely appropriate.

You’ll note that I use larger baking cups – I’ve always hated the look of a cupcake or muffin spilling over the top of the muffin paper (uh, thus the unflattering term for tummies falling over the top of blue-jean waists: muffin-top!), so I buy baking cups just a might taller. (This also allows for a slightly larger muffin when I bake them.) In the case of these cupcakes, it allowed for the syrup to be slightly more contained. I also dusted them with sanding sugar. My intent was to use yellow sugar and you’d think that being an Oregon Duck fan, I’d have tons of yellow – nope – nearly every other color, but no yellow! So, I settled for white.

Since I have a different dessert planned (and made) for Easter dinner, I’ll be delivering these to neighbors.

Happy Passover/Easter, everyone!

First let me say, “It’s game day!” University of Oregon meets Ohio State University for the first ever National Collegiate Football Championship (uh, that would be American football, for all of the international readers). Go Ducks!

And, for those of you wondering about my KitchenAid mixer saga – NO! – it is not fixed! I called the KitchenAid Hotline and after being instructed to turn the screw that’s used for adjusting the bowl, the dough hook hung up again on the bowl! In the middle of mixing calzone dough…for tonight’s game-time dinner! Thank goodness for a backup mixer! The big girl is now at the authorized KitchenAid repair shop having, as my husband referred “her screws adjusted”.

But, thankfully, granola bars need no mixer – WOOHOO! My only difficulty with this recipe was finding brown rice syrup. But I found it! And, I hope my family and friends like these bars, because the smallest jar appears to have enough for two or three more batches. I tasted this syrup, and I’m not sure I like it right from the jar (I think I prefer sorghum molasses), but I must say, they smell heavenly baking. I also opted for using an 8-x-8-inch pan rather than going to buy another baking dish, so mine will likely be a might thicker than Dorie’s.

So, it appears that these might be gluten free – am I right in this? I checked with a number of websites and it appears that the only iffy ingredient might be the oats, since they apparently are often processed alongside gluten products. If true, I may have a few friends happy that I can finally send treats to them.

OK, so, they’re out of the oven and sufficiently cooled – and my personal verdict is while they are are a pretty bar, I don’t think I’m a fan. I can’t tell if it’s the unique taste (even cooked, I find the brown rice syrup an odd taste) or the texture (I think I’ve mentioned before I’m not a fan of dried fruit). So, no, these weren’t my cup of tea and it’s doubtful I’ll make them again, but if everyone liked the same thing, there would be one recipe and we’d all be happy with it!

Addendum: Turns out they were a great hit with friends! To quote, “Hey, what’s the calorie count on these bars – we’re wondering if eating the entire box would blow our diets out of the water…” For the record, mine turned out to be about 172 calories per bar (18 bars to the batch).

A little preface to the baking post this time…To a baker, what could be worse than your stand mixer (in this case a Kitchenaid mixer) developing problems less than a week before Christmas? Oh, perhaps the oven dying, but that’s probably it! And, yep, halfway through the beating of the eggs and brown sugar for this beauty, the balloon whisk began hitting the side of the bowl. Then it hung up completely! I tried adjusting that little screw they tell you to adjust, to no avail. Luckily for me, I have two Kitchenaid mixers, but this larger 6-quart professional is really my go-to anytime I need to beat eggs. So, into the smaller one the nearly beaten eggs went and I really do think I watched them deflate. So began my Buche de Noel adventure.

I’m really not one to be deterred (I once “workshopped” angel food cake recipes six times in one day in order to bake the perfect angel food cake), so I decided to complete the cake part with these eggs. (I could always make another one, if the cake didn’t turn out, right?) And, I think the cake part turned out “OK,” if a bit flat – but it’s going to be rolled, right? Thank goodness Dorie mentioned that on the initial rolling not to be concerned if the cake cracked, because mine did!

I was a little concerned about the filling not having any sugar, but I also believe in “trusting the recipe”. The only change I’d make the next time is to perhaps make a little more filling. I managed to spread filling over the entire cake part, albeit a thin coating – not exactly what I would refer to as “filling”.

And then the frosting. Let me begin by saying I love Dorie Greenspan. And, Dorie seems to love Italian meringue – particularly for frostings. I, on the other hand, have a love/hate relationship with these frostings. I love how beautiful they are, that they are light and don’t take away from flavor of the cake, and how much they make! However, I have an almost irrational fear of the whole hot sugar syrup aspect of them. Somewhere in the primitive part of my brain is a little voice that says, “You’re going to burn yourself….” Thus, the hate.

And, to finalize my “love affair” with Dorie Greenspan, never have I had recipes that so consistently turn out looking  just like Dorie’s pictures!

An afterthought: I did watch the video that was posted in julessomeone’s last post. And, it seems that the mixer fiasco I wrote about at the beginning of this post had no bearing on the cake’s outcome. My cake looked remarkably like the one that Dorie and Melissa flipped out of the baking sheet – for some reason, I thought it was supposed to be a puffier cake!

I promised a second post to talk about how it tasted. Delicious! The entire family was expecting something very tart or bitter, and we were all pleasantly surprised. (I wasn’t entirely certain those firm, bouncy little fruits would actually cook – again, pleasantly surprised!)

I would definitely make this again – relatively easy to make (and, yep, I’ll add one additional egg white next time) with an impressive presentation.

Yeah, I know this was supposed to be up last Tuesday, but since I need a dessert for Sunday dinner, it had to wait for today.

I must say this was much easier than the picture led me to believe it would be. I’ll be using the Sweet Tart Dough recipe again and again (this was one of the easiest rolling doughs I have EVER made!) And I think Dorie is right on – rolling it rather than pressing it into a tart pan looks so much nicer and gives a much more consistent thickness. I loved the idea of cutting the dough using a ravioli cutter – what a nice edge!

Now, I’ve told friends about this book (and recommended they buy it as their go-to book for French style desserts that real people can actually make!) and Dorie again demonstrated why: “…keep beating until the whites are shiny…droopy tips….they will look like marshmallow.” The perfect description of what this meringue looked like when ready! No need to guess – one more minute?…one minute too long?

I did think the 60-minute baking left the meringue looking pale, so I put it under the broiler – and, if you haven’t made this yet, beware! The meringue can go from pale to nearly burnt in seconds – a word to the wise!

We’ll be eating this tonight at dinner, so I’ll post a second time to let you know how it tastes – I’m really curious! My only experience with cranberries has been either sauce or relish, or Craisins in my oatmeal. I can hardly wait!