Daring Bakers: Caramelized Banana Strudel

Procrastination. Gets me every time.

I wasn't super excited about this challenge. Not until I got home from work in a MAJOR homemaker kind of mood. I swept, I mopped, I cleaned the sinks with baking soda. The house smelled great and it was only 6:00. Time to get creative because apple strudel sounds super boring to me.

I could do something savory. I could do something with chocolate. Hm. Bananas? OOooooo. Caramelized bananas. Yes. Yes. I had bananas perfect for cooking, just past the green stage. A little butter and brown sugar. I was on to something!

I melted a couple tablespoons of butter, added two chopped bananas, then sprinkled all of it with 1/4 cup of brown sugar. I let that cook down just a bit, the bananas cook and the butter and brown sugar get all ooey gooey. Oh yes. Give it a try.


*Note: I halved this since I'm the one with the sweet tooth.




The dough was so much easier to work with than I thought it would be. It easily rolled into this thin dough.

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

Caramelized Banana Strudel

Adapted from Kaffeehaus

Filling

4 bananas, chopped

4 T butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

Melt butter in pan. Add chopped bananas. Cook for a minute. Sprinkle with sugar and cook for 5 minutes over medium high heat. Allow to cool before putting filling in dough.

Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a large baking sheet with baking paper (parchment paper). Make the strudel dough as described below. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using your hands (a bristle brush could tear the dough, you could use a special feather pastry brush instead of your hands). Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs. Add the filling in a six inch strip on the dough.

Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.

Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.

Strudel Dough
1 1/3 cups unbleached flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

7 tablespoons water, plus more if needed

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough

1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.

Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).

It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.

The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

Daring Bakers: Chocolate Chile Cheesecake

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

This cheesecake is inspired by a pot de crème served at my favorite Mexican restaurant, El Camino.

El Camino is in Brunswick just off Main Street. Every time I go I imagine a scene in a horror flick of a serial killer in the desert. He has 4 chopped up cow girls in the trunk of his old Buick. It’s sweltering hot and the sun is pounding down on the dry Earth. He drives to this little Mexican place where the people are kind and they play old country music. (I’m talking older than Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson.) It’s decorated in bright colors and velvet paintings of cowboys and Indians. I envision the killer sitting at the bar ready to be refreshed by a hand shaken margarita, never letting on that he has decaying bodies in his vehicle.

Now about that pot de crème; it is chocolately and spicy. Topped with fresh whipped cream and caramel sauce made from local goat’s milk. The first time I tried it I worked hard to taste each piece of the dessert. There was spice coming from somewhere unexpected. Finely ground ancho chile on the top of it all. Yes, it’s in the pot de crème itself but the bit on the top really threw me for a loop. I love the combination of the spice with the sweet. The lightness of the whipped cream and dense chocolate flavor with the sweet caramel drizzle. Absolutely amazing.

I brought this cheesecake to an Asian inspired dinner at the home of my favorite Jewish friend. We all enjoyed it and you don’t get the heat of the pepper until after you swallow that first bite. I didn’t plan properly and make the cheesecake the day before; it should definitely sit for a day before serving. It was so much better for breakfast that next morning!

Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake

Source: Abbey (of course)

Yield: One 8 inch cheesecake

crust:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 stick butter melted

2 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

cheesecake:

3 blocks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 cup heavy cream

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)

1 tbsp liqueur, optional, but choose what will work well with your cheesecake

To make it chocolate chile I added 1/2-1 t. ceyanne pepper, 8 oz. melted bittersweet chocolate, 1 t. cinnamon.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.
2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too - baker's choice. Set crust aside.
3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.
4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.
5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.
Pan note: The creator of this recipe used to use a springform pan, but no matter how well she wrapped the thing in tin foil, water would always seep in and make the crust soggy. Now she uses one of those 1-use foil "casserole" shaped pans from the grocery store. They're 8 or 9 inches wide and really deep, and best of all, water-tight. When it comes time to serve, just cut the foil away.
Prep notes: While the actual making of this cheesecake is a minimal time commitment, it does need to bake for almost an hour, cool in the oven for an hour, and chill overnight before it is served. Please plan accordingly!

Daring Kitchen Challenge: Lasagne Verdi al Forno

The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.

I'm going to be completely honest that I was a wee bit disappointed to see that the Daring Bakers challenge this month was lasagna. They have a new site and, as you see above, new logos. They also go by "Daring Kitchen" instead of Daring Bakers...which is cool since not everyone likes baking sweets like I do. I get it. It isn't all about me. I accepted the challenge after time and asked my sister if she'd help me while she was visiting from RI.

I've made pasta one time before and it was ridiculously awesome. I made long noodles and topped them with olive oil, capers, olives, sun dried tomatoes, and artichokes. It was more than amazing. Making the pasta this time wasn't as easy as I remember. I wasn't sure that dough was going to come together. I was prepared to trash it and go to The Cup for dinner instead. We were persistent and it did form a nice smooth ball. Time was ticking so we allowed the dough to rest only about 30 minutes and allowed the pasta to dry only about 45 minutes. Everything turned out to be just fine. I ended up cooking the noodles only 2 minutes which was perfect.

The final picture of the lasagna kind of sucks but people were around and I was feeling a bit rushed. I promise you that it was delicious. Homemade pasta is no comparison to the boxed dried stuff in the store.

When I renovated my kitchen I wanted to have an island so that people could sit and chat and watch food being made. I love it that Cate and Boyd sat there and watched us struggle with that dough.





She is very fabulous. Very punk.

Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna (Lasagne Verdi al Forno)

Serves 6 to 8

10 quarts (9 litres) salted water

1 recipe Spinach Pasta cut for lasagna (recipe follows)

1 recipe Bechamel Sauce (recipe follows

1 cup (4 ounces/125g) freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Assembling the Ingredients:Have all the sauces, rewarmed gently over a medium heat, and the pasta at hand. Have a large perforated skimmer and a large bowl of cold water next to the stove. Spread a double thickness of paper towels over a large counter space. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius). Oil or butter a 3 quart (approx 3 litre) shallow baking dish.

Cooking the Pasta:Bring the salted water to a boil. Drop about four pieces of pasta in the water at a time. Cook about 2 minutes. If you are using dried pasta, cook about 4 minutes, taste, and cook longer if necessary. The pasta will continue cooking during baking, so make sure it is only barely tender. Lift the lasagne from the water with a skimmer, drain, and then slip into the bowl of cold water to stop cooking. When cool, lift out and dry on the paper towels. Repeat until all the pasta is cooked.

Assembling the Lasagne: Spread a thin layer of béchamel over the bottom of the baking dish. Arrange a layer of about four overlapping sheets of pasta over the béchamel. Spread a thin layer of béchamel (about 3 or 4 spoonfuls) over the pasta. Sprinkle with about 1&1/2 tablespoons of the béchamel and about 1/3 cup of the cheese. Repeat the layers until all ingredients are used, finishing with béchamel sauce and topping with a generous dusting of cheese.

Baking and Serving the Lasagne:Cover the baking dish lightly with foil, taking care not to let it touch the top of the lasagne. Bake 40 minutes, or until almost heated through. Remove the foil and bake another 10 minutes, or until hot in the center (test by inserting a knife – if it comes out very warm, the dish is ready). Take care not to brown the cheese topping. It should be melted, creamy looking and barely tinged with a little gold. Turn off the oven, leave the door ajar and let the lasagne rest for about 10 minutes. Then serve. This is not a solid lasagne, but a moist one that slips a bit when it is cut and served.

Spinach Egg Pasta (Pasta Verde)

2 jumbo eggs

10 ounces (300g) fresh spinach, rinsed dry, and finely chopped; or 6 ounces (170g) frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry

3&1/2 cups (14 ounces/400g) all purpose unbleached (plain) flour

Mixing the dough: Mound the flour in the center of your work surface and make a well in the middle. Add the eggs and spinach. Use a wooden spoon to beat together the eggs and spinach. Then gradually start incorporating shallow scrapings of flour from the sides of the well into the liquid. As you work more and more flour into the liquid, the well’s sides may collapse. Use a pastry scraper to keep the liquids from running off and to incorporate the last bits of flour into the dough. Don’t worry if it looks like a hopelessly rough and messy lump.

Kneading: With the aid of the scraper to scoop up unruly pieces, start kneading the dough. Once it becomes a cohesive mass, use the scraper to remove any bits of hard flour on the work surface – these will make the dough lumpy. Knead the dough for about 3 minutes. Its consistency should be elastic and a little sticky. If it is too sticky to move easily, knead in a few more tablespoons of flour. Continue kneading about 10 minutes, or until the dough has become satiny, smooth, and very elastic. It will feel alive under your hands. Do not shortcut this step. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and let it relax at room temperature 30 minutes to 3 hours.

Stretching and Thinning: If using an extra-long rolling pin work with half the dough at a time. With a regular-length rolling pin, roll out a quarter of the dough at a time and keep the rest of the dough wrapped. Lightly sprinkle a large work surface with flour. The idea is to stretch the dough rather than press down and push it. Shape it into a ball and begin rolling out to form a circle, frequently turning the disc of dough a quarter turn. As it thins outs, start rolling the disc back on the pin a quarter of the way toward the center and stretching it gently sideways by running the palms of your hands over the rolled-up dough from the center of the pin outward. Unroll, turn the disc a quarter turn, and repeat. Do twice more.

Stretch and even out the center of the disc by rolling the dough a quarter of the way back on the pin. Then gently push the rolling pin away from you with one hand while holding the sheet in place on the work surface with the other hand. Repeat three more times, turning the dough a quarter turn each time.

Repeat the two processes as the disc becomes larger and thinner. The goal is a sheet of even thickness. For lasagne, the sheet should be so thin that you can clearly see your hand through it and see colours. Cut into rectangles about 4 by 8 inches (10 x 20 cm). Note: Enza says that transparency is a crucial element of lasagne pasta and the dough should be rolled as thinly as possible. She says this is why her housekeeper has such strong arms!
Dry the pasta at room temperature and store in a sealed container or bag.

Bechamel

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 tablespoons all purpose unbleached (plain) flour

2&2/3 cups milk

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Freshly grated nutmeg to taste

Using a medium-sized saucepan, melt the butter over low to medium heat. Sift over the flour, whisk until smooth, and then stir (without stopping) for about 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk a little at a time and keep the mixture smooth. Bring to a slow simmer, and stir 3 to 4 minutes, or until the sauce thickens. Cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens. Season with salt, pepper, and a hint of nutmeg.

Daring Bakers: Flourless Chocolate Cake

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.

I chose to use my own ice cream recipe for this challenge. Toasted Coconut Ice Cream. Yum!

I served this dessert to my dad and his girlfriend, Jean. I think they both liked it. My husband wasn't much of a fan as this is super chocolately and while he likes sweets he isn't a chocolate fan like I am. He did, however, love the ice cream.

I thought the cake was divine. Extra chocolatey and dense. I ate about a quarter of the entire cake for breakfast one day. Now that is Van Den Bossche style. After doing this I had a conversation with my sister about richness. I suppose that this cake is rich. I also suppose that I am missing that part of my palate. I don't sense richness. When people say, "Oh this is so rich." I say, "Give me more." My sister is the same.


Chocolate Valentino
Yield: 8 inch cake

16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter
5 large eggs separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.

2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.

3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.

4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).

5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.

6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.

7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter.

8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C. Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

Daring Bakers Challenge - Tuiles

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

This is my very first Daring Bakers Challenge and I have to say I was little nervous to make Tuiles. They aren't something that I had always been dying to make. In fact I still don't know how to say the word properly. So if you see me in person and you ask about this blog...don't laugh at me.

As I said in a previous post I celebrated my dear friend's birthday by bringing her chocolate mousse. I thought it would be a yummy treat to pipe a bit of mousse into a Tuile cup. It worked out quite well! The cups were only crisp around the edges. The bottom part set up but was a bit soft.


Tuiles

Yields: 20 small butterflies/6 large (butterflies are just an example)

Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes, baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch
65 grams / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces softened butter (not melted but soft)
60 grams / ½ cup / 2.1 ounces sifted confectioner’s sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract)
2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)
65 grams / 1/2 cup / 2.3 ounces sifted all purpose flour
1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice
Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

Oven: 180C / 350F

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not overmix.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template such as the butterfly. Press the stencil on the bakingsheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. Mix a small part of the batter with the cocoa and a few drops of warm water until evenly colored. Use this colored batter in a paper piping bag and proceed to pipe decorations on the wings and body of the butterfly.

Bake butterflies in a preheated oven (180C/350F) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from bakingsheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again. (Haven’t tried that). Or: place a bakingsheet toward the front of the warm oven, leaving the door half open. The warmth will keep the cookies malleable.