Baking A Sweet Life

You know the crust on really good restaurant bread that is so crunchy and crackly that it flakes into a ton of pieces when its cut, and is perfect to scoop up soup or sauce? That is this bread’s crust. This bread is so tasty and so fantastic - I wish you all could’ve tried it at 2 hours and 1 millisecond after it came out of my oven. (It had to cool for that long!) This is my very first Daring Baker’s Challenge, and one that I was super excited to try. My beginnings in the baking world were bread making - I’ve even got a pricey bread class scheduled across the country in California next week. But there was something about this recipe that was so intimidating. I’m pretty sure its the fact that they recipe/instructions were like 8 pages long. Who would’ve thought that a recipe with only 4 ingredients would be so complicated? This month’s challenge was recreating Julia Child’s French Bread recipe. This month’s hosts were Mary and Sara.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Tuesday that would’ve been… I had been planning on making this - I mean, it’s only my second week with the Dorie crew. BUT… My kitchen remodel started yesterday AND I came down with an awful cold. Right now my kitchen is covered in white dust over a 1/4″ thick because we had our ceilings smoothed out. Will be totally worth it when its all done - but not the best cooking environment, nor are my flu-like fingers.

I won’t be baking next week either (about 90% sure) because I’ll be in San Francisco (!!!!!) for a 5-day bread making class!!!!! I’m so excited - it was an awesome birthday present from my hubby. I’ll be staying in a hotel and won’t have any great cooking stuff with me - I will definitely be back “on” for the March 11th challenge!

So Please, TWD crew, don’t think I’ve forgotten you - or left the group - I can’t wait to start looking at all the pics of the wonderful biscuits you’ve created! (me and my kleenex box…)

I’ll post pics of all the yummy bread that I make!

It’s time for Bread Baking Day #7, hosted by Petra of Chili und Ciabatta. This month’s theme is flatbreads! The only real rule was that pizza was not to be a contender. I was thinking about my favorite flatbreads, and the one that came to mind as a favorite was Naan bread. Naan is a flatbread traditionally found in the Middle East, India and Asia. Its typically baked in a tandoor (clay) oven, and is often baked whlie hanging, which creates its elongated oval shape.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve never made a pie. So I was shakin’ in my boots when I saw that my first Sugar High Friday challenge would be “The Pie of my Dreams”. Since I’m not a major pie fan, and I’ve never made one, I sat for a while thinking of what dear pie would ever ‘enter’ my dreams. Then I had that “ah hah” moment, and I realized that any pie that was made of peanut butter and chocolate would not only be in my dreams, but would dance around on its tippy-toes, waving its wand of tastiness to and fro.

Read the rest of this entry »

You wouldn’t think that it would take 15 eggs, and 27 ounces of bittersweet chocolate to create this beauty. But yours truly isn’t like everyone else. You see, it took me THREE attempts at this cake. But I learned quite a bit. I learned that the whipped egg whites will be clumpy when added to this, and they need to be mixed in well (not just “folded”), else the final product will be quite bumpy. I learned that if the oven gets too hot, the top (crust) of the cake (which ends up as the bottom) will rise above the cake innerds, and when the cake settles as it comes out of the oven, you’ll get a crackly, crumbly mess to contend with. No fun. The third attempt still had a bit of a crackly crust, but I dealt with it, and allowed it to cool to room temp while upside-down.

Read the rest of this entry »

When I was considering what to make for this challenge, I tried to take into account what my hubby likes best in sweets. I know he loves chocolate, and I know he loves nuts. And he definitely doesn’t mind caramel one little bit.When Zorra suggested this blog event, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to make a new sweet treat that he might really enjoy! The recipe, Chocolate Pecan Turtle Tart, comes from Lori Longbotham’s book “Luscious Chocolate Desserts”. I traded out the pecans for walnuts, and proceeded as directed.This was very easy to make, and what excited me about this was that I could finally use my tart pan that I had purchased about a year ago! Before going to dinner tonight I made up the crust (without baking) and the chocolate top layer, and then did the rest when I got home.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s so hard picking the right recipes to use in the challenges. I’ve spent days scouring my baking books looking for the perfect combination of complexity (not too much, though - we do want this to be a success) and flavor (cause it has to be good)! My big ol’ baking plans are a little off schedule, which is completely appropriate for me, since I haven’t bought any ingredients yet. I will. I have to. I can’t wait to bake. I just have to pick the perfect recipes… For SHF, do I want to go fruity, or shall I go for comforting peanut butter and chocolate? Decisions, decisions! And for BBD, which flatbread do I choose? Back to the cookbooks!

Just to be sure that no one is offended, the pictures in my header are not mine! Well, the pumpkins are, but that’s it - and not so pastry/baking like, eh? I hope to replace them with my own creations, so if I could just get this blog up to speed then I can get back in the kitchen!

My goals for the following week:

• today (Thursday) - buy ingredients for DB challenge, and pick out recipes for my SHF and BBD and A heart for your Valentine Challenges.
• Friday - buy the rest of the necessary ingredients! And go to a Hawks game!
• Saturday - all day at the Lego League Competition
• Sunday - Work on DB Challenge
• Monday - Make SHF challenge recipe
• Wednesday - Make Valentine challenge recipe

whew.. that’s a ton. I’m so excited to dive into the baking books to find something that I’ve always wanted to try!

My short lived blog used to live at blogger, but I was quickly getting frustrated with the limited functionality, so I decided to get a real site, and have it hosted with wordpress. What a breeze! Thank goodness things like that exist, and thank you, Susan, for your help and tips. I’m so grateful :) Please be patient as I figure this out and make this my new “home”.