tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80243920816975140472009-10-17T21:49:55.157-04:00Two friends attempt to bake their way through the Cake Bible. Stop by to see the progress.Robbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14849545634339767637noreply@blogger.comBlogger95125BakeThroughhttp://feedburner.google.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024392081697514047.post-60218529087080396852009-08-18T10:22:00.006-04:002009-08-18T10:41:44.939-04:00

I've heard people talk about Icebox Cakes for many years. Nabisco Famous Cookies, you know, the thin, chocolate ones in the yellow carton, have a recipe right on the box. Still, I don't think that I've ever had one, or even made one for that matter. Everyday Food September 2009 ran a recipe that I thought I should try. It just seemed so simple. first mix 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, well chilled

Robbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14849545634339767637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024392081697514047.post-17366707057297342732009-08-06T08:48:00.006-04:002009-08-06T09:20:43.176-04:00

I found it. Or at least, another one. Back on June of 2007 we sent out a request for Carrot Cake recipes. We compiled a few of them, and made all of them in October.The Silver Palate Cookbook was our winning submission.I think that this carrot cake from Food & Wine, January 2009 (Recipe is at the end of the blog) could give it a run for it's money. I put it together in a pretty quick

Robbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14849545634339767637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024392081697514047.post-83057909748636185632009-04-28T17:03:00.004-04:002009-04-28T17:44:22.693-04:00

CHEESECAKE!The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.We got to use the basic recipe linked above, and we could flavor it anyway we wanted. Really lots of wonderful experimentation this month. Even if you don't normally browse other DBer's sites, you ought to this time. Especially check out this one. Really, click the

Janetnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024392081697514047.post-84782839180866629372009-04-14T09:24:00.010-04:002009-04-16T08:50:25.084-04:00

...of something good?You know how it goes. You make something terrific and people say- Ooh, you should sell this! You hear that enough and you start to wonder if you could sell some things. How would it work? What exactly could you sell? Where could you do it? Who would buy your stuff? How could it happen without disrupting your life or costing too much to get started? Etc. Etc.Let it be said,

Janetnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024392081697514047.post-87509362968510377312009-04-04T12:18:00.009-04:002009-04-04T12:58:22.817-04:00

My friend Greer joined me one Tuesday and we made some cookies together. It was nice to have company in the kitchen again as Robb has been MIA for a while now.These cookies came to be made because Greer bought some at an Italian market and totally loved them. She found a recipe and we got to work. They are very simple. You mix almond paste with sugar and egg whites and roll in the nuts- voila!The

Janetnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024392081697514047.post-7217123876171229162009-03-29T10:24:00.009-04:002009-04-16T08:48:16.495-04:00

Yes, lasagna. Quite a twist, but it is baked after all, and it highlights some of the new stuff happening with the huge gang of DBers. There is going to be another group using the Daring Kitchen website, welcome the Daring Cooks! For now, I'm going to stick with the baking folks and wait and see what the cooks do. Their challenges will be revealed mid month, and the bakers will continue to show

Janetnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024392081697514047.post-40525036694862542052009-03-27T07:08:00.005-04:002009-04-16T08:48:34.795-04:00

Heavenly cinnamon aroma... really, is there a better smell wafting through the house? Some may argue that garlic might rival the sweet spicy fragrance of cinnamon for first place. Hmm, call it a tie then.This recipe is from the Daring Bakers from September of 2007. I joined in December of 2007, so just a couple more of these make-ups to go! The DBers are growing like crazy- CRAZY!! I think there

Janetnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024392081697514047.post-54042334406159039962009-03-24T10:11:00.012-04:002009-04-16T08:50:33.322-04:00

To inaugurate my new Viking 7 qt. 1000 watt stand mixer (yahoo!!) I made some bread from Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen. The mixer handled this 3 loaf recipe with ease. The bread is fantastically delicious. The recipe makes nice rolls too. I made 2 loaves and a few rolls from the recipe below.The next time, and there will be a next time, I'll make all rolls. I loved the soft outsides of the

Janetnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024392081697514047.post-38838141414365142692009-03-01T13:46:00.006-05:002009-03-02T13:07:23.524-05:00

This month's recipe is the Chocolate Valentino and an accompanying ice cream. The Valentino is a pretty standard flourless chocolate cake- eggs, chocolate and butter. In this version the eggs get separated and whipped up so it's not just a chocolate custard, but has a fluffier texture. The type and quality of the chocolate really determines the flavor of the cake. We used a 62% semisweet

Janetnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024392081697514047.post-5217409552970537282009-02-22T09:17:00.014-05:002009-02-22T10:40:36.139-05:00

Yes, finally! We have returned to The Cake Bible. Robb and Janet actually got together for a day of baking and made a couple of things: The Scarlett Empress p.177, and Orange Glow Chiffon Cake p.155.The Empress was OK, we had made the sponge cake and rolled it up with raspberry puree back in, dare I say... October. It sat patiently waiting in the freezer until this past week. This was not a great

Janetnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024392081697514047.post-70231130244864986322009-02-03T18:09:00.000-05:002009-02-03T18:06:15.021-05:00

Finally, the much anticipated mirror cake! This was a Daring Bakers recipe from early 2007. I joined the group in December that year and there were still folks talking about the Strawberry Mirror cake. It is impressive looking, that's for sure. The top is a shiny mirror like surface of jellied berry juice. In my case, I used strawberries and some other mixed berries- blackberry, raspberry and

Janetnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024392081697514047.post-43005927868207021392009-01-29T11:18:00.008-05:002009-01-30T14:53:05.054-05:00

Whew, just made it!Really. Just now, in about a half hour, I made these.I didn't procrastinate this month so much as I kept waiting for inspiration. I hoped that Robb would come over and we would get back into our groove of Tuesday baking. I hoped that I would tackle so many projects in the early part of the month before the Spring semester began, including making the templates for these

Janetnoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024392081697514047.post-2279359289710575442009-01-28T08:08:00.003-05:002009-04-16T08:49:12.909-04:00

If I could have only one cook book (perish the thought!), it would be The Silver Palate. My original copy is well worn. I saw the 25th anniversary edition and initially I was confused. 25 years. Since what? It can't be 25 years that I've had this book. Quick calculation... OMG!! It has been twenty-five years. Granted, I was a sprite when I purchased my first copy, but still. The new edition is

Janetnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024392081697514047.post-36535534837279216412009-01-24T11:00:00.000-05:002009-01-24T11:03:40.431-05:00

A while back I purchased Peter Reinhart's "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" and I have been playing around with some of the recipes. For our Christmas Eve fete, to go along with Stefan's delicious cioppino, I made sour dough bread. This is a San Francisco thing- the fisherman there are credited with creating the fish and shellfish stew. The required accompaniment for nearly everything, and

Janetnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024392081697514047.post-37117731270709866692009-01-15T14:09:00.001-05:002009-01-20T08:33:46.001-05:00

This has been tested and verified as the real deal by folks who know. Greer and her family are from Jamaica- see her happy face below. For those of us unfamiliar with the Jamaican Black Cake, it's like fruitcake.Hold on; don't go running from the room. It's good fruitcake.Yes, there is such a thing.My Dad found this recipe last December, 2007 that is, in the New York Times. I don't know what

Janetnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024392081697514047.post-31545356780072364512009-01-06T12:02:00.013-05:002009-01-12T14:39:15.745-05:00

My New Year's resolution for 2008 was to read The Art of Eating, by M.F.K. Fisher.  A compendium of her writings on food from 5 previous books.  I've failed at finishing it in one year -- I have a tendency to read one essay then put it down then read another.  I've, sadly, spent more time last year with it being put down than reading.  But I'm determined to finish it this year, along with The 

Robbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14849545634339767637noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024392081697514047.post-14202804876313618542009-01-05T17:05:00.010-05:002009-01-06T12:01:45.959-05:00

I'm not one to make New Year's Resolutions lists.  I've found that I've done well with my resolutions being singular and often easily completed in a week or so of the nerve wracking January 1 date.  One year my goal was to read Anna Karenina. I had purchased it a few months before and it was staring at me.  Since then, I've only had the resolve to read one specific book per year.  There was a

Robbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14849545634339767637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024392081697514047.post-61853440632041190982009-01-02T10:44:00.007-05:002009-01-11T08:47:15.357-05:00

I picked up Nancy Silverton's Pastries from Le Brea Bakery a while back. I was flipping through it looking for something impressive to make for Christmas Eve dinner we were invited to. The dinner had an Italian theme- cioppino, pasta, leg of lamb- and was delicious.These cookies fit the bill- anise seed dough, almond, fruit and cheese. They're really more of a pastry than a cookie, or you could

Janetnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024392081697514047.post-25587637213691606152008-12-31T15:00:00.003-05:002008-12-31T15:20:51.764-05:00

This month's challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux.They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege GourmandWhat is a French Yule Log you say? Good question!It's a frozen dessert made of mousse and other stuff suspended in the mousse. This version is chocolate mouse, with a layer of crispy nutty

Janetnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024392081697514047.post-78250995720383868912008-12-23T09:42:00.003-05:002008-12-23T09:52:09.794-05:00

Michael and I had our annual holiday party.  This year I served a pumpkin cake that got rave reviews.  It's a recipe that was given to me by my Aunt Bobbie -- my mom's sister.Originally she served it as a three layer cake.  I served it as a bundt cake -- it cooks a bit longer, but it looks really pretty and for a buffet it works quite nicely. I usually leave the icing off and serve it sprinkled

Robbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14849545634339767637noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024392081697514047.post-49036313577450767912008-12-23T09:27:00.004-05:002008-12-23T09:53:14.883-05:00

Here is a sampling of what we've been up to since we last wrote:We are still making our way through the Cake Bible -- we have made a lovely genoise and have it freezing to be completed (with pictures) sometime in 2009.  Somehow the holiday season took over and while we've been eating -- obviously, we're still here -- we've not been good at taking photos of said comestibles.One thing I did try,

Robbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14849545634339767637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024392081697514047.post-30107040093401922842008-10-29T08:52:00.012-04:002008-11-02T08:48:04.840-05:00

Pizza dough from Peter Reinhart's Baker's Apprentice book was the recipe for this month. You can see a modified copy of the recipe at this month's host's site. The recipe requires making a little bit of dough, letting it sit overnight and then incorporating it into the dough you make the second day.We were excited to make some pizza, as pizza was Kevin's summer grilling experiment. He's quite the

Janetnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024392081697514047.post-2685936058355695502008-10-27T19:12:00.015-04:002009-01-11T08:45:50.079-05:00

Yes, another birthday!!This one was September 23, and the celebration lasted for what seemed like weeks. The deception certainly did! There were a couple of small celebrations to throw Stefan off the scent of the surprise party for his 40th. It was a lot of fun helping Greer put it together. We were prepared for an army of people, and about 3/4 of an army was in attendance. They still have a

Janetnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024392081697514047.post-90723527705242270322008-10-15T13:56:00.011-04:002009-01-11T08:46:29.797-05:00

It is long past time to tell you about this birthday cake. Remember Robb's birthday? Way back in August? Well, on the SAME day, dear Greer enjoyed her birthday, too! Yeah, they share the same birthday. Even weirder is that they have the exact same couch. That might be where the similarities end, but no, there's at least one more thing they have in common... a birthday cake made by me this year!

Janetnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024392081697514047.post-38373876846868697172008-10-10T17:54:00.011-04:002008-10-10T20:13:40.203-04:00

Red Velvet Cake!!And, it's not disgusting. Ok, many of you weren't expecting it to be vile... but, I was. The whole idea of eating that much food dye is just foul. The one other time I made a red velvet cake (cup cakes), I spit out the bite I tried to taste. I couldn't get past the knowledge that there was so much "fake" in the food, and it's all I could taste.Well, butter my butt and call me a

Janetnoreply@blogger.com1