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a whisk and a spoon | connoisseur of fine cakeconnoisseur of fine cakea whisk and a spoon | connoisseur of fine cake a whisk and a spoon Blog e-mail me Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Fig and Goat Cheese Tart September 10, 2024 at 10:08 pm | Posted in BWD, groups, other savory, savory things, tuesdays with dorie | 3 Comments Tags: baking, savory, tarts Autumn’s coming, and while I feel sad that I probably have my last few nectarines (aka the absolute best fruit) of 2024 on my counter right now, I can also appreciate the good things the shift in seasons brings. Fresh figs come around this time of year, but they’ll be gone in a snap, so it’s nice to make something that showcases them, like this Fig and Goat Cheese Tart. The filling’s an easy, tangy mix of seasoned soft goat cheese and yogurt topped with a pile of fresh figs– some baked and some raw– glossed with balsamic vinegar. Because the goat cheese filling isn’t cooked, I wasn’t sure how the brisée crust would hold up over the course of a few days if I made a large tart, so I did just a couple of mini ones for a nice weekend lunch. This is easy and elegant, sweet and savory, summer and fall, all in one. If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it twice a month. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll! Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Alsatian-Style Blueberry Tart August 27, 2024 at 10:06 pm | Posted in BWD, groups, pies & tarts, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 8 Comments Tags: baking, pie An Alsatian-Style Blueberry Tart is new to me. I need to travel more. In Dorie’s version, a Sweet Tart Dough crust houses a mountain of blueberries bound together with a quickly-mixed vanilla custard. The STD crust is one we’ve made a zillion times before, so no problems there. The blueberries, on the other hand…well, I didn’t bother to weigh them since I could tell I was technically short of the recipe’s full amount (which is like a ton). I only bought one container of blueberries and had used some of them in pancakes the previous morning. I had what I had, and I just went with it. Keeping Mardi’s review in my mind, it seemed like plenty anyway. I also added a dribble of almond extract to the egg and cream custard mix that’s poured overtop the berries. Hopefully the Alsatians wouldn’t mind my fiddles. I thought the finished product was delicious, and liked my bloob-to-custard ratio. The tart stayed nice for a few days, too, thanks in part to the cinnamon sugar-almond flour mix sprinkled on the bottom of the crust after par-baking to absorb moisture. Next time, I’ll source a nice Alsatian dessert wine to go with. If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan yet, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie! Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Caramel Crunch-Chocolate Chunklet Cookies August 13, 2024 at 8:51 pm | Posted in BWD, cookies & bars, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 7 Comments Tags: baking, cookies Wow– even though it’s almost 10:00 at night, it’s still Tuesday, and that means I’m on time with my post for these Caramel Crunch-Chocolate Chunklet Cookies! My blog stats tell me this is actually my 1,001st post…how I have managed to write so much about cookies and cake, I really don’t know. If you make this recipe, you might do a double-take of the ingredient list searching for a mention of caramel, or at least brown sugar, but the “caramel crunch” actually comes from the baking technique. Rather than baking free-form, these are baked in a muffin tin, and what you get with all that hot metal contact, are crisp, shortbread-like cookie pucks with caramelized bottoms and sides. (We made some similar, or at least related, cookies using this method when we baked from Dorie’s Cookies.) Dorie says you can add nuts along with the chocolate chunks to the mix, and I went with toasted hazelnuts, a good chunklet choice. I scaled back the recipe and just made a third of the dough. Since I only needed to complete one round in my muffin tin, I also didn’t bother with the slice and bake step, one that always frustrates me anyway. I simply scooped the just-made dough straight into the tin and gave each cookie a little pat down to flatten and fill the cavities before popping the setup in the fridge to chill pre-bake. As advertised, these were caramelized, crunchy, chocolatey and chunky. They were also good keepers and I enjoyed them with morning coffee. I added a pinch of flaky salt to the top of each cookie before baking because I love that little salt hit on a chocolate chip cookie. If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll! Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Parfait-Layered Vacherin July 23, 2024 at 10:16 pm | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, cakes & tortes, groups, ice creams & frozen, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 3 Comments Tags: baking, brekkie, cake If you open your freezer looking for a treat that’s sweet and creamy, but also light and airy, this Parfait-Layered Vacherin might be exactly what you hope to find. It’s something like an ice cream cake, with whipped cream parfait instead of ice cream and crunchy meringue bits instead of cake. It’s cold, but it never freezes too hard, and a drizzle of caramel sauce over the top really does take it over the top. First thing to do for this is to buy or make a batch of meringues and then break them up into bits, big and small. The parfait is made from whipped egg yolks, whipped cream and whipped whites, gently folded together to make a feather-light mix. Layer the meringue bits and the parfait mix in a springform and freeze for several hours. Dorie finishes her vacherin with a drizzle of caramel sauce and a sprinkle of toasted almonds. I had some passion fruit caramel leftover from another dessert and I repurposed it here to save myself a step. The caramel had a bit of a tart edge to it from the passion fruit juice, and I think it balanced out the sweet meringue bits nicely. My almonds didn’t make it to the photoshoot because I annoyingly forgot them in the kitchen, but a few strawberries managed to come along for the ride. What a delight this is…pretty easy to make, kinda fancy, very nice to slice and definitely great to eat. I can imagine taking the parfait mix in various flavor directions, too. You can watch Dorie make this dessert here. If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan yet, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie! Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Lemony Yogurt Muffins with Blueberries July 23, 2024 at 9:50 pm | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, groups, muffins/quick breads, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 4 Comments Tags: baking, muffins How do people get up early enough to make muffins for breakfast? I am not a weekend early bird. Unless brekkie is at 10:00, I don’t think I have it in me to crank out freshly-baked muffins. These Lemony Yogurt Muffins started off as evening dessert…but leftovers made it to the breakfast table the next morning. Even if I don’t function well enough to bake after I’ve stumbled out of bed, these did come together really easily. I admit I didn’t have the key ingredient– I was out of yogurt! I subbed plain kefir, which I worried would make the batter too thin, but I don’t think it did any harm at all. Dorie says the blueberries are an optional add to the lemon-scented batter, which I had to go for. It’s a lot of blueberries– like a truckload– and I can’t even imagine what these muffins would be like without them. These are really moist and delicious and bursting with berries (the berry bulk also yielded extra muffins). I actually made this recipe a couple of years ago and thought they got a bit too crusty on top, so for this round I reduced the baking temperature to 375°. I glazed the hot muffins with marmalade, as Dorie suggested. The chunky peel bits on the muffin tops aren’t my favorite look, but the sweet-tart marmalade on top sure did taste good, and I think it helped keep the muffins really soft overnight. If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie! Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Jelly Roll Cake June 25, 2024 at 12:01 am | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, cakes & tortes, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 3 Comments Tags: baking, brekkie, cake This month we have a Jelly Roll cake to celebrate two TWD June birthdays– Margaret’s and Kim’s.  Jelly rolls are also called “Swiss rolls” or “roulades” and can have a variety of fillings rolled up in sheet of flexible sponge cake. Dorie, indeed, gives several variations to consider (hello ice cream roll-up!), but I went with the jam and whipped cream-filled classic. I had my fun playing around with flavor options. I had an unopened jar of yuzu marmalade in the cupboard, which became my jam component. The pulp of a fresh passionfruit went into the whipped cream. All rolled up in a lemon-scented sponge, I was very excited to see the cut slices reveal a tidy spiral of passionfruit-flecked cream. I have lots more ideas for filling and flavor combos, and since this was relatively easy (and extremely tasty), I might just have to have my own “playing around” session with the old-fashioned jelly roll cake. If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan yet, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie! Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Strawberry-Rhubarb Squares June 11, 2024 at 9:41 pm | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, cakes & tortes, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 11 Comments Tags: baking, cake It’s fun to visit my Saturday farmers’ market this time of year. After a gloomy few months of root veggies and winter squash, finally there is green stuff…and even some red stuff, too! These Strawberry-Rhubarb Squares have a soft honey-kissed buttermilk cake base, topped with a layer of early summer “red stuff” that turns jammy when baked. It’s delightfully simple and not too sweet– a perfect breakfast cake, snack cake or dessert cake. I made a half recipe in a loaf pan, so rather than using my stand mixer, I just put the batter together by hand. This was my first summery bake of the season, and it was a good one. If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan yet, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie! Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Gouda Gougères May 14, 2024 at 3:50 pm | Posted in BWD, groups, other savory, savory things, snacks, tuesdays with dorie | 5 Comments Tags: baking, cheese, savory This month we’re celebrating choux paste with Mardi, our May birthday girl who chose one sweet cream puff and one salty cheese puff for us to make. Someday I hope to apéro with Mardi IRL, so to manifest that, I’m starting with the Gouda Gougères. These are a favorite cocktail snack of Dorie’s (and mine) and we’ve made a few versions of them by now. These ones have gouda cheese and cumin seeds for a fun twist. Actually, mine were manchego because I forgot to get gouda at the store, but no matter, it worked just the same. I made a quarter recipe and used a two-tablespoon scoop to get six nice-sized puffs. I normally bake choux pastry at a higher temperature than this recipe does, so baked my gougères at 400° for the first half of baking (I think they rise better in a hotter oven), and then turned the oven down to 350° for the second half. Warm from the oven, these are crispy-soft, salty, cheesy and just the thing to toast friends with a cold glass of wine. If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie! Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Double-Decker Salted Caramel Cake April 23, 2024 at 8:47 pm | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, cakes & tortes, groups, layer cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 8 Comments Tags: baking, brekkie, cake This month we have a Double-Decker Salted Caramel Cake to celebrate all the April TWD babies: Diane, Kayte and yours truly. My birthday was at the start of the month, but I actually didn’t bake this till this past Sunday, which was Kayte’s big day, so I blew out a candle made a wish for her. This cake was one of her picks, and it’s two layers of soft brown sugar cake, filled and frosted with a sticky caramel icing. Any good caramel cake should start with a good homemade caramel sauce. There are two tricks to avoid a tooth-ache here…the first is to be brave and take your caramel syrup to a pretty dark place (but don’t go over the edge and burn it, because that is really no bueno), and the second is to season the finished sauce well with salt. The frosting is just a mix of this caramel sauce and powdered sugar with a little heavy cream added, and is a soft consistency that’s more like a thick glaze than a swoopy, swirly frosting. I thought it seemed like not enough when I made it, but scraping my mixing bowl well, I was able to fill and frost the cake, and I think a thin layer is actually all you really need with this one. For the cake component, I did a bit of fiddling because I wanted to make a smaller 6-inch version, as is my usual MO for the two of us. Looking at the ingredient list and thinking about how best to tackle scaling things back, I first decided that I wanted to use a single full egg and just forget the extra whites. Then I deduced that amount of egg by weight would roughly correspond to 5 tablespoons of butter, and from there I used my calculator to help me do the math to scale down the rest of the ingredients proportionally (about 42% of the original amounts). And then I decided that, while I do have a deep removable-bottom 6-inch pan I could have used here to keep in line with the recipe, I preferred to split the cake batter into two regular cake pans. I don’t really like dividing cakes with a knife– I never get the layers perfectly even or perfectly level and there are always too many crumbs. Also something about having to bake a soft and fluffy cake like this one for 40+ minutes doesn’t sit right with me, and I figured two thinner layers would be out of the oven in way less time. And then, because I am a lazy auto-pilot baker who doesn’t read through a recipe first, I didn’t realize I was supposed to swirl caramel sauce into the cake batter before the pans went into the oven. So I didn’t do that bit. I was kind of mad at myself, but my layers baked beautifully in about 25 minutes, and instead of a caramel swirl inside the batter, I just gave each layer a thin caramel sauce schmear before frosting. Well that was a pretty long post to come to a short and sweet summary– this cake is delicious! The cake itself is super soft and really flavorful (and it’s awesome drizzled with a little bourbon, in case you were wondering) and the frosting is just the right amount to not to make your fillings zing. I decorated my cake on top with some mixed crunchy pearls and on the sides with some chocolate flakes that I’ve had for like a million years and can now finally say I used up. A successful and satisfying birthday bake! If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan yet, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie! Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Goat Cheese-Black Pepper Quick Bread April 9, 2024 at 12:41 am | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, groups, other savory, quick breads, savory things, snacks, tuesdays with dorie | 6 Comments Tags: baking, cheese, savory We’re in that in-between weather stage, where one day it’s nice enough to sit on the stoop with a glass of chilled wine, and the next day what’s nice is to sit on the couch with a hot bowl of soup. This Goat Cheese Black Pepper Quick Bread is one you can take to either place– a bread for all seasons. This olive oil-based loaf comes together quickly by hand and is flavored with lemon, fresh mint (although I rarely have that in my herb stash, so I used dried parsley and dill instead) and, of course, goat cheese. Just like you can successfully swap out the mint to your herb of choice, I also think hunks feta or even cream cheese would work nicely here if goat cheese isn’t your thing. The bread has great muffin-like texture, with pockets of creamy cheese and a nice bronzed crust. I added a few extra bloops of cheese to decorate the top of the loaf with, along with a bit more cracked black pepper and some flaky salt. If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie! 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