Daring Bakers ~ Cheesecake

April's Daring Bakers challenge presented a fun treat and an opportunity to be creative with flavor. Jenny from Jenny Bakes chose Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake. I decided to make my cheesecake in cupcake cups for easier sharing, and then I picked two fun flavors. Since Tony (of Tony's Bistro) makes lunch and dinner for me on a regular basis, I made key lime cheesecakes for him. I'm not a key lime fan, but Tony said they were great. Josh chose the other flavor. He suggested a bourbon dark chocolate cheesecake. I'm also not a bourbon fan, so I substituted amaretto. I used amaretti cookies for the crust and Hershey's dark cocoa for the chocolate. These were wonderful!


The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

Daring Bakers - Chocolate Valentino

We are already at the end of the month. Time flies when you are busy! Luckily, I did find enough time this month to make and enjoy the Daring Bakers challenge.

From the DB challenge post: February’s challenge is a Flourless Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Valentino, inspired by Malaysia’s “most flamboyant food ambassador”, Chef Wan. Recipe comes from Sweet Treats by Chef Wan

In addition to making the cake, we were asked to make our own ice cream.
I chose a Trader Joe's dark chocolate bar for my cake flavor and made vanilla bean ice cream...the perfect complement to the dark cake.
The cake had only 3 ingredients...chocolate, eggs, and butter. It was very dense and didn't appeal to me. I did like it a little better when I matched it with the vanilla bean ice cream and raspberry sauce, but this is not a recipe I'd choose to make again.

To read more inspiring stories, see what our hosts Wendy and Dharm had to say.






The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.
We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

Daring Bakers - Chocolate Éclairs by Pierre Hermé

Chocolate Éclairs by Pierre Hermé

I do love the Daring Bakers and their challenges. Luckily I have a great group of coworkers who eat everything I share...the eclairs were gobbled up before school started on the day I brought them in. My coworkers continuously thank me for joining the baking groups I have as they reap the benefits on a regular basis. Last month I said that a purpose of joining the Daring Bakers and Tuesdays groups is to stretch my skills and try new techniques in the kitchen. I have not yet started working on stretching my food photography or writing skills...I'm hoping that comes soon.

This month our challenge is hosted by Tony Tahhan and MeetaK . Check their blogs for great stories about the baking and for the eclair recipe.

I have made eclairs or close variations a few times this year. This time the pastry came out perfectly browned and airy. The chocolate sauce and pastry cream were delicious! I am a big fan of all dark chocolates and this was almost chocolate overload. I wish the glaze/sauce had spread a little better...it looked more glopped than glazed on most of the eclairs.

Thanks to Tony and Meeta for a great recipe.

TWD - Chocolate-Banded Ice Cream Torte

I refuse to admit defeat this week, but I can't claim success, either. I'm sure you can understand the importance of a freezer in this recipe, given the ice cream component. I do have a freezer. Somehow all the food already in it is completely frozen. This recipe did not ever freeze completely so I have some wavy bands of chocolate and ice cream. My freezer chose this week to begin gathering droplets of water on the ceiling, and then it dripped all over the (still completely frozen) food. I, of course, forgot to cover the torte during its last freeze cycle, so I ended up with a watery top layer.

Why no pictures of this fantastic (really, very good-tasting) dessert? Because between home and school, I have no idea where the camera charger is and the batteries are completely drained tonight. I promise to post pictures as soon as the camera is recharged.

Thank you to Amy of Food, Family and Fun for choosing the Chocolate-Banded Ice Cream Torte (on pages 288-289). It tasted great!

Now on to successfully complete next week's recipe!

Edited to add picture...after all the trouble making this recipe, I couldn't get a good picture of the final product. Here is my only picture. It tasted better than it looked.

TWD: Chocolate Pudding

I've found my new favorite dessert. Yes, I must say that every week. I think I should say that I've found my new favorite cookbook as I have loved every recipe I've made.

Chocolate pudding has always been such a simple, sweet treat.

Melissa from Its Melissas Kitchen chose this week's TWD recipe. It was almost as easy as making pudding from a box, but it tasted so much better.

Like Dorie, I grew up on boxed pudding (made with skim milk). I did know it could be made from scratch, but that is one recipe that was discouraged at my house. I now know why. I could probably make this each week and not grow tired of it.

This is a cornstarch-thickened pudding. I mixed it in the food processor and as Dorie explained, that ensured a lump-free pudding and incorporated some air. I used dark cocoa powder and whole milk in my recipe and got the smoothest, best-tasting pudding I have ever eaten.

After a quick taste test, I still have 5 servings left. I think I will try layering one serving with a granola mix for a crunchy/salty/sweet treat. I'll also mix up some fresh whipped cream to top my next serving.

Thanks Melissa for a great recipe.

• "Baking: From My Home to Yours" by Dorie Greenspan can be purchased here: Amazon
• Tuesdays With Dorie site is here: TWD