Daring Bakers August Challenge: Eclairs

When it comes to the Daring Bakers, I'm a big sucker for pictures. I'll keep this posting brief and get right to the action. To anyone who is considering making eclairs, go ahead and give them a try. You can find the Pierre Hermé recipe at Tony Tahhan and MeetaK blog (they hosted this month's challenge). They really aren't difficult to make at all. Regretfully I didn't think to take pictures until I got to the piping stage. I piped out 3" stripes and then gave them each a simple egg wash (1 whole + 1 tablespoon cold water).

I then used the back of a fork to simply shape and texture the tops of the eclairs. This helped to create a uniform shape and get rid of any unsightly tails on the ends.

Here they are fresh out of the oven...

...naked choux, chilling out and waiting to be sawed in half, filled with vanilla pastry cream...
...and dipped in dark, bittersweet chocolate. The chocolate that was used to enrobe the tops of the eclairs had a chocolate sauce component. The recipe makes about six times more than I needed so I used it to make some very grown up chocolate milk for my hubby. Yummmm!
Voila!!
Yield? 36 3 inch eclairs
Would I Make This Again?Yes, it was really simple and didn't require many exotic ingredients. I'd like to experiment with different flavors too, like an orange chocolate or mint.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Whoopie pies are all the rage these days. Just recently, Oreo unveiled their new Cakesters which are at their core just whoopie pies. Although I haven't had one yet, I'm willing to bet that they are overly sweet, dry, and bland. I say, skip 'em! Try making them homemade instead; I guarantee you'll love them.

Actually, whoopie pies are even bigger in Pennsylvania and other heavily populated Amish states. I spent some time living in southern Maryland and every convenience store and mom and pop restaurants had whoopie pies for sale. They almost always came in chocolate but at one little gas station (that also sold shrimp by the pound), sold the very best pumpkin whoopie pies in the world. It has been years since I lived in Maryland and I had almost completely forgotten about those whoopie pies. But I seem to remember eating them almost daily while I was pregnant with my son.

Last month I was challenged by another fellow baker at work to a dessert-off. We were to make two desserts, one of them being made out of pumpkin (I'll post the other entry next week). Although I was excited by the challenge, nothing was coming to mind for either ingredient. Then one afternoon I was wandering past the bargain book bin at my local Marshall's, when I found the book "The All American Dessert Book," by Nancy Baggett. The first thing I did was look in the index for pumpkin recipes and I was so excited to find this little gem. I scanned the recipe, got a good vibe, and stuck the book in my cart. I had my entry!

On the day of the competition I felt my whoopie pies made a great showing. The majority of the folks that had one had never even heard of them before. Since my competitor (she made pumpkin ice cream) and I didn't care about who won, all we did was solicit comments from those who indulged. Here were some of the comments that I received:

"By far my fave of the entire challenge. These made me feel like a kid, but a sophisticated kid who eats pumpkin!!!"

"Probably my favorite. It reminded me of a Little Debbie Oatmeal cream pie, but better because of the moist pumpkin flavor."

"Not as pumpkin-y as I would have liked. But good spice flavors and just the right balance of sweet, but not too sweet. Also, very appealing texture."

"This was my favorite. I liked that the cookie was moist and soft and that the inside frosting was sweet but not too sweet."

And this was my favorite comment of the day. This came from my colleague Craig who told me the day before that he didn't like pumpkin...

"WOW! Incredible!! This was my favorite of all of the desserts. It was amazing. The cake was dense, moist, and had a great texture. The pumpkin flavor was subtle but present. I think that this is the best pumpkin dessert that I have ever had!"

I think that last comment says it all. :-)

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Adapted from "The All-American Dessert Book" by Nancy Baggett
Note: I do not recommend doubling this recipe unless you have a very large, professional sized mixer. I found that out the hard way :-)

Cookies
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoons of salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup shortening, at room temperature
1 2/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons mild-flavored molasses
2 tablespoons real maple syrup (not corn syrup based)
1/3 cup full fat sour cream, at room temperature
1 large egg, at room temperature, slightly beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups solid packed pumpkin

Filling
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (about 1 1/2 packets)
1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup water (divided)
1/2 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (clear vanilla extract is best to keep the color of the filling extra white)
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
2 8-oz packages of cream cheese, softened and cut into several pieces


Cookies
In a large bowl, thoroughly whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl that fits to the mixer, with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, shortening, brown sugar, molasses, and maple syrup. On medium speed, beat until well blended and lightened, about 2 minutes, being sure to scape down the sides of the bowl at least once. Reduce the mixture speed slightly and add the sour cream, egg, and vanilla, beating until very light and fluffy, about one minute longer.

Beat in about half the flour mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl several times as little pockets of dry ingredients will get trapped. Beat in the pumpkin just until it's smoothly incorporated. The batter will be very, very thick at this point. Take your time to beat or stir in the remaining flour mixture (being sure to look for flour pockets -- they are in there, believe me!) until smoothly incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Refrigerate about 20 to 30 minutes, or until slightly firm.

Position the rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350F. Generously grease several large baking sheets, generously coat with non-stick spray, or use a Silpat mat (my personal favorite). Using a heaping 1/4 measuring cup or similar sized cookie or ice cream scoop, place uniformly shaped dough portions on the baking sheets, spacing them about 4 inches or so apart. (You can fit about 8 cookies to a cookie sheet).

Spray a 3" round cookie cutter with vegetable spray and place it over the cookie dough.

With one hand, gently but firmly hold the cookie cutter in place while you use your other hand to gently spread the dough out to meet the sides of the cookie cutter.

Gently twist and lift the cookie cutter up and away.

Bake for 12 to 16 minutes or until tinged with brown all over and just firm when lightly pressed in the centers. Transfer the sheets to wire racks and let them cook for at least 2 minutes to firm up slightly. Using a spatula, transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely.

Filling
In a small measuring cup, sprinkle the gelatin over 1/3 cup cold water. Let stand, st iring once or twice until the gelatin softens, about 5 minutes.

Get your mixture ready by fitting it with the whisk attachment and securing the bowl to the base.

In a heavy 2 quart saucepan, over medium high heat, stir the white sugar, corn syrup, and hot water until well blended. Set your timer for 30 seconds but don't start it just yet. Continuing stirring and raise the heat to high; bring to a full boil. Start your timer and continue boiling until the timer go off. Immediately remove from the heat and stir in the gelatin mixture until it devolves completely.

CAUTION! The sugar is very hot! Please be careful! Carefully transfer the mixture to a the mixer bowl and add the vanilla extract. With the mixture on medium speed beat for 20 seconds (Keep a large dish towel handy so can drape it over the mixture. I like to do this because the mixture is super hot and it will occasionally spit molten sugar). Gradually raise the speed to high and beat until the mixture is stiffened, very white, voluminous, and cooled to barely warm. This should take between 5 to 15 minutes. Reduce the mixture speed to low and slowly beat in the powdered sugar, being careful not to put in so much so soon that you get a big cloud of sugar when you turn on the mixture.

On medium speed gradually add the cream cheese, beating just until the mixture is completely smooth. If the filling seems too runny to spread, cover and stick in the fridge until it firms up.

Assembly
Lay half the cookies upside down and either scoop or spread 1/4 to a 1/3 cup of the filling on the surface of each cookie. Top each cookie with a second cookie, paring up ones that are of similar size. Press down lightly on each pie so the filling almost squeezes out the edges.
If you can resist, store these in the fridge in between waxed paper or by themselves, for at least half a day or as long as 24 hours. They are yummy right away, but something magical happens if you wait. The moisture from the filling permeates the cookies just enough to give them a little extra moisture. They go from being two cookies with some filling between them to one entity. They are seriously worth waiting for.
These will keep if stored in an air tight container in the fridge up to a week or individually wrapped in waxed paper (traditional way to serve them) or in plastic bags. They can also be stored in the freezer for up to a month. Let come to room temperature before serving.

Nancy Baggett's original Pumpkin Whoopie Pie recipe is available via Google Book Search.

Yield: One recipe only yielded about 15 good sized sandwiches. You could get more if you made the cookies smaller.
Would I Make This Again?Yes. These were really good. This is corny but this is the type of dessert I can see my grand kids (if I should ever have any) getting all excited about when they see me. I could see making these as gifts for the holidays as they would keep really well. My only regret is that I was really careful not to over fill the cookies. When I make them the next time, I plan to be a bit more generous with the filling.

Jake's Apple and Cherry Pie

First let me start off this post by saying that this is my very first attempt at a real pie. I know it's not photogenic, but it tasted mighty yummy! I cheated a bit too -- I used store bought crust. I know, I know...bad me, huh? But I was more concerned about the filling and figured I'd master the pie crust another day.

So why an apple and cherry pie and why now? Well, it was my son's request. A few months ago, during a baking lull, I asked him what he would like me to make. After about five seconds he said, "I would like pie. Apple and cherry pie."
"Really? Together? Are you sure?" I asked
"Yup. I like pie and apple and cherry are my two favorites. They should taste even better together."

Sigh. I was so uninspired by his request, I kept avoiding it. It just didn't appeal to me at all. Then last week as I tucked him into bed, he asked me with his big, sad, Puss-in-Boots eyes, why I made cupcakes for "that lady that rips out your eyebrow hair" but hadn't made him his pie yet. Ouch! He had a point and I felt pretty bad, so while he and his dad were out running an errand, I made his pie. And you know what? He was right! Apples and cherries together created one tasty pie. So tasty, in fact, that I forgot to take a picture until we devoured most of it.

Apple & Cherry Pie
Adapted from a recipe from Apple Journal

1 cup guilt (optional :-) )
5 cups peeled, cored, and sliced apples (about 5-6 apples)
3 cups pitted and halved cherries (I used one 12oz bottle of Marello Cherries from Trader Joe's*)
2 tablespoons amaretto
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoon of cold butter, diced

1 double pie crust
Place the pie crust in the a 9" glass baking dish. Set aside.

To make the filling, combine the apples, cherries, amaretto, vanilla, and lemon juice in a large mixing bowl; toss well. Mix in 1/2 cup of the sugar. Set aside for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400F.

In a small bowl, mix the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with the cornstarch. Sprinkle over the fruit and toss well. Turn the filling into the pie shell. Dot the surface of the pie with the butter.

Cover the pie with the top crust. Top with the second crust and trim the edges to about 1-inch over the rim. Tuck the edge of the top crust under the edge of the bottom crust and crimp the 2 together with your fingers or a fork. Using a sharp knife, make several slits (4-5) over the surface of the crust.

Place directly on the center oven rack and bake for 35 minutes. You'll know it's done when juice starts oozing up and over the top of the crust. You can also use a toothpick to test the apple's doneness.

Note: If you use the Morello cherries from TJ's, be sure to inspect them as they are not pit-free.

Yield: 8 slices
Would I Make This Again? Sure. It was yummy and easy, especially with the store bought crust (I thought it tasted pretty good). Next time I plan to try it with fresh cherries just to see how that changes the flavor.

Matthew's Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Yesterday was my hubby's birthday and he said he wanted cookies, with chocolate chips, and cinnamon. Not too terribly difficult a request except I have been a whirling dervish all week and waited until the last possible minute to make them. Since I didn't have time (or patience!) to make 7 or 8 dozen cookies, I opted for a short cut and made bars instead. My husband was very pleased with my newest invention and didn't feel cheated at all. In fact, I think he might have liked them better!

This recipe uses a trick that I learned from Ina Garten. When you're making a bar, cake, or cupcake that has chocolate chips or other ingredients suspended in the batter, sometimes you'll find that all the tasty tidbits sink to the bottom of the batter/dough. To help mitigate that, give the chips a fine dusting of flour before you add them to the batter. This creates a little air pocket around each chip and helps to keep them in place while the batter around it bakes. For this recipe, just for fun, I added a little extra cinnamon to add to the overall flavor of the cookie.

Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Cookie Bars

2 cups butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour + 2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons of cinnamon + 1 teaspoon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 cups chocolate chips (you can use chocolate chips that are the same, or change it up. I like prefer to use a blend of different types. The exact ratio I used for the ones pictured was as follows:
1 cup bittersweet chocolate
1 cup semisweet chocolate
1 cup milk chocolate
1 cup dark chocolate
Note: you can substitute one cup of the chocolate for one cup of roughly chopped nuts of your choice)

Preheat the over to 375F. Grease and flour (I use Pam with Flour) either one half-sheet pan or 2 13x9 pans.

Combine all the chocolate chip/chunks and sprinkle 2 tablespoons of flour and a shake or two of cinnamon. Use your hand to coat the chocolate chips and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and both sugars together until well combined, about 2 minutes. Add eggs (all at once) and the vanilla and beat for 1 minute on medium until thick and well combined (be sure to stop and scrape down the bowl a few times if necessary).
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture, mixing well each time (the batter will be very thick and the flour will get trapped in the pockets).

Use your hands to add the chocolate, trying to avoid the handful of cinnamon flour that's sitting at the bottom of the bowl. Using a mixer or your hand, blend it for a few second until the chocolate is well distributed into the batter.

Press the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the half-sheet pan for 15 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and bang it on the counter to force the air out of the batter. Put the pan back into the oven and continue cooking until the center passes the toothpick test. I kept checking it every 3-5 minutes. DO NOT OVER COOK! The dough along the perimeter will cook and brown faster than the middle and that's okay. You want the center to be just at the point where they are done, so it might look like they are slightly under cooked. For the half-sheet pan, they were done after 30 minutes. For the 9x13 pan, check the bang the pan after 10 minutes and continue cooking until done, checking on it every 3-5 minutes. (If anyone out there makes these in a 9x13 pan, please let me know how long it took to cook them so I can update the recipe).

When they are done, remove from the oven and bang the pan on the counter again. Use a knife to cut around the perimeter of the pan (just to loosen the bars ), and leave 'em alone for a while. When the pan is cool enough to touch, invert onto a cooling rack (they will be upside down), then invert them again onto another cooling rack or onto a big cutting board. Let them sit until totally cool (I gave them 8 hours). Cut into the desired shape and size.

Yield:I cut them into 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 inch chucks and 1x3 inch dunking-bars and got a ton (I'd say roughly 60 servings). Your results will vary depending on the size pan you use and how big you decide to cut them.
Would I Make This Again?Yep! These got lots of "oohs" and "ahhs". I think these could do well for lunch box treats or for a bake sale. Shoot, I could even see these sold in a fancy coffee shop. They kept their shape well and defiantly scored high in dunkability.

Deona's Mini Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

Getting ready for my road trip included several activities such as getting my car’s windows tinted, downloading lots of podcasts (thank you TBTL! Best podcast ever! RAWR!), and investing in a good map. However, what it didn’t include was getting my brows waxed. I’m not the most girly girl in the world, but separating my unibrow is just one of those things that just has to be done. I was made aware of it on that first night in Boise, as I stared into the mirror to brush my teeth. I realized my mistake but knew I’d have to wait until I got home to do anything about them. Sure I could find a salon on the way to separate the twins but there’s only one girl I trust to do the job and that’s Deona. She the absolute BEST aesthetician I've ever had touch my Burt-like brows (to those of you in the Seattle area, she's located at the Alderwood Nordstrom.) And not only is she great at her job, but she's just a ray of sunshine. Always smiling and upbeat, you just can't help but feel good when you're around her.

A few days before I returned to Seattle I called Deona to make an appointment. It was then I remembered that she had just gotten married a few weeks prior and that I had promised to bring her a special treat to mark the occasion. At our last appointment she had gushed to me about how much she loved anything with coconut. I knew just the thing! Mini coconut cupcakes!

When I arrived to my appointment, Deona was bustling about so I sat patiently in her chair. When she came over to me, I pulled out a shoebox and handed it to her. Her eyes got really big, and an adorable smile swept across her face. Then, while both clapping and jumping up-and-down she said exclaimed, “Ohhh! Did you bake something for me?” She brought it over to a table and opened it immediately. Within moments she was not only eating one of the little cakes, she was sharing it with her coworker. Oh how I wished I had brought a camera! I sat there beaming and feeling extremely satisfied. I just love moments like that!

This recipe is a bit different in that the cake is made with no granulated sugar, only copious amounts of powdered sugar. This results in a cake that is both very light on texture and crumb.

Coconut cupcakes with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from a recipe from Shirley McNevich
(Please be sure to check out Shirley's blog. She has oodles and oodles of great recipes!)

Cupcakes
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, at room temperature
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
4 eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 cup milk, skim or full fat, at room temperature
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut

Frosting
1/3 cup butter, at room temperature
6 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
4 teaspoons milk, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
2 cups sweetened, shredded coconut

Cupcakes
Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together in bowl and set aside. In a mixer with a paddle attachment, mix butter and powdered sugar together slowly so that the powdered sugar doesn't poof out of the bowl. Then beat for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Add 4 egg yolks and beat until well combined being sure to scrape the bowl often. Alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk – start with the flour (about a third of it), then add half the milk. Then add a third of the flour and the rest of the milk. Finish with the flour, being sure to scrape the bowl often. Then beat on medium for a full minute. Add the vanilla and coconut extract and mix well. Then and coconut and beat until well combined. Set batter aside.

In a separate bowl whisk the 4 egg whites until stiff. Gently fold the egg whites into the cake batter with a spoon--mix quickly and thoroughly.

Pour batter 2/3 full into mini-muffin tins lined with small cupcake liners (Michael's and Joanne's sells patterned and white ones) and bake at 350F degrees for 7-11 minutes – be sure to use a toothpick for doneness (I recommend starting with 7 minutes and then increase time by one minute until they are cooked. It’s easy to overcook them so be sure to watch them carefully). Cool cupcakes completely and then frost.

Frosting
In a mixer with a blade attachment, add butter and cream cheese and beat until smooth. Add the extracts and milk and mix for 1 minute on medium. Slowly add powdered sugar, being sure to scrape the bowl often. Refrigerate frosting for 10 minutes or until it firms slightly, then frost cooled cupcakes.

You can frost the cupcakes normally with a knife or spatula but I found that when I did, I ended up with a flat cupcake. Since I wanted one with more of a domed look, I put the frosting into a big zip-lock bag and cut a small opening in the bottom corner. I gently and slowly squeezed out a spiral ribbon of frosting, starting from the outside edge and finishing in the center of the cake. On some of the cakes I did this twice (mostly because I had so much extract frosting) but you might be able to do it with one sweep. To get the coconut on the outside of the cupcake, put the coconut into a small bowl and gentle rolled the cupcake along its edge. This helps to push the frosting up to the center while still getting coconut to stick to the sides and top. Store in a covered and in a cool or cold place before serving.

Yield: this recipe made 4 dozen small cupcakes plus 18 big cupcakes. It made a lot! I had more than enough frosting to frost them all too.
Would I Make This Again? Yes! I loved how cute the little ones turned out. I liked the big ones too but the smaller cakes were the perfect size. They tasted great and not too coconuty. They reminded me of coconut wedding cake. Yum! 4.5 out of 5 stars

Back Home and ready to bake!

So we’re home, safe and sound and we did indeed make it to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The trip was fun and went really smoothly. The only mishap occured on the first night's hotel stay. I was stuck sharing a king sized bed with my very squirmy son. As far as mishaps go, that’s pretty good one to have to endure. :-)

While the trip was fun, it was not really the relaxing experience I had envisioned. Part of that was because I shifted into “super mom mode” from the moment we left. Since I was the only adult on the trip, I had this heightened sense of awareness and found it hard to relax at the end of the night, even though I was always exhausted. It’s funny how sitting still behind the wheel for 4-6 hours every day will do that. So due to my “I’m sick of driving” syndrome and my son’s admission that he was “kind of getting bored being in the car so much”, we ended up cutting the trip short and drove from San Diego to Sacramento (stayed in a great hotel there too called “Le Rivage”) and then headed straight for home. Thirteen hours later we arrived in Seattle, safe and sound.

It was a good trip all in all and we saw a lot of things! In the nine days we were on the road, we stopped in Boise (where I had about 10 miles left before I ran out of gas. Yikes!), Salt Lake City (went to a little theme park there called Lagoon which was really fun), Bryce Canyon (absolutely gorgeous), the North Rim of the Grand Canyon (some of the most beautiful meadows I’ve ever seen just outside the park and of course the Canyon was breathtaking!), Las Vegas (saw Steve Wyrick perform a magic show that was pretty clever), Hoover Dam (It was 114F there!), Palm Springs (stayed at the sweetest hotel EVER called, “The Mojave” – highly recommend it!), then to LA (went to Knott’s Berry Farm and to Medieval Times ), San Clemente (great beaches), and San Diego. Wow… that’s a lot in such a short time! It’s no wonder we were both so tried. Here's a short little movie for you to watch...

Once we got home I spent the next day doing laundry and sitting on the couch staring at the wall and the television. Last night was the first night I’ve actually felt back to normal. I’m just so glad that I took two full weeks off because I most certainly needed a vacation from my vacation!

Thanks to everyone for their well wishes and sweet suggestions! I'm feeling well rested and have lots of good stuff coming...stay tuned!

Great American Road Trip

Starting tomorrow my son and I are heading out on the open road for a good old fashioned road trip. We're headed to the Grand Canyon, then off to Vegas, Palm Springs, San Diego, then all the way up the coast to San Fransisco. Woo Hoo! If anyone has any suggestion on restaurants or interesting attractions between LA and San Francisco, I'd LOVE to hear them.

I will have my computer with me but I won't be checking it very often. In fact I'm going to try and just unplug. So I apologize for the lull, but I promise to start posting when I get back. Wish us luck!!