Cappuccino Panna Cotta
Ingredients
1 cup (240 ml) whole milk
1 tablespoon (one packet) unflavored powdered gelatin
3 cups (720 ml) whipping cream
1/3 cup  granulated sugar
2 teaspoons Vanilla
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
pinch of salt


Directions:
1. In a small bowl pour milk and sprinkle with gelatin, let stand for 5 minutes to soften gelatin.
2.Heat  cream, salt  and sugar until it is hot but not boiling and the sugar is dissolved. Add the milk and gelatin mixture to the hot cream. Continue stirring over the heat (do not boil) for about 5 minutes to dissolve the gelatin.
3.Remove from heat and add vanilla. Reserve 1 cup of the vanilla flavored panna cotta mix at room temperature. To the remaining mixture add the 2 teaspoon instant espresso power and stir to combine.
4. Pour espresso panna cotta into individual bowls and refrigerate about 20 to 30 minutes to set.
5. Carefully add the vanilla flavored panna cotta mix over the espresso base.
5.Refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight. Add garnishes and serve.

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Nestle's Florentines
Ingredients
2/3 cup butter
2 cups quick oats
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup light or dark corn syrup
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups (11.5 oz. pkg.) Dark or  Milk Chocolate Morsels

Directions:


PREHEAT oven to 375° F. Line baking sheets with foil. I used silpats

MELT butter in medium saucepan;  and  remove from heat (I used the microwave and a medium size bowl). Stir in oats, sugar, flour, corn syrup, milk, vanilla extract and salt; mix well. Drop by level teaspoons, about 3 inches apart, onto lined baking sheets. Spread thinly with rubber spatula. I used a small off set spatula dipped in water to spread them thin.

BAKE for 6 to 8 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets on wire racks.


MICROWAVE morsels in medium, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on MEDIUM-HIGH (70%) power for 1 minute; STIR. Morsels may retain some of their original shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10 to 15-second intervals, stirring just until morsels are melted. Spread thin layer of melted chocolate onto flat side of half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies to make sandwiches.
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With a dusting of powdered sugar and looking like a snow capped landscape, stollen is a wonderful holiday treat.  Stollen is a rich yeast bread loaded with candied orange peel, cherries, raisins and a thin layer of marzipan is tucked inside. When I was a child, a family friend made stollen for us every Christmas season. My mother tucked it into the freezer, so that we could have it on Christmas morning. Then as an adult, before I had children, I made stollen every Christmas for friends and family, but I haven't made it in years, so this was a fun challenge to do with the kids. Rather than making a stollen wreath, we chose to make the traditional loaf shape.  




The 2010 December Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie’s Baking. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make Stollen. She adapted a friend’s family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart’s book.........and Martha Stewart’s demonstration. .
Since the recipe is long and detailed, this is the link to the printable Daring Bakers Stollen Recipe.

We decide to make our own candied orange peel for the bread and it really was the highlight of this recipe. We have a large tree in the backyard, and the winter season brings baskets full of the fresh fruit, so we were excited to try these out. The fresh candied peel was soft, sweet and delcious in the bread, a pleasant change from the store bought variety which can be hard and chewy.


Candied Citrus Peel
Ingredients:
Citrus Fruit
Sugar
Water

Remove the peel from 3 or 4 oranges (or lemons,limes or grapefruits) and cut in strips.

Blanch the peel 3 times. Place peel in a pot, cover with cold water and bring to a boil. When the water boils, drain and repeat twice more, for a total of three times.

Make a simple syrup: Put water and sugar in a medium pot stir to dissolve sugar and bring to boil. I used equal parts water and sugar, but I have seen recipes that use 3 parts sugar to 1 part water. You need enough syrup to cover the citrus peel. For 3 oranges I used 2 cups water and 2 cups sugar.

Add citrus peel to the simple syrup and simmer until translucent. This took me about an hour. The time will vary depending on how thick your citrus peel is. When translucent remove from the syrup, drain and place on a wire rack to dry. Once drained,you can roll the peel in additional sugar before drying, but I thought this was just to sugary and we ended up knocking the sugar coating off our peels.

Store in an air tight jar in the refrigerator or freeze.
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¾ cup + 2 Tablespoon Buttermilk
1 large Egg
2 Egg Yolk
1 Tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract
Powdered (Icing) Sugar (Used for decorating and is optional)

Directions:




  Heat oil to 375 F. Drop three to four doughnuts at a time into the hot oil. Once they turn golden brown, turn them and cook the other side. Once cooked, place on a baking sheet covered with paper towels to drain,  decorate as desired.

Brown Butter Pound Cake Baked Alaska

•1 cup heavy cream

The winner of the CSN give away is Grace at A Southern Grace. Send me your e-mail address and CSN will e- mail you your gift code.

Swiss Roll

The July 2010 Daring Baker's challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita's World- life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.

Let me just say that this is not a pretty dessert. It tasted fine, but it's just not gorgeous to look at. And the looks definitely did not stop it from disappearing rather quickly. As usual with the Daring Bakers, this was a family project. Mini Me made the Swiss roll cake which we filled with a vanilla mascarpone mousse. Boy Mimi made his fabulous coffee ice cream, and I contributed the vanilla gelato and hot fudge sauce. We used the cake recipe provided on the Daring Bakers forum for the Swiss roll and while the texture was nice, it just didn't have enough chocolate flavor. The recipe can be found here.

8oz mascarpone
2 teaspoon vanilla
8oz whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar, divided

In a mixing bowl whip the cream with 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. In a second bowl beat the mascarpone with the remaining teaspoon vanilla and sugar. Fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone.
Chill.



Coffee Ice Cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream,
3/4 cups sugar
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-3 tablespoons instant espresso powder
pinch salt

Heat milk, cream instant espresso powder and 1/2 cup sugar over medium heat,stirring to dissolve sugar, about 5 minutes.
Whisk egg yolks with remaining sugar until smooth. Stirring constantly  slowly add about 1 cup of the hot milk to the egg yolk. then slowly add the egg yolk mixture back into the remaining hot milk. continue to cook the custard over medium heat until it is very hot, but not simmering and custard coats the back of a spoon.
Strain custard into a bowl set over ice water and let cool. When cool remove from ice bath cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until completely chilled, about 3 hours.
When chilled churn in ice cream machine according to manufacturer's directions.

Vanilla Gelato
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
1 cup cream.
2 teaspoons vanilla
pinch of salt

Heat milk over low heat. In a small bowl beat egg yolks until thick and creamy. Add 2 tablespoons of hot milk to eggs stirring constantly. Add eggs, sugar and salt to remaining milk in sauce pan. Return to heat and cook over medium heat, until custard thickens, but do not boil.  Remove from heat. Place pan in a bowl of ice water to stop cooking then add cream and vanilla. Refrigerate until cold and process in your ice cream machine according to manufacturer directions.

Hot Fudge Sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
pinch salt
2/3 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all ingredients except vanilla in a sauce pan. Stir to combine. continue string over medium heat until smooth and the sugars have melted. Remove from heat add vanilla and cool to room temperature. To serve warm, reheat over hot water or in microwave.

3 large egg whites
½ cup plus 1 tbsp (110 grams) white granulated sugar
¼ cup (30 grams) confectioner’s (icing) sugar
1/3 cup (30 grams) cocoa powder

Directions:

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 200º F (95º C) degrees. Line two baking sheets with silpat or parchment and set aside.
Put the egg whites in a bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Increase speed to high and gradually add granulated sugar about 1 tbsp at a time until stiff peaks form. (The whites should be firm but moist.)

Sift the confectioner’s sugar and cocoa powder over the egg whites and fold the dry ingredients into the white. (This looks like it will not happen. Fold gently and it will eventually come together.)

Fill a pastry bag with the meringue. Pipe the meringue into whatever shapes you desire. Alternatively, you could just free form your shapes and level them a bit with the back of a spoon. (Class made rounds, hearts, diamonds and an attempt at a clover was made!)

Bake for 2-3 hours until the meringues become dry and crisp. Cool and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. printable recipe - meringue

Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse (for the top of the Pavlova base):

1 ½ cups (355 mls) heavy cream (cream with a milk fat content of between 36 and 40 percent)
grated zest of 1 average sized lemon
9 ounces (255 grams) 72% chocolate, chopped
1 2/3 cups (390 mls) mascarpone
pinch of nutmeg
2 tbsp (30 mls) Grand Marnier (or orange juice)

Directions:
Put ½ cup (120 mls) of the heavy cream and the lemon zest in a saucepan over medium high heat. Once warm, add the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let sit at room temperature until cool.
Place the mascarpone, the remaining cup of cream and nutmeg in a bowl. Whip on low for a minute until the mascarpone is loose. Add the Grand Marnier and whip on medium speed until it holds soft peaks. (DO NOT OVERBEAT AS THE MASCARPONE WILL BREAK.)

Mix about ¼ of the mascarpone mixture into the chocolate to lighten. Fold in the remaining mascarpone until well incorporated. Fill a pastry bag with the mousse. Again, you could just free form mousse on top of the pavlova.
 Mascarpone Cream (for drizzling):

1 recipe crème anglaise
½ cup (120 mls) mascarpone
2 tbsp (30 mls) Sambucca (optional)
½ cup (120 mls) heavy cream

Directions:
Prepare the crème anglaise. Slowly whisk in the mascarpone and the Sambucca and let the mixture cool. Put the cream in a bowl and beat with electric mixer until very soft peaks are formed. Fold the cream into the mascarpone mixture.

Crème Anglaise (a component of the Mascarpone Cream above):

1 cup (235 mls) whole milk
1 cup (235 mls) heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
6 large egg yolks
6 tbsp (75 grams) sugar

Directions:
In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale yellow.
Combine the milk, cream and vanilla in a saucepan over medium high heat, bringing the mixture to a boil. Take off the heat.
Pour about ½ cup of the hot liquid into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly to keep from making scrambled eggs. Pour the yolk mixture into the pan with the remaining cream mixture and put the heat back on medium. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens enough to lightly coat the back of a wooden spoon. DO NOT OVERCOOK.
Remove the mixture from the heat and strain it through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until the mixture is thoroughly chilled, about 2 hours or overnight.

Assembly:

Pipe the mousse onto the pavlovas and drizzle with the mascarpone cream over the top. Dust with confectioner’s sugar and fresh fruit if desired.
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Pate a Choux
 (Yield: About 28)

¾ cup (175 ml.) water
6 Tbsp. (85 g.) unsalted butter
¼ Tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup (125 g.) all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
For Egg Wash: 1 egg and pinch of salt

Pre-heat oven to 425◦F/220◦C degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Preparing batter:
1. Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely.

2. Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan

3. Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly.

4. Add 1 egg. The batter will appear loose and shiny. It is at this point that you will add in the next egg. Repeat until you have incorporated all the eggs.

Piping:
Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip (I piped directly from the bag opening without a tip). Pipe choux about 1 inch-part in the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1 inch high about 1 inch wide.
Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. You want them to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top.


 Vanilla Crème Patissiere

1 cup (225 ml.) whole milk
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
6 Tbsp. (100 g.) sugar
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
2 Tbsp. (30 g.) unsalted butter
1 Tsp. Vanilla

1. Dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup of milk. Combine the remaining milk with the sugar in a saucepan; bring to boil; remove from heat.
2. Beat the whole egg, then the yolks into the cornstarch mixture. Pour 1/3 of boiling milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the eggs do not begin to cook.
3. Return the remaining milk to boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, continuing whisking.
Continue whisking (this is important – you do not want the eggs to solidify/cook) until the cream thickens and comes to a boil. Remove from heat and beat in the butter and vanilla.
4. Pour cream into a stainless steel/ceramic bowl. Press plastic wrap firmly against the surface. Chill immediately and until ready to use.

We divided our pastry cream in half and to one part added extra vanilla and to the other the zest of 2 oranges for a delicate orange flavor. To each we folded in about 2/3 cup whipped cream, to give us a light creamy filling.

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Our cream puffs were light and crispy with just a hint of sweetness. The orange filling with the caramel was a really good combination that I would definitely use again. There are endless combintaion to use for filling and decorations which makes this a good dessert to try again and again, making it different each time. If you want to see what the other Daring Bakers made visit our blog roll.

Sticky Date Pudding with Toffee Sauce
adapted from Gourmet May 1998

For pudding
• 1 3/4 cups packed pitted dates (about 10 ounces)
• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 salt
4. While mixture is standing, into a bowl sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, beating after each addition until just combined. Add date mixture and with a wooden spoon stir batter until just combined well.
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At TWD, Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet decided on Chockablock Cookies.  I was skeptical about these cookies, since they contained practically everything but the kitchen sink.  Butter, sugar, molasses, chocolate chips, coconut, nuts and raisins seemed like a ridiculously long ingredient list. I made 1/2 the recipe and got 18 large cookies, which disappeared fast. All of the flavors came together to make a rich, well balanced, crisp on the outsides and chewy in the middle cookie.

If you want the recipe for this flavorful cookie visit Mary. To see what the other bakers cooked up visit our TWD blogroll .