29 Oct
October Daring Bakers: Bostini Cream Pie
Posted by Chelle as Cakes, Chocolate, Custard Desserts, Daring Bakers | 44 Comments
Having successfully completed my first Daring Bakers challenge in September, I was eagerly awaiting my next; however, when the new challenge was announced for October, I was afraid… very afraid. Custard. The dreaded custard. I fear baked goods with eggs and have never attempted anything like a custard or pastry cream because I always feared that I would end up with either raw eggs or scrambled eggs. However, after procrastinating for nearly the entire month I finally faced my fear because, well, that’s what being a Daring Baker is all about, isn’t it?
A little background… this month’s challenge, Bostini Cream Pies, was chosen by Mary at Alpineberry. Bostini Cream Pie, like the name implies, is a twist on the traditional Boston cream pie. This dessert is vanilla custard topped with an orange chiffon cake and then drizzled with a chocolate glaze. The recipe that was used was heralded as the Top Recipe of 1996 by the San Francisco Chronicle, and was a creation of Donna Scala and Kurtis L. Baguley of Bistro Don Giovanni.
And now, my experience. Let me start by saying that I cut this recipe into 1/3 for the cake and custard, and 1/2 for the chocolate. There was still a ton of custard and cake, as this recipe makes quite a bit! As I mentioned, I was terrified of the custard. I finally threw caution to the wind and dove right in. Since I didn’t end up with scrambled eggs and the custard didn’t TASTE like eggs, I deem my first try as a success! The mixture thickened very quickly and so I feared that perhaps the eggs would not have been cooked thoroughly, however my fellow Daring Bakers calmed my fears and I set the custard in the fridge to chill. A quick taste later revealed a thick, smooth and vanilla-flavored custard. Ahhh, no more egg fears!
The cake… I had never made a chiffon cake before, although I have made a classic sponge cake and the methods were very similar. I followed the advice of those who had gone before me in this challenge and made sure to be gentle when folding the egg whites and ensure that they were COMPLETELY incorporated into the rest of the batter. Since I scaled down this recipe I made the cake into 8 cupcakes in my muffin tin. They came out perfectly springy, light and airy. Success #2!
We were allowed creativity in the way we plated our Bostini Cream Pies, so I chose to finally put those oversized wine goblets that I got on clearance at Williams Sonoma to good use 
I layered the custard, then a piece of cake, and topped it with the chocolate sauce. A number of Daring Bakers said that their desserts tasted even better after sitting in the fridge, so I let ours chill all day. When we went to eat them, however, the chocolate had hardened too much and we popped them in the microwave for about 30 seconds. In retrospect, I would serve this dessert with warm chocolate sauce, but it still tasted absolutely fantastic.
I am thrilled to have accomplished my second challenge! Bring on November! 
25 Oct
The Perfect Omelet
Posted by Chelle as Breakfast | 0 Comments
I saw a recent episode of Barefoot Contessa in which Ina made this recipe, and it looked absolutely delicious (as most of her recipes do!), so I bookmarked it. Since I was just cooking for myself tonight it was the perfect time for me to experiment with a not-so-healthy meal This was absolutely delicious and I already can’t wait to eat the leftovers. The combination of potatoes and onions was extremely tasty, and combined with all of the other ingredients it was, well, perfect! This was the first time I baked an omelet in the oven and I’m totally sold on the process. Mine took about 23 minutes to cook, although I am super paranoid about raw eggs, so it may just have been the overly cautiousness in me, but it definitely wasn’t near ready at 15 minutes. The only thing I changed about the recipe was to leave out the jalapeños - I don’t keep them in the house and I’m not particularly fond of things with a kick. Without further ado, here is another pic and the recipe - ENJOY!
20 Oct
Soft Pretzels: Part II
Posted by Chelle as Appetizers/Snacks, Yeast Breads & Baked Goods | 6 Comments
Ahh, the beloved soft pretzel. Before this past winter I didn’t realize that making them at home was so relatively easy. Sure, it takes some time with the rising and the baking soda bath, but each step is pretty simple and they are well worth it! The last time that I made homemade soft pretzels, I used this recipe, and they turned out great. The major difference in this recipe is the rising time, which doesn’t exist in the other recipe. I think that’s what makes these much more plump. Also, the egg wash at the end gets the pretzels to brown up really nicely. I loved these pretzels, and I will be keeping this recipe as my standard soft pretzel recipe.
17 Oct
World Bread Day ‘07 ~ Brown Sugar Raisin Bread
Posted by Chelle as Yeast Breads & Baked Goods | 7 Comments
I am probably the last person that needs a reason to bake a loaf of bread, but since today, October 16th, is World Bread Day, I figured it was a perfect day to celebrate those carbs and try another bread recipe! Thank you to Zorra for hosting this event and giving us all a reason to celebrate bread in all of its glory! Check out all of the different types of bread from all over the world in the roundup here.
For today’s event I decided to try Williams Sonoma’s Brown Sugar Raisin Bread recipe. It is one that has been circulating the food message board that I frequent and had received rave reviews, all rightfully so. This recipe was very simple to put together, the dough rose beautifully, and I had no problems to report. My only modification to the recipe was to use all dark raisins, instead of half dark and half golden. The bread has a wonderful flavor and is quite addicting! Needless to say, I definitely recommend this recipe!
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10 Oct
Sweet Dinner Rolls
Posted by Chelle as Rolls/Biscuits, Yeast Breads & Baked Goods | 9 Comments
What goes better with a big bowl of warm beef stew, than a soft and sweet roll fresh from the oven? Since work was a little slower yesterday I took advantage of the extra time to make homemade rolls to go with our stew for dinner. While I have made yeast bread before, I had never tackled any type of roll, and now I’m sorry that I didn’t try them sooner! This was a very simple recipe to put together - the ingredients came together quickly and the dough only needed about 5 minutes of kneading time on my Kitchen Aid. It was very easy to work with and I simply divided the ball of dough into 16 semi-equally shaped balls.
