Back again - just in time for another Daring Baker's challenge!

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

Hello! Its been ages I know. The last few months have been manic and the baking, I'm sad to say, has fallen by the wayside. I've been slowly getting back into it and I've made it in time for the June Daring Baker's challenge - Bakewell tarts!

Having lived in London for the past 2.5 years, I've seen Bakewell tarts in various shops and menus and have always known they are a classic English dessert. Surprisingly, though, my curiosity has never gotten the better of me and I've never actually tasted one! So, now seemed as good a time as any to give it a go.

The recipe we were given was really easy to follow and I must say I was extremely happy with the way the tart turned out. It wasn't just that it was yummy, but I thought it looked quite good as well! Like something you could have bought in a store. Now I suppose whether this is a good or bad thing really depends on your perspective. M and I are always having little debates about this - he believes that home-baked goods should look slightly imperfect and that they were made at home while I, on the other hand, believe that they should look professionally made even when made at home. What do you think?

Bakewell Tart…er…pudding

Makes one 23cm (9” tart)

Prep time: less than 10 minutes (plus time for the individual elements)

Resting time: 15 minutes

Baking time: 30 minutes

Equipment needed: 23cm (9”) tart pan or pie tin (preferably with ridged edges), rolling pin

One quantity sweet shortcrust pastry (recipe follows)

Bench flour

250ml (1cup (8 US fl. oz)) jam or curd, warmed for spreadability

One quantity frangipane (recipe follows)

One handful blanched, flaked almonds

 

Assembling the tart

Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

TWD: French Yogurt Cake with Marmalade Glaze

Its insane how quickly time passes. It feels like not too long ago it was just Christmas and now we are already firmly in the middle of March! In times like this, when I am feeling stressed and busy, I sometimes wish I were still a child, when life was infinitely simpler. Although I can't go back in time, I find that there are certain foods that remind me of my childhood and never fail to bring a smile to my face. One of these foods is pound cake. 

I grew up on the Sara Lee variety. My mom was not a baker and to a child like me, it tasted absolutely delicious. Now I find it much too sweet and heavy. This week's recipe, although not technically a pound cake, certainly reminds me of one. But where the Sara Lee pound cake is too sweet, I found this just right and instead of being heavy and dense, this cake was nice and moist. 

The best testimony as to how good this cake is? One day after I baked it (and it does taste better the second day), we only had half a loaf left!

For recipe, click here.

Chocolate Valentino Cake with Malted Milk Ice Cream

This month, the DB assignment came in 2 parts. We were asked both a make a version of a Chocolate Valentino cake, using our favourite chocolate, and an ice-cream, in any flavour of our choice. Now whenever I see an assignment like that, I think "What fun!" I get to make what I like to eat instead of having it dictated to me. It does, however, create a little bit of a dilemma as there is just so much to choose from! After stressing somewhat over the myriad choices, I finally settled on a milk chocolate Valentino cake and a malted milk ice cream from David Lebowitz's book, The Perfect Scoop.

Now I know its likely that not everyone likes the flavour of malted milk, but I just absolutely adore it. If I'm honest, I guess it transports me back to my childhood when one of my favourite drinks was Horlicks - served either hot or cold. I've had some great Horlicks gelato / ice-cream back in my native Singapore but for some reason, have never experimented with making my own. This it seems, was my chance.

I chose to leave out the malted milk balls, not because I don't like them, but because I really like my ice creams simple (i.e., without add-ins like chips, pretzels, cookie dough, etc.) This is in direct contrast to M's preferences but hey, I'm the one making the ice cream!

The ice-cream was absolutely fantastic - extremely creamy with a healthy does of malt flavour. As for the cake, it was simple enough to make. I chose to make them in mini-heart shapes, in keeping with the name of the cake. Although my cakes deflated slightly after coming out of the oven, they tasted delicious. A perfect canvas for the malted milk ice cream.

Chocolate Valentino

16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of your favourite 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.

Malted Milk Ice Cream

Adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebowitz

1 cup half-and-half

2/3 cup sugar

2 cups heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup malt powder

6 large egg yolks

Warm the half-and-half with the sugar in a saucepan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, vanilla, and malt powder. Set sieve on top.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Add the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a wooden or heatproof plastic spatula. do this until the mixture gets thick enough and coats the spatula.

Pour the custard through the sieve and whisk it into the malted milk mixture. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill mixture in the refrigerator, then freeze in your ice cream maker.

Makes about 1.5 quarts

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.

TWD: Caramel Crunch Bars

So what do you get when you leave a TWD assignment till the last minute? Having to improvise recipes, that's what! Given I had procrastinated all weekend, I didn't get round to making this week's pick of Caramel Crunch Bars till Monday night. Reading through the ingredient list, I quickly realized that I didn't have any Heath toffee bits in my pantry. To be honest, even if I had read the list beforehand, I wouldn't know where to buy them here in London. I know you're going to tell me that I can make my own toffee, but that just wasn't the quick fix solution I was looking for late on Monday. 

So instead of the toffee bits, I sprinkled my bars with chopped hazelnuts. I have to say, I really enjoyed them this way. The bars are thin but the caramelized base paired perfectly with the thin layer of chocolate and nuts on the top. I suppose they might be better with toffee bits on top, but part of me wonders whether it would actually be too sweet. I guess there's only one way to find out - bake another batch!

For recipe, click here.

TWD: World peace in a cookie

I'm a cookie gal. I love all kinds of cookies and generally speaking, the more chocolate the better. As such, this week's TWD pick was right up my alley. Although I'm not a stranger to this recipe, being a big Pierre Herme fan, I just couldn't pass up the excuse to make these again. Yes, they are that good. Trust me.

These World Peace cookies, aka Korova cookies, are the brainchild of the aforementioned Pierre Herme. They are a crumbly chocolate sablé studded with chocolate chips and enhanced with fleur de sel. Essentially, they are a sophisticated French twist on the good ol' American chocolate chip cookie.

If you've never tried chocolate chip cookies made with fleur de sel before, you're really missing out. There's something about the slight saltiness that makes the cookies simply divine. M's verdict on these cookies? He thinks they really could bring us one step closer to that ever elusive world peace.

For recipe, click here.