It is a new year and I am ready to take on what ever baking challenges are thrown my way!  The first challenge of the year is Biscuits (or scones) depending on what part of the world you are from.  Here, in my area of Canada, we refer to these as biscuits.  When I first saw the challenge, I have to admit, I was a little disappointed, more breads?!?!?! We had just made sour dough bread (I have not made it yet).  Where are the cakes, the cookies the elaborate desserts?   Even thought it was not quite what I was expecting, I dove right in.

Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!

We were given a basic biscuit recipe, which we were required to make and after that we had free range to make what ever flavours we wanted.  I knew right off the bat I wanted to try to make a “sweet biscuit”.  My first memory of a “biscuit” is at my Great Gramma Carlow’s.  She lived in a big old farm house.  Thinking back, I have not been there in 20 years, it was the kitchen of my dreams.  The eating area was huge, within that area there was an old fashioned stove, the thing was beautiful!  There was a very large table, many chairs and even a couch and chairs.  This is where everyone always gathered.  Just off the main eating room was a small room “the pantry” where everything was kept.  I can still remember sitting at the table, about 5 years old, smelling the biscuits cooking in the old oven.  They had the same texture and appearance of a tea biscuit, but they were sweet!  We always topped them with her homemade strawberry jam, just heavenly!  I have yet to have anything remotely similar.  I only wish I had the recipe, but I am sure it was not written down.  So I made it my mission to try to come up with something similar.

The following is the basic recipe we were given which was the requirement:

Basic Scones (a.k.a. Basic Biscuits)
Servings: about eight 2-inch (5 cm) scones or five 3-inch (7½ cm) scones
Recipe can be doubled

Ingredients:
1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm/5 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
2 teaspoons (10 ml) (10 gm) (⅓ oz) fresh baking powder
¼ teaspoon (1¼ ml) (1½ gm) salt
2 tablespoons (30 gm/1 oz) frozen grated butter (or a combination of lard and butter)
approximately ½ cup (120 ml) cold milk
optional 1 tablespoon milk, for glazing the tops of the scones

Variations on the Basic recipe
Buttermilk – follow the Basic recipe above but replace the milk with buttermilk, add ¼ teaspoon of baking soda, increase the fat to 4 tablespoons, in Step 3 aim of pea-sized pieces of fat coated in flour, in Step 5 fold and turn the dough, rounds are just touching in the baking dish, glaze with buttermilk.

Cream – follow the Basic recipe above but replace the milk with cream, add ¼ teaspoon of baking soda, in Step 3 aim of beach sand sized pieces of fat coated in flour, in Step 5 knead the dough, rounds are just touching in the baking dish, glaze with cream.

Sweet Fruit – follow the Basic recipe above but after Step 3 add ¼ cup (45 gm) dried fruit (e.g. sultanas, raisins, currents, cranberries, cherries etc) and 1 tablespoon (15 gm) sugar.

Batch #1 Buttermilk Biscuits

I decided to start with the buttermilk variation because I already had an open buttermilk in the fridge.

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to very hot 475°F/240°C/gas mark 9.
2. Triple sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl.

3. Rub the frozen grated butter (or combination of fats) into the dry ingredients until it resembles very coarse bread crumbs with some pea-sized pieces if you want flaky scones or until it resembles coarse beach sand if you want tender scones.

My butter was in the freezer, so I grated it frozen

4. Add nearly all of the liquid at once into the rubbed-in flour/fat mixture and mix until it just forms a sticky dough (add the remaining liquid if needed). The wetter the dough the lighter the scones (biscuits) will be!

**this is what mine looked like after adding the 1/2 cup milk as recipe stated

It was dry and very crumbly nothing like shown in the recipe.  Not really knowing what to do I added more buttermilk, another 1/2 cup.

It looked much more like it should, maybe a little wet.
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, lightly flour the top of the dough. To achieve an even homogeneous crumb to your scones knead very gently about 4 or 5 times (do not press too firmly) the dough until it is smooth. To achieve a layered effect in your scones knead very gently once (do not press too firmly) then fold and turn the kneaded dough about 3 or 4 times until the dough has formed a smooth texture. (Use a floured plastic scraper to help you knead and/or fold and turn the dough if you wish.)
6. Pat or roll out the dough into a 6 inch by 4 inch rectangle by about ¾ inch thick (15¼ cm by 10 cm by 2 cm thick). Using a well-floured 2-inch (5 cm) scone cutter (biscuit cutter), stamp out without twisting six 2-inch (5 cm) rounds, gently reform the scraps into another ¾ inch (2 cm) layer and cut two more scones (these two scones will not raise as well as the others since the extra handling will slightly toughen the dough). Or use a well-floured sharp knife to form squares or wedges as you desire.

7. Place the rounds just touching on a baking dish if you wish to have soft-sided scones or place the rounds spaced widely apart on the baking dish if you wish to have crisp-sided scones. Glaze the tops with milk if you want a golden colour on your scones or lightly flour if you want a more traditional look to your scones.

8. Bake in the preheated very hot oven for about 10 minutes (check at 8 minutes since home ovens at these high temperatures are very unreliable) until the scones are well risen and are lightly coloured on the tops. The scones are ready when the sides are set.

9. Immediately place onto cooling rack to stop the cooking process, serve while still warm.

The Verdict: They were ok. I would not make that kind again.  The texture was off, kind of chewy and tough.  I think the addition of the extra milk to get the consistency right may have done something as well.  A learning experience!

Batch #2 Basic Biscuits

For my second batch I made the basic recipe Audax provided us with.

Basic Scones (a.k.a. Basic Biscuits)

Ingredients:
1 cup  flour
2 teaspoons fresh baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons (or a combination of lard and butter)
approximately ½ cup cold milk
optional 1 tablespoon milk, for glazing the tops of the scones

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to very hot 475°F
2. Triple sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl.  (I only sifted ingredients once)

3. Rub the frozen grated butter (or combination of fats) into the dry ingredients until it resembles very coarse bread crumbs with some pea-sized pieces if you want flaky scones or until it resembles coarse beach sand if you want tender scones. (I did not freeze butter, it was just out of the fridge)

4. Add nearly all of the liquid at once into the rubbed-in flour/fat mixture and mix until it just forms a sticky dough (add the remaining liquid if needed). The wetter the dough the lighter the scones (biscuits) will be!

5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, lightly flour the top of the dough. To achieve an even homogeneous crumb to your scones knead very gently about 4 or 5 times (do not press too firmly) the dough until it is smooth. To achieve a layered effect in your scones knead very gently once (do not press too firmly) then fold and turn the kneaded dough about 3 or 4 times until the dough has formed a smooth texture. (Use a floured plastic scraper to help you knead and/or fold and turn the dough if you wish.)

6. Pat or roll out the dough into a 6 inch by 4 inch rectangle by about ¾ inch thick (15¼ cm by 10 cm by 2 cm thick). Using a well-floured 2-inch (5 cm) scone cutter (biscuit cutter), stamp out without twisting six 2-inch (5 cm) rounds, gently reform the scraps into another ¾ inch (2 cm) layer and cut two more scones (these two scones will not raise as well as the others since the extra handling will slightly toughen the dough). Or use a well-floured sharp knife to form squares or wedges as you desire.

7. Place the rounds just touching on a baking dish if you wish to have soft-sided scones or place the rounds spaced widely apart on the baking dish if you wish to have crisp-sided scones. Glaze the tops with milk if you want a golden colour on your scones or lightly flour if you want a more traditional look to your scones.

8. Bake in the preheated very hot oven for about 10 minutes (check at 8 minutes since home ovens at these high temperatures are very unreliable) until the scones are well risen and are lightly coloured on the tops. The scones are ready when the sides are set.

9. Immediately place onto cooling rack to stop the cooking process, serve while still warm.

The verdict – These biscuits were lovely.  They had a wonderful texture and chew.  I think they turned  out almost perfect.  I am told I am crazy as I like mine plain, no butter, no jam just the old fashioned biscuit flavour.  They were also enjoyed with butter and honey.  This recipe will be a keeper.

Batch #3 Sweet Biscuits

These biscuits were the same as the basic recipe, but I added 2 tablespoons of sugar after I mixed the butter in Step 3

These biscuits were ok.  Not quite what I was looking for.  Don’t get me wrong they were good, just not like the ones my Great Gramma used to make….that is my goal! I will keep trying

Batch #4 biscuits with Cream

These ones were the original Basic Biscuits with the substitution of Cream for the milk and the addition of  1/4 teaspoon of baking soda.

These biscuits were amazing! This will be my go to biscuit from now on.  It was everything I think a biscuit should be. This one went right into the recipe book!

I had a request to make it into a breakfast sandwich…

Batch # 5 More sweet biscuits

These Sweet biscuits were almost perfect.  I think I am 95% in getting them to tastes like my Great Gramma Carlow’s homemade biscuits.

She always just had free formed ones.  I just stirred and scooped them onto the tray.  Sprinkled with sugar

Look beautiful, the sugar gave them a crunchy texture

The texture was bang on.  It was a little different from the other tea biscuits, I assume from the amounts of sugar and addition of baking soda.

The perfect bite! Not quite like Gramma’s homemade jam, but it did the job.  Just out of the oven, cooled enough to eat with a big dollop of jam.  I was very happy how these turned out.  Mom said they were amazing! She said 99% to getting them like Great Gramma.  I look forward to getting 100%

Thank you Audax for this wonderful challenge! It has turned out to be one of my favourites as it brought back many wonderful memories for me.  It also pushed me to do something I have wanted to do for a long time, perfect Great Gramma’s biscuits!

Wow! Where did 2011 go?  Seems as I get older the years just fly by.  This year  I did a lot of baking, most were good, some were amazing and a few were total flops!  There were some  new recipes and others were tried and true favourites.  The Daring Bakers took me way out of my comfort zone as I was truly dared with some amazing recipes.  As for the “flops” I posted them too, not everything can turn out well.  I thought I would end the year with a “top 10″ list of my favourite recipes of the year.

 10. Perogi Day

Perogi Day was a day I will never forget! Mom, Etta, Jen and myself were at it for almost 12 hours.  We made 9 different flavours, used 25 pounds of potatoes, 7 tubs of sour cream, almost 2 bags of flour and a lot of bacon, cheese and onions.  We ended up with, get ready for it……471 perogies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They were delicious, not sure I will be able to go back to the frozen ones from the store.  It was a great day and the results were amazing! We all agreed that we would definitely do it again, just not anytime soon…

9.  Apple Sauce Muffins

These Apple Sauce Muffins were something I stumbled across when visiting Gramma one afternoon.  They were hot and fresh and delicious!  You can’t really taste the apple sauce, they are a little bit sweet and have an amazing texture.  I think I have made them at least 6 times since then.  A wonderful recipe with simple ingredients, Thanks Gramma!

8.  Baklava

This one was special for me.  I was asked to be the host of the June Daring Bakers Challenge!  Being host meant that I was able to pick any recipe and have all the members make their variations. I had always said, way back when I joined, that if I ever got the chance to host I was going to pick Baklava.  It was amazing to see the different variety of baklava that were made.  I was a little daring (mean) and had everyone make their own phyllo dough.  Some people enjoyed the process, a lot did not, but all in all it was a wonderful experience.  It was a true honour to be picked to be the June 2011 host.  My baklava was delicious.  I will definitely be making it again but, like many other members, I will probably use pre-made phyllo!

7.  Puppy Chow

Puppy Chow was new for me, I had never even heard of it.  Jen had come over to do some Christmas baking and she brought all the ingredients for Puppy Chow…hmmm.  I was pleasantly surprised!  Unlike the name this is a wonderful treat!!!  Very simple, cereal, chocolate, butter, peanut butter and icing sugar.  It is very addicting!  It was a great gift to give away in little Christmas sacks.  Thanks Jen for a great recipe that I will be using for many years to come.  I may have to come up with a more appealing name….

6. Cupcakes, Cupcakes and more Cupcakes!

This was a scary one! Making 130 cupcakes for Kris and Selena’s Wedding!  I had never done anything like this before.  I mean I had made cupcakes but never 130 in one day!  I was a nervous wreck, as I think the wedding cakes is a huge deal.  Sadly it’s the food aspects that people remember more at a wedding then the actual ceremony.  I thought if they don’t turn out I’d have people thinking “god, their cake was horrible”.  Thank goodness everything went smoothly and the cupcakes were a hit!  So much so that there was not near enough If there is a next time, I will know people will eat more than one! Thanks Kris and Selena!

5. Bachlorette Cake

When Coralee asked me to make Chrissy’s Bachlorette Party cake I was thrilled!  I had just recently taken the Wilton Fondant course and figured this would be the perfect opportunity to give my new skills a try.  For my first try at creating a formed fondant covered cake, I think it turned out pretty good.  I hope to make more in the future.  Unfortunately I fell ill that night and was unable to make the party, so I didn’t get to try it.  Hope it was good!

4. Wedding CakeS!

No, I did not make a typo in the title I meant for the ‘S’ to be big!  This was by far my biggest baking event ever, let alone in 2011.  I was asked to make the cakes for Jen and Martin’s Wedding.  At first I was terrified and think I even tried to talk her out of it, as I mentioned above, the wedding cake is a huge deal!  When I calmed down I was truly honoured and accepted the challenge.  Jen had a wonderful idea of having a cake on each table.  The cake would then be “the wedding cake”, centre piece and dessert.  It really was a good idea.  It was a ton of work but I enjoyed every minute of it and would do it again in a heart beat!  Thanks Jen!!

3. Povitica

This recipe was from the October Daring Bakers Challenge hosted by Jenni of The Gingered Whisk.  She introduced me to something I had never heard of.  Povitica?? I could barely say it let alone make it.  As it was a bread recipe I was very hesitant in even trying it, bread and I do not get along well.  I was pleasantly surprised, it was an amazing dough and so versatile.  I was able to make both savory and sweet loaves out of the recipe.  They were delicious!! This one rang in on my top 3!  I will be making this a lot more in years to come.  Thank you Jenni!!

2. Whoopie Pies!

I was a little late jumping on the Whoopie Pie ban wagon.  Not sure what rock I had been living under but I just heard about these in July.  Apparently they were quite the craze a while ago.  There is even a “Whoopie Pie War” with two States as they both say they are the founder of the Whoopie Pie.  Well, I don’t care who came up with the idea, I’m just glad they did!!  These are little pieces of heaven!  Surprisingly they are not sweet, they have a lovely light texture and a wonderful marshmallow filling.  I have only made the “Classic Whoopie” but I have a book and plan on making many different kinds.  What a wonderful find!

Drum roooooooooooooooooooollllllllllllllllllll…………………….

1. Salted Caramel Shortbread Bars

Without question this was my favourite recipe of the year!  I mean look at at…it’s not only the best tasting dessert bar ever, it’s also a thing of beauty!  This recipe was not even intended for me, haha.  When Jen came over to do some Christmas baking, it was for her to take to her baking exchange.  I had one bite and almost had to sit down.  It is one of those treats that after your first bite you have to stop before you start chewing and your eyes grow twice their normal size as you cant believe this piece of magic in your mouth.  It then turns into an eyes closed slow chew as you take in all the textures and tastes, and then it hits you…the salt!  Your taste buds jump into high gear.  It is like no other dessert experience I have ever had.  Don’t believe me, Try them!!!  Thank you Jen for my FAVOURITE treat of the year!  This recipe will remain at the front of my recipe book to be made time and time again!

I would like to thank my many followers for stopping by throughout the year to see whats up in my kitchen. When I first started this whole blogging thing, I really didn’t think anyone other then family would read.  I was shocked and so happy to see when I had over 20,000 hits!

Thanks again and Happy New Year!  Please come back to see what’s baking in 2012

First off, I must start by introducing a guest baker!  This evening I had the pleasure of baking with Jen, I think she likes baking and baking blogs almost as much as me!  The next three posts were recipes she chose (and wow were they wonderful!).  One was for a baking exchange she was going to (that group is extremely lucky to be getting the Salted Caramel Chocolate Shortbread Bar), the other two recipes, chocolate Peanut Butter Chunk Cookies and Puppy chow, well… they were just to make and enjoy!

The first recipe of the day was the Salted Caramel Shortbread Bar, (another wonderful item from Annie’s Eats) the name is pretty self explanatory but does not do any justice to the dessert.  After tasting it, I think it deserves a much more exciting name!   I love the taste of salt and sweet together, they complement each other so well.  I have had chocolate covered pretzels, trail mixes with nuts and chocolate but I had never made a dessert where salt was the star ingredient.  To be honest I was a little leary of trying them, not really sure why as I love the flavour combination.  When I heard of what Jen picked for her exchange I was quite intrigued and when she sent the recipe entitled “deliciousness” I nearly drowned in drool.  It looked amazing!

Salted Caramel Chocolate Shortbread Bars

For the shortbread layer:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325° F.

2. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with parchment paper.  We would recommend bringing the parchment paper right up the sides of your dish, as it was a bit of a challenge getting the first section out)

3. In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir with a fork to blend, and set aside.

4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until well blended, about 1-2 minutes.

5.  With the mixer on low-speed blend in the dry ingredients just until incorporated.

6. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking pan and press in an even layer over the bottom of the pan.

Bake 15-18 minutes or until golden.  (If the crust puffs up a bit while baking, just gently press it down while it is cooling.)  Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely.

For the caramel layer:

This layer seems to be quite time-consuming and labor intensive (Even with taking turns stirring, I got 2, yes 2 blisters from stirring it for so long!) So, start this as soon as the shortbread is out of the oven.
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup sugar
4 tbsp. light corn syrup
2 cans sweetened condensed milk

Directions:

1. Combine the butter, sugar, corn syrup and condensed milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat.

2. Heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter is melted.  Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, stirring constantly.  Continue simmering and stirring until the mixture turns an amber color and thickens slightly.

3. Pour the mixture over the shortbread layer, smooth the top, and allow to cool completely and set.  (I chilled at this stage to ensure that the caramel layer would not melt when the warm chocolate was added.)

For the chocolate layer:
8 oz. semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 tsp. light corn syrup
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Fleur de sel or sea salt, for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Combine the chocolate, corn syrup, and butter in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.  Heat, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth. (Somehow I missed getting photos of this step)

2. Pour evenly over the caramel layer and use an offset spatula to smooth the top.

3. Allow to cool for a minute or two and then sprinkle with fleur de sel.

4. Chill, covered, until ready to slice and serve.

Just look at that! It is a thing of beauty! But not only does it look amazing it tastes even better!  The combination of the sweet and the salt on top is delicious.  The shortbread had a lovely texture, strong enough to hold the square but was mild enough not to over power the treat.  The caramel layer was so smooth and creamy yet firm enough to hold up. The chocolate layer with salt was the finishing touch.  There was just the right amount of sweet and salt.  Upon taking a bite my mouth just came alive!  The salt and sweet made my taste buds jump, even after eating it you could still taste the salt finish.  WOW!!

We figured that one tray would not be enough for 5 dozen so we ended up making two trays of this, which meant I got to keep some This is a definite keeper, I can see making this many more times. I hope the baking exchange group enjoys!

I had such a great time baking, especially with someone who shares my passion.  Hopefully there will be more additions to the”Guest Baker”.  Thanks Jen!

These delights were the third recipe of the day.  We started off with just making one thing and it snowballed from there, it was GREAT!   This recipe is from a wonderful food blog Jen introduced me to, Annie’s Eats.  She has a huge selection of fabulous looked deserts most of which I would love to try, and just may very well do!

When Jen suggested these I promptly went to the computer to check them out.  I was sold by the photo alone!!  I mean really, a chocolate cookie with huge chunks of peanut butter cups, how could you go wrong?

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

1½ cups plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
6 tbsp. Dutch-process cocoa
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. coarse salt
¾ stick (6 tbsp.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup plus 2 tbsp. creamy peanut butter
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. milk
2 cups coarsely chopped peanut butter cups, divided*
*Note: it was suggested to freeze the peanut butter cups for at least 30 minutes before chopping.  It makes them easier to unwrap, easier to cut, and helps them stay intact while you mix them into the dough.

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.

2. Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.

3. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, peanut butter, and sugars.

5. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes.  Add in the egg, vanilla extract, and milk.  Blend until smooth.

6. With the mixer on low-speed, mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated.

7. Add in 1½ cups of the chopped peanut butter cups and fold in gently with a spatula.

8. Use a large dough scoop (we used a tablespoon and over filled it, it was recommended to use a 3 tablespoon scoop, but that seemed too big) to drop rounds of dough onto the baking sheets, spacing 2-3 inches apart.  Gently press a few pieces of the reserved peanut butter cups into the top of each of the dough balls.

9. Bake 12-14 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.  (The cookies may seem too soft immediately after coming out of the oven but they will set as they cool.  You don’t want to over bake them.)  Let cool on the baking sheets about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Store in an airtight container

These were quite good! I loved the hint of peanut butter right in the cookie as well ask the chunks of peanut putter cups.  As good as they were, I was not fussy about the texture, kind of chewy (not in a good way).  I will just have to make them again (that’s a shame I know! lol) to play with the texture.

No, I have not lost my mind entirely and bought a dog!  I’m talking about Human Puppy Chow.  I am sure you are thinking the same thing I was, ewwwww!  When Jen first told me she thought we should make Puppy Chow I was less than impressed, then she started listing off the ingredients.  With each item it sounded better and better.  I slowly started to lose the image of smelly chewy dog food.

This was one for the many things we made on our baking day.  It comes together so quick and easy, a perfect thing to make as we were waiting for another recipe to finish in the oven.

Puppy Chow

9 cups Chex or Chrispix Cereal

1 cup Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

1/2 cup Peanut butter

1/4 cup Butter

1 tsp Vanilla

1 1/2 cups Icing Sugar

Directions: 

1. In a large bowl (bigger the better, If you have a large plastic bowl with a lid it will save you time later) measure your cereal and set aside

2. In a double boiler melt chocolate, peanut butter and butter

3. Stir in vanilla and pour over cereal, stir

*Photos are so much easier with anothe baker

4. Add icing sugar, place lid on and SHAKE! (if you don’t have a big bowl with a lid, now you will need to transfer to large freezer bags to shake.

5. Spread out on a parchment lined cookie sheet to cool

6. Store in an air tight container (recipe says in the fridge, not sure why.  I just stored mine on the counter)

This was delicious!  The crunch of the cereal was not compromised in any way by the hot mixture.  Each bite was very crunchy and quite tasty.  You just get a hint of peanut butter and the sweetness of the icing sugar.  This was a definite hit.  I can see making this again in the future.  Not too often though as I could not stop eating it!!!!

Thanks Jen!

*later in the evening as I was snacking on the puppy chow we were thinking of other varieties.  Thought about replacing the peanut butter with Fluff and adding some grahm crumbs to the icing sugar.  Almost like a smores mix!

I was asked to make a pumpkin pie this week.  If you have read any of my other pie posts you know I HATE making pie.  There is not many things I HATE making, but I HATE making pie!  I really don’t even like pie.  At Thanksgiving I said was wasnt ever making another from scratch, and I stayed true to my word! Tenderflake and Mr. Smith did most of the work.  For anything else I really done like using pre made but for pie, I’m all about it!

I DID make the whipped cream from scratch   They said it was good and that is all that matters.

I love it when the Daring host challenges us with something I have never heard of.  It is a little intimidating  not having any idea what to expect, but also very exciting to try something new.   The challenge this month  was presented to us as a Filipino dessert.   To my knowledge, I have not had anything Filipino  so I was excited for this challenge!

Catherine of Munchie Musings was our November Daring Bakers’ host and she challenged us to make a traditional Filipino dessert – the delicious Sans Rival cake! And for those of us who wanted to try an additional Filipino dessert, Catherine also gave us a bonus recipe for Bibingka which comes from her friend Jun of Jun-blog.

Sans Rival:

Ingredients
10 large egg whites, room temp
1 cup white granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
¼ cup Dutch processed cocoa (optional and not traditional)
2 cups  chopped, toasted cashews

Directions:
Note: You will need four layers which will mean that you might have to bake in two batches. Be sure to use fresh parchment paper and cooled pans for each batch.

1. Preheat oven to moderate 325°F/160°C/gas mark 3.

2. Line cake pan bottoms with parchment paper and butter and flour the sides really well.

3. In a large clean, dry glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites on medium until foamy (2 mins.). Sprinkle with cream of tartar. Gradually add sugar, a couple of tablespoons at a time, continuing to beat now at high-speed until stiff shiny peaks form. (about 7-10 mins.)  For some reason I forgot to take pictures of all this

I added the cocoa powder when I had soft peaks

4. Fold in nuts, reserving enough to use for decoration.

(Note the more finely ground for folding into meringue. The coarsely ground for is decoration of finished cake.)

5. Divide meringue into four equal parts. Spread in pans, evenly to edges. If doing batches, use fresh parchment paper and cooled pans for each batch.  **I wanted to make a different shape so I just piped my batter on parchment paper**

6. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the meringue from the baking pans while still hot; allow to cool slightly. Peel off the parchment paper while it is still warm, it is difficult to remove sometimes when they have completely cooled.

7. When cool, trim edges so that all 4 meringue layers are uniformly shaped. Set aside.

French Butter Cream

Ingredients
5 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 cup (240 ml) (225 gm) (8 oz) white granulated sugar
1/4 cup (60 ml) water
1¼ cup (300 ml) (2½ sticks) (285 gm) (10 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
Optional Flavorings: 2 oz (55 gm) unsweetened chocolate, melted, or 1½ teaspoon (7 ½ ml) almond extract, or 1½ teaspoon (7 ½ ml) vanilla extract, or any flavor you like

Directions:

1. Put the egg yolks in a mixing bowl. Beat at high-speed until the yolks have doubled in volume and are a lemon yellow.

2. Put the sugar and water in a heavy pan and cook over medium heat, stirring the sides down only until all the sugar is dissolved and the syrup reaches 235°F/112°C (or thread stage).

3. With the mixer on high, very slowly pour the syrup down the sides of the bowl, until all has been added. Be careful as the very hot syrup could burn you if it splashes from the beaters. Continue beating on high until the mixture is ROOM TEMPERATURE (about 15 mins). Still on high, beat in the soft, room temperature butter a tablespoon at a time. Add flavoring after you beat in the butter. Refrigerate the butter cream for at least an hour, and whip it smooth just before you use it.

I melted the chocolate in a double boiler and added it to the frosting.  It seemed quite dull, not very chocolatly at all.

I ended up melting 4 more oz of chocolate and added it.  Turned out much better

Assembly:

Set bottom meringue on cake board with a dab of butter cream to hold it in place. Spread a
thin layer of buttercream and then place another meringue on top. Repeat with a thin layer of
buttercream, meringue, thin layer of buttercream, meringue, and finally buttercream the top and
sides. Decorate with reserved nuts.

This desert was delicious!  Everyone loved it! I have already had requests for a repeat!  A few things went wrong, mine was not “crispy” it was fairly chewy, but I have to say I loved the chewy texture.  Next time I would put it in the fridge before cutting because it does not look very nice, but to be quite honest we couldn’t wait to try it.  The texture of this cake was amazing.  Mine was chewy, yet had the crunch from the chopped nuts.  The frosting was to die for,so silky and buttery.

Thank you Catherine for such a wonderful challenge and introducing me to Sans Rival!

Mom and I were at Gramma and Poppa’s the other day and she was just in the midst of making some homemade muffins!  This was right up my ally, I offered to help and was turned down flat, several times.  I now realize where I got my ‘not so organized, disaster stricken, kitchen looking like a hurricane went threw’ baking style from   There was stuff everywhere, just like when I bake.  But I gotta say, it is much more fun baking when you are not worrying about the mess you make and cleaning it up after then trying to be neat and tidy and not spill a drop.  Sorta like never trust a skinny chef, never trust a tidy baker! lol Anyways…..

I don’t know if it is just me, but it seems that everything Gramma makes is just fabulous!  Not sure if it just because it is someone else making it (always tastes better when someone else makes it) or if it is because it has that Gramma love in it (which would be all the good stuff, butter, lard, no imitation crap!)  Either way everything at Gramma’s is always tasty and very hard, if not impossible to turn down!

So, back to the muffins.  I was over visiting on my lunch and time was tight, I didn’t think there would be time for me to try them.  As luck would have it, they came out of th oven 5 minutes before I had to go.  Man, was I glad, they were delicious! I took an extra one home, but it wasn’t eaten by 8 pm, so I ate it too!  The next day I had to make them, I had all the ingredients in the house, so why not!

Applesauce Muffins

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup Brown Sugar (loosely packed)

1 egg

1 cup Flour

1/2 tsp Cinnamon (we used almost 1 tsp)

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup apple sauce (we used closer to a cup)

1/2 cup raisins

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup chopped nuts (walnuts)

Directions – Pre-heat oven 350 F

1. Cream butter and brown sugar

2. Beat in the egg

3. Sift all dry ingredients

4. alternately add dry ingredients and applesauce, string after each addition

5. Stir in raisins, nuts, and oats

6. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full, makes 12 muffins

7. Bake approx 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean

8.  Cool on rack

They were delicious!  Again, not as good as Gramma’s, but they’ll do.  So moist and flavourful. This will definitely be my new ‘go to’ muffin.

Thanks Gramma

Povitica is something I had never heard of and it looked very intimidating.  I first saw it was bread, I thought ‘oh no!’ bread and I don’t get along very well.  Not sure what I do wrong, but it does not usually turn out.  As I kept reading I found that it was a ‘sweet bread”, never tired one of those before. I was definitely up for this challenge!

Povitica (pronounced po-va-teet-sa) is traditional Eastern European dessert bread that is traditionally served during the holiday season. It is also known as Nutroll, Potica, Kalachi, Strudia, just to name a few. Family recipes, and the secrets on how to roll the bread so thin, was passed down through generations of families. However, the tradition of baking this type of bread has become somewhat of a dying art form.

The Daring Baker’s October 2011 challenge was Povitica, hosted by Jenni of The Gingered Whisk. Povitica is a traditional Eastern European Dessert Bread that is as lovely to look at as it is to eat!

This recipe makes enough dough to make 4 loaves.  We were required to make at least one of the original nut filling and the rest was up to us.  It took me a while to decide on flavours, I ended up doing the original nut filling, cinnamon, raison cinnamon and a cheddar garlic.

Povitica

Preparation time:
To make Dough: 40 minutes
Rising: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Rolling and Assembly: 20 minutes per loaf, a generous total of 1 hour
Baking: 1 hour
Cooling: 30 minutes
To Make the Filling: 15 minutes, including the grinding of the nuts

Povitica(makes 4 loaves)

Ingredients

To activate the Yeast:
2 Teaspoons (10 ml/9 gm) Sugar
1 Teaspoon (5 ml/3 gm) All-Purpose (Plain) Flour
½ Cup (120ml) Warm Water
2 Tablespoons (30ml/14 gm/½ oz/2 sachets) Dry Yeast

Dough:
2 Cups (480ml) Whole Milk
¾ Cup (180 ml/170gm/6 oz) Sugar
3 Teaspoons (15 ml/18 gm/2/3 oz) Table Salt
4 Large Eggs
½ Cup (120ml/115 gm/one stick/4 oz) Unsalted Butter, melted
8 cups (1.92 l/1.12 kg/39½ oz/2½ lb) All-Purpose Flour, measure first then sift, divided

Walnut Filling:
7 Cups (1.68 l/1.12 kg/2.5 lbs) Ground English Walnuts
1 Cup (240ml) Whole Milk
1 Cup (240ml/225 gm/2 sticks/8 oz) Unsalted Butter
2 Whole Eggs, Beaten
1 Teaspoon (5ml) Pure Vanilla Extract
2 Cups (480ml/450 gm/16 oz) Sugar
1 Teaspoon (5 ml/4 gm) Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 Teaspoon (5 ml/3 gm) Cinnamon

Topping:
½ Cup (120 ml) Cold STRONG Coffee
2 Tablespoons (30 ml/28 gm/1 oz) Granulated Sugar
Melted Butter

Directions:

To Activate Yeast:
1. In a small bowl, stir 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 teaspoon flour, and the yeast into ½ cup warm water and cover with plastic wrap.

2. Allow to stand for 5 minutes

Mine stood for more than 5 minutes, probably about 25 mins, you will see why later….

To Make the Dough:
3. In a medium saucepan, heat the milk up to just below boiling (about 180°F/82°C), stirring constantly so that a film does not form on the top of the milk. You want it hot enough to scald you, but not boiling. Allow to cool slightly, until it is about 110°F/43°C.

4. In a large bowl, mix the scalded milk, ¾ cup (180 gm/170 gm/6 oz) sugar, and the salt until combined.

5. Add the beaten eggs, yeast mixture, melted butter, and 2 cups (480 ml/280 gm/10 oz) of flour.

This is what happened when I tried to melt the butter, and the reason my yeast was sitting for 25 minutes! I exploded in the microwave, that was a nice mess to clean up.

6. Blend thoroughly and slowly add remaining flour, mixing well until the dough starts to clean the bowl.

7. Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead, gradually adding flour a little at a time, until smooth and does not stick. Note: I did not use all 8 cups of flour

8. it is ready when you poke it and it immediately bounces back

Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces (they will each weight about 1.25 pounds/565 grams)

9. Place dough in 4 lightly oiled bowls, cover loosely with a layer of plastic wrap and then a kitchen towel and let rise an hour and a half in a warm place, until doubled in size.

To Make the Filling

10. In a large bowl mix together the ground walnuts, sugar, cinnamon and cocoa.

11. Heat the milk and butter to boiling.

12. Pour the liquid over the nut/sugar mixture.

13. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix thoroughly.

14. Allow to stand at room temperature until ready to be spread on the dough.

15. If the mixture thickens, add a small amount of warm milk.o

Roll and Assemble the Dough:

16. Spread a clean sheet or cloth over your entire table so that it is covered.
17. Sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons to a handful of flour (use flour sparingly)
18. Place the dough on the sheet and roll the dough out with a rolling pin, starting in the middle and working your way out, until it measures roughly 10-12 inches (25½ cm by 30½ cm) in diameter.19. Spoon 1 to 1.5 teaspoons (5ml to 7 ½ ml/4 gm to 7 gm) of melted butter on top.

20. Using the tops of your hands, stretch dough out from the center until the dough is thin and uniformly opaque. You can also use your rolling pin, if you prefer

21. As you work, continually pick up the dough from the table, not only to help in stretching it out, but also to make sure that it isn’t sticking.

22. When you think it the dough is thin enough, try to get it a little thinner. It should be so thin that you can see the color and perhaps the pattern of the sheet underneath.

23. Spoon filling evenly over dough until covered.24. Lift the edge of the cloth and gently roll the dough like a jelly roll.

25. Once the dough is rolled up into a rope, gently lift it up and place it into a greased loaf pan in the shape of a “U”, with the ends meeting in the middle. You want to coil the dough around itself, as this will give the dough its characteristic look when sliced.

26. Repeat with remaining three loaves, coiling each rope of dough in its own loaf pan.

Cheddar Garlic

Cinnamon

Forgot to take picture of Cinnamon Raison

27. Brush the top of each loaf with a mixture of ½ cup (120 ml) of cold STRONG coffee and 2 tablespoons (30ml/28 gm/1 oz) of sugar. If you prefer, you can also use egg whites in place of this. ( I did not do this)

28. Cover pans lightly will plastic wrap and allow to rest for approximately 15 minutes.

29. Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark 4.

30. Remove plastic wrap from dough and place into the preheated oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes.

31. Turn down the oven temperature to slow 300°F/150°C/gas mark 2 and bake for an additional 45 minutes, or until done.

32. Remove bread from oven and brush with melted butter.

33. Check the bread at 30 minutes to ensure that the bread is not getting too brown. You may cover the loaves with a sheet of aluminum foil if you need to.

34. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 20-30 minutes, still in the bread pan. Remember, the bread weighs about 2.5 and it needs to be able to hold its own weight, which is difficult when still warm and fresh out of the oven. Allowing it to cool in the pan helps the loaf to hold its shape.

35. It is recommended that the best way to cut Povitica loaves into slices is by turning the loaf upside down and slicing with a serrated knife.

Cheddar Garlic

It was excellent! So tender and chewy.  Next time I would add more cheese

Cinnamon

This one was very good.  It was like a giant cinnamon bun, delicious!

Cinnamon Raison

and Finally The original Walnut Filling

Delicious! Wonderful! fantastic!

I really enjoyed this months challenge, it ended up being one of my favourites!  The dough was a dream to work with, and they turned out beautifully.  I really could not decide which one I like the best.  Everyone thought they were delicious.  I can see there will be a lot more Povitica  in my future.

Thank you  for a wonderful challenge and bringing Povitica into my life.

9:00 A.M

I arrive at Mom and Dads, with what I thought was all I needed to bring, I was wrong, had to head home a few times (good thing I live close).  Then had to head to the Store for a couple more things…We are convinced at this point we have everything we need

10:00 A.M

We patiently (well, not so patiently) are waiting for our cooking partners Etta and Jen to arrive.  Got a call at 10:12 SOMEONE ***Cough***Etta***Cough slept in!!!  Not wanting to be too far behind Mom and I got a start on a few things.

11:00 A.M

They arrive and are put right to work! lol First we start peeling a 10 pound bag of potatoes to get them boiling to get our fillings made. Next step is the dough

Now you must remember that none of us have made perogies before and we keep asking each other questions like one of us is going to know the answer.  So I just started answering like I did know the answers, haha.  Once Etta made the executive decision of which dough we were going to make, we were under way

Linda’s Sour Cream Perogi Dough

4 cups Flour

3 eggs

1 cup sour cream

dash salt

water as needed

That was all the information we had.  What the texture was supposed to be, we had no idea.  This was one of those times where we were looking for answers, that no one had, it got quite comical at times.  We even called Linda for guidance, BUT she wasn’t home.  We had to wing it.  This is what we did.

1. In large bowl measure flour

2. in a medium bowl lightly beat eggs

3. Add sour cream and stir

4. Add to flour

5. Stir until all comes together, then knead with your hands

6. Wrap in plastic wrap and let sit in fridge for at least half hour

Through out the day Etta made 13 batches of dough! 13!!!

Fillings

For the fillings we didn’t follow a recipe we just went with flavours we like.  Half way through the making of the fillings we realized we didn’t have enough potatoes so out I went to get another 10 pound bag plus we used 5 pounds that Mom had

We made…

1. Homemade Mac n’ Cheese

2. Potato and Cheese

3. Cheese (Ricotta)

4. potato, Cheese and onion

5. potato, Cheese and Bacon

6. Cheese and onion

7. potato Cheese and Garlic

Rolling the Dough

(This was my job, rolled all 13 batches!)

So, now let me go on a bit of a tangent.  For months I search and search for perogie makers, and I mean searched!  I had always seen them, until I wanted one.  A few months ago I finally found them, so I bought 2!  It was at this point I bring out the little contraption thinking it was the best thing ever invented, the bottom cuts the perfect sized, then it folds and seals….

Beautiful! a perfect perogi! BUT it took forever! We quickly realized looking at the 7 bowls of fillings that this little contraption was worthless, we would be here for days!  So this my friends was the one and only, admire its beauty, I was quite proud

We then decided we would set up and assembly line.  Etta was making the dough and on clean up.  I was rolling and cutting the dough.  Jen was filling the dough and Mom was sealing the perogi.  We had quite the set up.

While we were rolling and stuffing and sealing, and rolling and stuffing and sealing and rolling and stuffing and sealing, Etta made a perogi casserole.  We all thought it sounded wonderful, so we gave it a go! There are zero pictures of this process as I was busy rolling and did not notice or even know this was happening

PEROGIE CASSEROLE

15 lasagna noodles
4 cups cottage cheese (or ricotta if you can’t handle the idea of cottage cheese!)
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. onion powder
2 cups shredded cheddar
4 cups mashed potatoes
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 cup butter
1 large onion, chopped
sour cream

1. Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain.

2. Line bottom of casserole dish with 5 noodles.

3. Mix ricotta cheese, egg, and onion powder in bowl.

4. Spread over noodles.

5. Cover with another layer of 5 noodles.

6. In same bowl mix cheddar cheese with mashed potatoes. Add onion and black pepper. Spread over noodles.

7. Top with a layer of the remaining noodles.

8. Saute chopped onion in butter until transparent and soft. Pour over casserole.

9. Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Let stand 10 minutes before cutting. Serve with sour cream (optional).

The casserole was ok.  Probably would not make it again.  If I did I would use different ingredients, reduce the amount of onions and add bacon.

6:30 P.M

Finally finished rolling (at this point the rolling-pin felt about 30 pounds), stuffing and sealing

25 pounds of potatoes, 7 tubs or sour cream, almost 2 bags of flour and a lot of bacon, cheese and onions we ended up with, get ready for it……471 perogies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally done rolling and stuffing and sealing.  These trays are double and some tripped stacked

7:00 P.M

We got most things cleaned up and sort them out for everyone to take home and get into the freezer, but WAIT, we need to try them.  A few times throughout the day we kept bringing up that perhaps we should try a few to see if they were any good.  It would be a bugger if we got them all done and they were horrible!

Time to try a few…

Saute onions and bacon to serve with perogies

The Verdict

These were quite possibly the best perogies I have had.  The dough was wonderful, tender with a wonderful flavour.  Our fillings were bang on.  Not sure I could pick a favourite.  We decided all that work was well worth it and we will do it again.  We also decided that it was way to much work so we wont be taking requests, hahaha.  We will be savoring these ones, which is going to be hard as they are soo good.

9:00 P.M

Finish helping get the house back in order and finally arrived home.  A full 12 hours and I am pooped!

Thanks Mom, Etta and Jen, it was a fantastic day, lots of laughs and good times.  Looking forward to our next cooking adventure, hopefully we can start on time