Swiss Swirl Ice Cream Cake - Daring Bakers

This month's Daring Baker's challenge really caught my attention (Who am I kidding? Every challenge thus far has done just that...) Swiss cakes (a sponge cake that's baked flat, then slathered with a filling, then rolled up and sliced) never interested me. I guess it's because it reminded me of those pre-packed Swiss Rolls made by Little Debbie. I have to admit that I was obsessed with them when I was growing up. Not because they tasted good. Nope. I wanted those trans-fat-filled, artificially flavored, corn syrup laced snacks only because I wasn't allowed to have them. My mom NEVER bought them. On occasion she would give in and buy the Little Debbie Oatmeal Pies (Yummmm! Now those actually taste good - well at least I think they do because it's been something like fifteen years, possibly longer, since I've eaten one). The main reason this challenge appealed to me is because the recipe called for making your own ice cream without the use of an ice cream maker. Huh...thought that wasn't possible.

 Below is the vanilla ice cream. Turned out pretty nicely - smooth consistency and pretty robust flavor. It was my husband's favorite part of the dessert, and he truly hearts ice cream. That being said, I have to say, making my own ice cream has pretty much ruined eating ice cream for me. Ice cream's never been that high on my list of desserts. I have a cost-benefit analysis that all desserts that I consume must be subjected to prior to ingesting them. It all has to do with a saying I remember my seventh grade Spanish teacher uttering as she laced up her running shoes over her pantyhose before heading off on her afternoon power walk around the school, "A minute on your lips and an eternity on your hips." If I'm going eat something that will inevitably find it's way to my pouch or bum, it better be worth it. Ice cream just doesn't pass my rigorous dessert analysis, and after making homemade ice cream, yeah, I won't be rushing out for a cone or quart of ice cream any time soon. No sir. I can't even eat a bowl of cereal with whole milk because the whole milk is so thick it makes me want to gag, so there's no way I can consume of bowl of ice cream without remembering how much flipping cream I poured into the bowl to make the ice cream for this dessert. Just thinking about it makes me shiver.




Making the sponge cake for the dessert was much more of a pleasant experience. The texture of the cake was light and airy, and the cake was quite satisfying in it's chocolate flavor. What I didn't really enjoy was the whipped cream filling. It was fine when at room temperature, but because the entire dessert has to be frozen when put together, the frozen whipped cream didn't do it for me.  Here are the Swiss Rolls:






I've loved the Daring Bakers, but alas I've decided that this is my last challenge. I have too many of my own recipes lined up to try, so I have to say farewell to the group in order to make room for my own agenda!

Is that the Inside of a Dirty Diaper?

Who would have thought that I'd have a post on my food related blog about dirty diapers. Well, actually the post isn't about dirty diapers, it's about a chocolate pavlova with chocolate mousse (the Daring Bakers June challenge). But if you look at the photo of my finished challenge you can understand where the title for my post came from (let's be honest, my failure to actually pipe the mousse out onto the  meringue base resulted in the mousse looking like a pile of you-know-what).

I knew that someone in my family would comment about the dessert's visual appeal. It turns out that in all my infiinte wisdom, I was right. It  was my oldest brother in-law (who's been married to my sister for sixteen years - which is more than half my life, so I consider him to be my oldest brother - note there's no "in-law" prefix attached) who said what I think was on pretty much everyone's mind. I didn't actually hear him make the comment about the pavlova looking like the inside of a baby's diaper. All I heard was my husband bust out into a giddy laugh. When I looked over, my husband pointed to my brother in-law, and managed to mutter, "Did you hear what he said?" Although I didn't hear his comment, I instinctively knew that it had something to do with chocolate mousse and poop. So, I casually responded, "I didn't hear him, but I agree. It looks like a pile of poo."




A few years ago I would have been embarrassed or even hurt if someone said that about something I made, but I've learned that if there's any hope to enjoying life, you can never take yourself too seriously. So here's to the chocolate pavlova with a pile-of-poop-chocolate mousse on top. Thankfully it tasted a million times better than it looked!

Traditional English Puddings - The Daring Bakers

 So, I have to admit that I was NOT looking forward to this month's Daring Baker's Challenge. Esther of the Lilac Kitchen chose traditional English puddings for this month's challenge.  Most of the items I bake (and cook) are not made because I want to eat them, I usually partake in a new project out of curiosity. But my usual interest in new techniques and cuisine couldn't even get me excited about this project...that was until I became thoroughly obsessed with the idea that people (the English in particular) regularly eat these puddings - so there must be something redeeming about them. Something.

Esther's original challenge stated that the pudding could be savory or sweet, filled with anything the baker chose. But there were still rules (heck that's what makes the challenge a challenge, right?), and they stipulated that the pudding must be steamed (there are plenty of traditional English puddings that are actually baked) and it must have a crust. The combination of a food item being steamed and having a pastry crust just seemed so wrong. I immediately thought - wet and soggy. Two adjectives that should never be used when describing food (particularly food wrapped in a pastry shell).

So, I set off on a google journey to find myself some recipes on which to base my pudding. I came across a great website called Traditional English Puddings, Putting the Pudding Back on the Menu.  There were the usual suspects listed - spotted dick (call me juvenile, but I can't say that without cracking a smile), Eton Mess, and summer pudding. But I was looking for a general recipe for a steamed pudding made with a crust. I finally settled on the steamed apple pudding recipe. I modified the recipe be replacing the suet (No way in heck was I going to use any type of animal innards to make a pastry crust - sorry all of you lard-loving die hards. It just not my cup of tea.) with non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening. I also cut the recipe in half for two very important reasons: 1 - I was convinced it would turn out badly, so I wanted to minimize wasting food and my guilty feelings that I knew would inevitably accompany my misadventure (I promise I'm usually not a pessimist. Honestly, I'm not.) 2 - The only pudding basin (aka Pyrex glass bowl) that would fit into my steamer was only about five inches in diameter. Thus, making the full pastry pudding recipe much too large for my purposes. I also made my own self-rising flour by mixing baking powder and salt into my regular all purpose flour.

I rolled out 3/4 of the pastry, and placed it in the heavily greased Pyrex bowl. I filled my pastry with a traditional apply pie filling: diced apples, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a squeeze of lemon juice. Then rolled out the rest of the pastry and laid it on top of the filling, pinching the sides of the two crusts together. I covered the bowl with a nice thick, tightly fitted piece of foil. Then into the steamer it went. I steamed it for two hours, and I had no idea when it would be finished. I kept trying to smell the pudding, but I guess the steamer had created such a vacuum that I could smell nothing. Nothing. That made me nervous. After two hours I called it a day. This is what came out of the steamer.

When I lifted the foil, a nice warm apply pie smell filled my nose. That seemed to be a good sign. Honestly, not bad, not bad at all. It slipped easily out of the steaming dish. Yet another plus. Much to my surprise, it  didn't look squishy, soggy, or wet. That was definitely another huge plus. Then my ever so lovely husband came wondering into the kitchen (he is so hilariously afraid of soggy foods that he can't even eat cereal) and casually glanced at the pudding and said, "Raw dough. That's a mound of raw dough. Don't eat it, or you'll throw up." I shrugged it off, and plunged a sharp knife into the sucker, and hell, to my surprise, the crust was actually cooked and FLAKY. What? A steamed crust that was flaky? Well, I guess these pudding weren't so bad after all...

This is how I ate my first piece of apple pudding. I had to laugh at myself for turning a traditional English pudding into something so thoroughly American. I made an apple pie, and was eating it with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. Ha - how ethnocentric of me. How typically American...

Did I enjoy my apple pudding? You be the judge. This is what it looked like after about five minutes:

Orange Tian - My First DB Challenge!

This month I completed my very first Daring Bakers Challenge, the orange tian. I decided to join the Daring Bakers because one of the reasons I love, love baking is because there are so many different ingredients, products and methods that constitute "baking" - everything from savory breads to delicate pastry...ummmmm. YUM! To be honest, I often choose recipes to try simply out of curiosity, and I have never, ever had a problem finding eager taste-testers. My one serious hesitation about joining the Daring Bakers was meeting the deadlines to bake and post the finished product. But, since the Daring Bakers is a monthly recipe, it proved to be no problem. I'm super excited to find out next month's challenge.


Jennifer from Chocolate Shavings chose the orange tian. This tian is a layered dessert consisting of a crisp, buttery cookie crust coated with a sweet and sticky orange marmalade, followed by a layer of whipped cream, and topped with orange segments. The final touch is an orange caramel sauce. As soon as I saw the recipe, I was excited because I thought I had never made a tian before. Little did I realize that a tian is simply a layered dish - anything from a savory layered salad to a rich and decadent dessert can be a tian, as long as it is composed of clearly deliniated layers.

I was also looking forward to the recipe because I've always wanted to make homemade orange marmalade. Orange marmalade is and always has been a staple pantry ingredient in my parents' house. Tea and orange marmalade are two items you can ALWAYS find in my parents pantry. Always. For the past handful of years, my parents' daily breakfast is a cup of chai (tea with steamed milk) and a slice of sourdough bread topped with a slather of orange marmalade and a slice of sharp, white cheddar cheese. It may sound like a strange combo, but the sweet marmalade contrasting with the salty, strong cheese is actually rather delightful (my mouth is watering just thinking about it). I never bothered trying the combination until I was pregnant. I stopped by my parents' place to drop something off for my mom on the way to a friend's baby shower. On the way over, I happened to mention to my mom that I was starving and hoped they would serve the food right away at the shower. As soon as I stepped into my parents' house, before I could even greet my mom, she shoved something wrapped in a paper towel into my hands reminding me that I have to eat. I didn't get a chance to unwrap the package until I was back in the car heading to the shower. Without even looking at what it was, I began eating the jam/cheese sandwich. From that moment on I was hooked. I called my mom to thank her for the delicious snack, and after scolding me again for not taking care of myself, I could tell that she was pleased that something as simple as a cheese toast could make me so happy. Needless to say, I'll be making a vat of the orange marmalade for my parents upon their arrival after a month-long tour of the Far East. I think, er actually I know, they'll appreciate it!