DB Bite-sized Bakewells w/Autumn Olive Berry Jam

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.

This month represents several Daring Baker firsts for me: my first Bakewell tart (a first taste as well as my first ever baked) and my first challenge completed on the posting day. Distractions from the new house still have me disconnected from the blogging world. We were lucky enough to close a deal on our old house in the Metro-Detroit area--which was no small feat in this economy! This lead to a big clean out and our second Uhaul move with the furniture and flotsam we left for staging. Moving is exhausting work but more enjoyable hard work has been occupying me in my newly built vegetable garden!! It's off to a late start and so it's hard for me to spend even a single day lit hour not poking around in it. In Michigan, if you blink too long you can miss summer completely.

I was very interested in the Bakewell tart/pudding. Most British desserts are an enigma to me and this was one I hadn't even heard of before. I love working with almond meal and have been sneaking it into quick breads and cookies to up their nutritional density. How could I resist the chance to make a tart that revolves around almonds? A Bakewell tart requires jam but I only just bought strawberries to begin preserving this morning so I used the last half of the final jar of autumn olive jam from last year.

Since I didn't have a use for a whole tart today, I made mini tarts using a mini cheesecake pan (I used it for tarts here as well). I halved the pastry dough to insure I would have enough, rolled it out and cut 2 1/2 inch diameter circles for each compartment. I only made a third of the frangipane and used 1/3 cup of jam which worked out to a little more than a teaspoon of jam per tart and a little over a tablespoon of frangipane topping each. My divisions created a full 12 tarts and each was a perfect 2-3 bites. I loved how light both the pastry and the frangipane were and the touch of almond extract in both was lovely. I will definitely be digging out that bottle of extract more often. I would have liked a little more jam for more tart contrast but I think the autumn olive berry jam color looked great in these.

I do have a few things to post because it would be a crime to not use my new kitchen but I can't bear to sit at the computer when there are other things to be done. Maybe we'll finally get some rain...or fall and winter will come eventually and I'll have more time on my hands.

Links:
-Our hostesses this month are Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar
-Visit the Daring Kitchen to join in and take a look at the Daring Baker Blogroll for the other versions of this month's recipe.
-The complete recipe can be found here. Due to my son's dairy allergies I replaced the butter called for with Earth Balance margarine. I also downsized the recipes as described above and cut the baking time down to 17 minutes.

My newly built and planted vegetable garden
Abbie gets supervised outings. She likes sniffing around for chipmunks.

DB Rhubarb-Strawberry Strudel

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.

My blogging is still on the back burner but I couldn't let this month's Daring Baker challenge pass me by. I waited until this past weekend when my parents were up for their first look at our new house and then recruited my mom to lend a hand.

For the filling I used local rhubarb fresh from the farmer's market with strawberries that were left over from a previous meal. I spiced the strudel with Penzey's ground ginger and the flavor came through beautifully in the roasted rhubarb but got lost a little once the strawberries were added. I might ditch the strawberries next time. Per my mom's suggestion I kept the filling tarter than I normally would have but I was glad I listened to her suggestion. It made the finished strudel lighter.

The dough wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. My biggest mistake was over-flouring the tablecloth. This came to my notice because after baking the top had a powdery look that I could have easily avoided by brushing off the extra flour from the rolled dough before brushing it with the melted Earth Balance (my butter substitute in this recipe). The strudel dough was thin, flaky and tender but didn't have the crispy crackle that you get with phyllo. I'd like to try this recipe with less oil or a homemade phyllo dough recipe because I missed that sharp crackle.

Thanks to Courtney and Linda for a great challenge! Making strudel dough from scratch was a fun project. We finally have our internet access settled at the new house and things are getting less hectic. However, with the woods surrounding the new house to explore and all the gardening I've been doing (and all I want to do next) I'm not finding time for the computer. I'm currently trying to find the perfect balance of all the things I want to do. I will be back blogging and there will be pictures of the house and the new kitchen in time. See the end of this post for a link to more pictures of what I've been up to on my new personal blog, Living on Dog Hill.

Rhubarb-Strawberry Strudel Filling
This is my spring-inspired filling for strudel. If you are interested in making the strudel dough from scratch take a look at the apple strudel recipe on Coco Cooks. Or you can cheat and use store bought phyllo dough. This amount of filling should work well for two phyllo strudels following my directions for Apple Phyllo Strudel. This is a tart filling, if you like your rhubarb sweeter please increase the amount of sugar.
Makes ~2 1/2 cups of filling, enough for one large from-scratch strudel or two smaller phyllo strudels

4 cups cut rhubarb, 1/2 to 3/4 inch pieces
3/4 cup sugar, more if desired
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/2 cups diced strawberries
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon corn starch

-Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
-Wash, cut and then measure your rhubarb. Place the rhubarb, sugar and ginger in a baking pan with at least 1 inch high sides. I used an 8"x14" glass cake pan. Toss the ingredients together and then spread the rhubarb in a single layer.
-Bake the rhubarb for 15 minutes. Remove and cool until close to room temperature, ~15-20 minutes.
-Toss the diced strawberries, vanilla and cornstarch in with the cooked rhubarb. Place this mixture in a colander over a bowl for 10 minutes to draw out some of the juices from the strawberries and collect the juices.
-Take the collected juices and bring them to a boil in a small saucepan. Once the juice come to a boil and thicken carefully fold the cooked juices back in with the rhubarb and strawberries. Do this gently so that the pieces of rhubarb remain mostly whole.
-The filling is now ready to place in the strudel dough.

Links:
-For the complete recipe for Daring Baker Apple Strudel challenge, visit Courtney at Coco Cooks or Linda at make life sweeter!
-Or take a look at the book that was their inspiration, Kaffeehaus by Rick Rodgers
-Visit the Daring Kitchen to join in and take a look at the Daring Baker Blogroll for the other versions of this month's recipe.

Rolling out the strudel dough
The finished strudel
Spring on Dog Hill on my new personal blog, Living on Dog Hill

DB Toasted Almond and Honey Tofu Cheescake w/ Pretzel Crust

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

I'm celebrating a full year of being a Daring Baker this month! This month brings me back to my beginning with the group since my first challenge was last April's Cheesecake Pops. As a new member last year I didn't want to change much to the recipe so I trudged ahead and used Tofutti cream cheese but this year Jenny of Jenny Bakes wanted us to the be creative so I went for a less processed version using almond butter, honey and silken tofu. It was my variation on the great looking cheesecake from Diet, Dessert and Dogs. Even though I made several changes to her recipe I think the spirit remained and it was awesome! The honey and toasted nuts worked well together and the flavor and texture definitely satisfied my cheesecake cravings without dairy. Best of all I got to add in my new pet project, perfecting a pretzel crust. I last used this crust on the bottom of the vegan turtle cupcakes but didn't have the ingredient proportions quite right. After a few more trials I'm quite happy with recipe now and it was PERFECT with the honey and almond cheesecake filling. Salty, sweet, nutty--mmm!

Toasted Almond and Honey Tofu Cheesecake
Here are the changes I made to the Diet, Dessert and Dogs recipe for Vegan Farmer's Cheesecake:
-raw honey (thick set) for the light agave nectar
-roasted almond butter for the cashew butter
-no lemon zest (called rind in her recipe)
-no lemon extract
-2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, instead of 1
-I baked the cheesecake in a 6-inch springform and it needed more baking time. Even with the extra baking time mine was a smidge runnier in the middle than would have been perfect. I plan on using a larger pan next time.
-And the last change was...

The Pretzel Crust!
Here are the amounts for the best version I've made so far.
For one 6-inch pan (double for larger) take 1 cup of fine pretzel crumbs, 1/4 cup Earth Balance margarine and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. Blend all the ingredients together and press into the pan before adding the filling.

*Don't forget to take a look at the other cheesecake creations by visiting more blogs in the Daring Baker Blogroll!

**Ricki of Diet, Dessert and Dogs has a cookbook called Sweet Freedom that is currently going into production and should be available for purchase by late May. With her creative mind, it looks like a must have for those looking for "sweet things free of wheat, eggs, dairy and refined sweeteners". I've been very happy with all of her recipes I've tried and the cheesecake recipe is going to be in the upcoming book. Click on either of her links to learn more.


House update:
I'm moved! This past Friday I finished what packing I could and we moved about 80% of our stuff into our new house. After the exhausting weekend packing, unpacking and enjoying our new house I'm back down state while a few new house details get finished and we get the old house ready to go on the market. I'm still too busy to have time to spend online but the end of the craziness is in sight AND I got to cook in my new kitchen for the first time this past weekend!! Lots more pictures will be coming soon, in the meantime enjoy a glimpse of my box filled life.

Virtual Great American Bake Sale Kickoff and some kitchen pictures

I almost forgot to post about the Virtual Great American Bake Sale Kickoff! The bake sale is a collection of recipes from across the blogosphere and beyond. For the virtual bake sale, the recipes are being made available in ebook form with donations requested, with the donation amount completely up to you. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of these ebooks will go toward Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale program. Funds raised through Great American Bake Sale are donated to after-school and summer feeding programs--food programs that many kids depend on when school is not in session. The Great American Bake Sale is a program of Share Our Strength, a national organization working to make sure no kid in America grows up hungry.

I joined in at the request of Kate who is another Michigan food blogger who writes at Cooking During Stolen Moments. Because file size may be an issue for some people, you can purchase the complete collection or choose just 1 or 2 of your favorites from 4 categorized ebooks. My recipe is Savory Pumpkin-Caramelized Onion Muffins which will be in the complete collection as well as the Muffin and Breads ebook. Update: The complete book is 5.09 MB and took about 20 seconds on my cable modem to download.

The Complete 2009 VGABS Recipes Ebook

Features all 170 of the submitted recipes. Many of the recipes include pictures.
On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Shopping cart courtesy of E-Junkie.

Muffins & Breads

Features 24 recipes, including my Savory Pumpkin-Caramelized Onion Muffins
On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Cookies, Candy, Cakes, Bars & Brownies

Features 50 recipes.
On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Desserts

Features 49 recipes.
On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Beyond Baked Goods (Appetizers, Breakfast, Main Dishes, etc.)

Features 47 recipes.
On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.


And now for unfinished kitchen business...
I'm still packing and running around like a proverbial headless chicken but I am making headway. We'll hear tomorrow if we passed the final occupancy inspection, cross your fingers that it goes well! I had some pictures from last week sent by the builders of the kitchen backsplash that I wanted to share. I love these tiles, which came from Trikeenan Tileworks.

More about my new kitchen:
-Kitchen Lights
-More progress on my new kitchen
-Pantry Plans
-Building a dream kitchen feels like...
-Plans for my new kitchen

See more about the house in general at Building on Dog Hill or browse the Flickr set to see all the pictures from the beginning
Our builders, Steinorth Fine Homes