DB Scones/Biscuits (3 gluten and dairy free versions)

Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!

Whoops, somehow I kept forgetting to make time to post this months Daring Baker challenge!  This month we were given a biscuit recipe.  Even though I didn't personally eat any of these (due to my Whole 30 pledge) and I couldn't make the provided recipe (because the rest of the house is dairy free and currently wheat free) I still felt like trying out some recipes on the kids and John to see if any would be a hit.  Here are the results...

First, I made these Coconut Flour Bacon Biscuits from Primal Den Mother.  John and the kids weren't impressed though that may be because they were slightly over baked or because of the coconut flour.  I personally like coconut flour baked goods more than they do and from the smell I think I might like these.  

Next I tried GF Buttermilk Biscuits from Food.com.  I used Spectrum butter flavored shortening and So Delicious cultured coconut milk in place of the butter and buttermilk.  They had a good smell but the texture was too gummy and no one was interested in them.

Finally I made the Almond Flour Biscuits from Elana's Pantry.  These were the clear winner.  John and Alex both liked them a lot and they had a good looking texture after baking.  I can see myself having these occasionally after the Whole 30 is over, though I do find that her almond flour baked goods start all tasting too similar if I have them often.  

*For the official Daring Baker scone/biscuit recipe for this month visit our host, Audax, at Audax Artifex or take a look at the DB Scone recipe pdf.

Penny has been crazy about Play Dough lately.

She is our little princess. A tiara picture for you mom!

Alex isn't such a monster, he just seems to want to look like one. 

DB Sad Sourdough

Our Daring Bakers Host for December 2011 was Jessica of My Recipe Project and she showed us how fun it is to create Sour Dough bread in our own kitchens! She provided us with Sour Dough recipes from Bread Matters by AndrewWhitley as well as delicious recipes to use our Sour Dough bread in from Tonia George’s Things on Toast and Canteen’s Great British Food!

Jessica of My Recipe Project gave us the task of making sourdough bread.  I really wanted to try a gluten free sourdough loaf but a few failed attempts and a load of Christmas projects to finish pushed it from my mind.  So all I have to offer is a sad picture of one of my moldy starters.  I'd love if anyone could help me figure out why my rice flour starters got moldy and what I should do about it.  Should I vinegar clean the bowl, boil the water first, get a different batch of rice flour?  Oh well, maybe some other time I'll feel up to trying again.  For those interested, the recipes can be found at our host Jessica's site, My Recipe Project, or on this PDF.

My mold-spotted rice sourdough starter

DB Filipino Desserts

Catherine of Munchie Musings was our November Daring Bakers’ host and she challenged us to make a traditional Filipino dessert – the delicious Sans Rival cake! And for those of us who wanted to try an additional Filipino dessert, Catherine also gave us a bonus recipe for Bibingka which comes from her friend Jun of Jun-blog.

Filipino desserts were chosen to be this month's Daring Baker challenge.  Already wheat-free with lots of eggs and low dairy these recipes were a fun adventure that began with making salted duck eggs.  Raw duck eggs sat on my pantry shelf, curing in a salt brine, for over 20 days before they were boiled and used as a garnish for the sweet rice cake, Bibingka.  The salted eggs weren't that strange in flavor but the texture was unusual.  To complete the authentic flavor, the rice cake bowl was lined with a banana leaf I clipped from my own banana plant.   It was an interesting combination but not something I loved.  The Sans Rival was a more familiar recipe for a chocolate nut meringue, cashew in the original recipe/almond in mine, layered with French butter cream.  The meringue was wonderful, chewy and nutty and a tad crispy.  The lack of real butter in my butter cream was disappointing but mattered little to the kids who haven't had anything frosted in a while.  It was fun to try some new things.  Thanks for the challenge Catherine!

Links:
-For the complete challenge recipes visit our host, Catherine, at her blog Munchie Musings.  The Sans Rival recipe is her creation.  For the original Bibingka recipe and more Filipino food take a look at the site Jun-blog.
-My alterations this month were simple.  Coconut oil in place of the butter in the Bibinka and no cheese.  I used Spectrum Butter Flavor shortening in the butter cream, remember that it is unsalted and so you need to add salt to the egg yolks so that it will dissolve.  The butter cream was flat tasting without any salt and added later it didn't dissolve.  If I were to try this butter cream again I would try  adding a single tablespoon of milk (almond or coconut) to cut the waxiness of the shortening.  It did pipe beautifully though!

The chocolate Sans Rival

A vanilla frosted version requested by Alex

My banana plants

Their sacrificial leaf

My flock feasting on $1ea after Halloween pumpkins.  

They graciously provided the eggs for this challenge.

Our dog Perfect, I'm recently trying to get her out with the poultry with the hope that I can train her to help in some way.  Of course I have no idea what I'm doing but she is smart and obedient and starting to get over her puppy craziness.

DB Croissants (done dairy and gluten free)

The Daring Bakers go retro this month! Thanks to one of our very talented non-blogging members, Sarah, the Daring Bakers were challenged to make Croissants using a recipe from the Queen of French Cooking, none other than Julia Child!

Well, just because you "can" make gluten-free/dairy-free croissant-like things doesn't mean you "should".  Some part of me feels good about giving it a go despite my limitations but the reality is that these weren't any better than Pillsbury Crescent Rolls from the tube and took *considerably* more time to make.  Dairy-free croissants, sure-I'd make 'em.  Gluten-free ones with real butter and cream, most definitely!!, but another attempt at making something croissant like without both gluten and dairy is not in my future.  The kids did eat them so it wasn't a loss on that front.  But again, these just aren't good enough and nothing I can think of could change that.  Time to make some pot roast instead!

Links:
-The given recipe for Julia Child's croissants is available here. This recipe comes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume Two.
-I attempted the recipe for Gluten Free Croissants from Blog Critic author Bobbie Noto.  I replaced the heavy cream and milk with almond milk and the butter with Spectrum butter flavored shortening plus 1/2 teaspoon of salt.  You can see more recipes at Bobbie's Baking Blog, look for the Vols-au-Vent recipe for a gluten free puff pastry recipe. 
-More Daring Baker-ness can be found on the blogroll. 

In case you desire a tortuously long process that produces Doughboy results, here are pictures of the "butter" fold to help you along.  First mold your butter opposite your dough square.

Then fold in each triangular flap, overlapping slightly

For my more successful ventures this month, Alex loves this Minecraft Creeper plushy we made together.

DB Candylicious! (Honey-sweetened Confections)

The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drive and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mavens challenged us to make sinfully delicious candies! This was a special challenge for the Daring Bakers because the good folks at http://www.chocoley.com offered an amazing prize for the winner of the most creative and delicious candy!

Tempering chocolate is something I can't quite master but when the Daring Bakers ask I have to give it a whole-hearted try.  This month we were given the task of making candies and one at least had to be a chocolate confection.  So I attempted to recreate a favorite in our house, Heavenly Organics Honey Mint Patties.  Made with raw honey and unsweetened chocolate they are fantastic, and dairy and gluten free to boot!  Though I didn't do a perfect job tempering, the homemade version was fairly easy and just as tasty.  I also am submitting some delicious brittle I've been making for a travel snack lately.  The whole family is ecstatic when we have this in the house.  Thanks for the challenge Lisa and Mandy! 

Honey Sunflower Brittle
Inspired by Greek Pasteli. Roasting your own sunflower seeds makes all the difference!
Makes about a pound and a half of candy

3 cups raw sunflower seeds
1 cup honey
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
flaky sea salt or kosher salt

-Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
-Spread your sunflower seeds in an even layer on a large baking sheet.  Roast in the preheated oven checking and stiring the seeds every 5 minutes until dark golden brown and nutty.  This should take 15-20 minutes.
-Set the seeds aside and line the baking sheet with parchment paper or grease well with oil.
-In a saucepan, heat the honey to soft crack stage, ~290 degrees F.  Be careful to watch for scorching and stir to prevent.  Don't be like me and walk away from cooking sugar, it will always bite you in the rear if you do!
-When the honey has reached the correct temperature add the baking soda and stir to mix.  Then dump in all the sunflower seeds and mix well to coat.  If your seeds have cooled a lot you may need some low heat to get the honey to distribute evenly.
-Spread the brittle mixture on your prepared baking sheet in as even a layer as possible.  Sprinkle on salt to taste.
-Allow the brittle to cool and then snap into serving pieces.  Store in an airtight container, ideally in between layers of parchment paper to keep the pieces from sticking together. 

Honey Mint Dominoes
My homemade version of the Heavenly Organics Honey Mint Patties
Make as much as you'd like

Unsweetened chocolate (aka baking chocolate, see links for my source)
Honey, ideally a thick raw honey with a light flavor
Peppermint oil
Shallow chocolate mold

-Temper your chocolate, directions here, and line your molds.  Chill.
-Mix your honey and peppermint oil to taste.  Fill the chilled molds and chill again.
-Top the filled molds and chill once more.
-Pop out and enjoy!  They are very good eaten right from in the freezer. 

Links:
-The challenge candy recipes can be found on this download pdf or visit our hosts Lisa at Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drive or Mandy at What the Fruitcake?!.
-I buy my unsweetened chocolate from Santa Barbara Chocolate Co. Their Pure Cacao Medallions are perfect for chopping up as a chocolate chip replacement or melting to drizzle/coat things.
-I used Champion Hill Farm star thistle honey in the brittle and tupelo honey from the Savannah Bee Company in the dominoes.
-Find more candy creations submitted for this challenge by browsing the sites listed in the Daring Baker Blogroll.

And now back to the garden harvest

DB Fresh Frasier (or rather Framboises)

Jana of Cherry Tea Cakes was our July Daring Bakers’ host and she challenges us to make Fresh Frasiers inspired by recipes written by Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson in the beautiful cookbook Tartine.

Daring Baker time!  This month's creation was chiffon cake filled with fresh fruit and pastry cream, a Fresh Frasier.  I chose to use fresh raspberries, made the gluten-free chiffon cake from Penny's birthday, used coconut milk for the pastry cream (alas no stabilized whipped cream for us) and sweetened it all with maple sugar. I overcooked the pastry cream a bit and I think I'm getting to a point where even maple sugar is too much for me.  I'd rather just have the berries plain or the berries with a splash of coconut milk and skip the cake.  But the cake was put to use and served some kind friends that put up with my experimental desserts.  Penny loved hers but Alex balked at the coconut milk cream.  He's my picky one.  Thanks for the challenge Jana!

Links:
-For the full original recipe visit our host Jana at Cherry Tea Cakes or see the pdf recipe.
-I made this gluten-free chiffon cake but this time used maple sugar.  I made the pastry cream from Jana's recipe but replaced the whole milk with full fat coconut milk and left out the whipped cream.
-Her recipes are based on those of Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson from the cookbook Tartine.
-Other participants for this challenge are listed in the Daring Baker Blogroll.

Penny had no patience for my picture taking.

Her new hobby is flower picking.  This week Queen Anne's Lace is the favorite.

DB Baklava (gluten-free and wheat versions)

Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June  challenge.  Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade  phyllo dough and then to use that homemade dough to make Baklava.

It was just my luck that I'd still be avoiding wheat when the Daring Bakers decided to make homemade phyllo.  It's been on my To Try list for a long time and so I couldn't resist making both a wheat flour and a gluten-free version of this dessert.  The wheat phyllo wasn't as hard as I thought it would be though I think I made it a lot less challenging by baking a small batch, small sheets are much easier to roll out.  The gluten-free recipe we were offered required a specific brand of flour mix and so I just chose to make a mini batch and wing it.  I used a combination of tapioca flour, sorghum flour and cornstarch but it really wasn't much of a success. It couldn't be rolled thin enough, was too tough in the finished product and didn't brown properly.  Apologies for the top picture, I just never got around to getting a shot of the cut slices.  But you can see the gluten-free phyllo is in the smaller pan and clearly not the golden brown I intended.  It was still edible and the honeyed nut filling was delicious.  For both of my baklava, I left out the sugar in the nuts and used a combination of almonds and walnuts.  I spiced them with cinnamon and cardamom and made the syrup with honey, lemon juice and a splash of orange flower water.  My wheat baklava went to friends we had over for dinner and for my first try at homemade phyllo I thought it was alright.  I did notice that it needed more syrup because it wasn't as sticky as I would have liked.  But there is always room for improvement and now I can check off an attempt at homemade phyllo, what next?

Lately we're busy trying to make the most of the sunny days we get.  My vegetable garden is coming along nicely and our new ducks and chickens are getting all grown up.  Alex had a fun birthday and loves being free from school.  Penny is growing like a weed and learning to climb up on everything-- couches, beds, chairs, tables!!  I try to give her lots of time outside so we can avoid that.  She and Alex are kept busy picking strawberries, fighting over the hose and hunting for frogs around our pond.  Right now we have over a dozen green frogs, 5 or 6 painted turtles and several generations of tadpoles in the pond John had dug last fall.  What Alex really wants to find is a salamander so we've been poking under all the rotting logs in our woods.  Summer is grand!  I hope yours is going as well as ours.

Links:
-For the full recipe visit our host Erica at her site,Erica’s Edibles.   Or view the recipes HERE in a PDF version.
-Erica based her recipe on those found in the book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague and the Baklava recipe from Alton Brown.
-I think if I'm ever eating gluten-free and crave baklava these Baked Apples "Baklava" would be a better choice than trying gf phyllo.
-Other participants for this challenge are listed in the Daring Baker Blogroll.

The wheat phyllo, see how you can read the paper through it.

My attempt at gluten-free phyllo, thin but I couldn't get it transparent.

My big NINE year old boy

Penny on a salamander hunt

DB Chocolate Marquise (done dairy-free and honey sweetened)

 The May 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Emma of CookCraftGrow and Jenny of Purple House Dirt. They chose to challenge everyone to make a Chocolate Marquise. The inspiration for this recipe comes from a dessert they prepared at a restaurant in Seattle.

This month I've been far too busy to do much blogging.  There has been gardening, Alex's school, houseguests and trips downstate, 15 new birds (9 new ducks and 6 chickens), lots of poking around outside looking for morels-- plus I seem to be terribly accident prone this month.  I usually rack up a number of burns, cuts and bruises but this month I've added a smashed shower door, a sunburn and a punctured foot to my list.   Let's hope I piled all of this into May and will have a pleasently uneventful, productive and relaxing summer.

Somehow I did manage to whip up this month's Daring Baker challenge.  Looking at the recipe I initally was annoyed and frustrated.  Recipes for mousse are so tough to do dairy-free, especially if you are also mostly soy-free as well like us and don't have the option of using silken tofu.  Then I went through a pouty phase where I complained in my head that the hosts chose a recipe that didn't even have a mandatory baked item.  It's supposed to be Daring *Bakers* not Daring Desserts!  But eventually I came up with a game plan and forged ahead.  I've been eating almost no refined sugar since the beginning of the year so the first change I made was to use honey to sweeten all the components.  I also substituted unsweetened baking chocolate for the bittersweet and swapped carob powder for the cocoa.  For that tricky heavy cream I gave extra chilled coconut cream a try and I spiced my mousse and nuts with ginger and black pepper.

The changes ended up being fairly simple and the result was pretty decent.   The ginger and pepper went well with the honey flavor and yet dark chocolate was still the star.  The mousse texture was a little grainy when still hard but smoothed nicely when I let the squares warm up a little more.  With all the egg and yolks they still were light and creamy.  But the best part was the nuts--they are fantastic!!  I'll be making batches (and batches and batches) of them again.  So thanks for the challenge Emma and Jenny, as always I'm happy to be a Daring Baker and give something I would never try to make a chance.

Here are my altered ingredient lists. All of these are scaled to make 1/4 of the original recipes or 6 servings each with 1 (2"x2") cube of marquise.  Instructions and original ingredient lists found here on the Daring Kitchen.
Chocolate Marquise
3 large egg yolks at room temperature
1 large egg
3 tablespoons honey
Chocolate Base, barely warm (ingredients follow)
½ cup coconut cream*
½ cup carob powder (for rolling or dusting)
*By coconut cream I mean I took can of coconut milk and placed it in the fridge unopened overnight. I then scooped out only the thick cream and left the watery liquid to be used in another application. I chilled the measured amount of cream in the fridge and whipped it like heavy cream using chilled beaters and a chilled bowl. It doesn't get the volume of heavy cream but does get fluffier. I then combined the whipped coconut cream with the chocolate base before folding it into the egg/yolk mixture.  This is the opposite of the instructions which have you mix the base with teh yolk mix first.  This way the egg mixture is able to transfer as much volume and air as possible to the finished dish.

Chocolate Base
3 oz (85 grams/ 6 tablespoons) unsweetened chocolate
1/3 cup + 2 teaspoons coconut cream
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon tequila
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon carob powder
1/4 oz (1/2 tablespoon/8 grams) coconut oil, softened

Torched Meringue
3 large egg whites
3 tablespoons honey
Splash of apple cider vinegar
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

Honeyed Spiced Pecans
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 large egg white
1/2 cup pecans, ideally soaked and dehydrated first

Links:
-For the instructions to go with my ingredient lists, or the original recipes, visit our hosts Emma of CookCraftGrow and Jenny of Purple House Dirt.  Or see the complete recipe here on the Daring Kitchen site.
-Emma and Jenny learned how to make this marquise dessert when they worked together at a Seattle restaurant. The recipe is adapted from one developed by Bennie Sata, a Seattle-area pastry chef who introduced the city to one of its iconic chocolate desserts. They also included vegan recipes which were created by Ashlae of Ladycakes.
-Visit the Daring Kitchen to see the baker blogroll and other treats made this month.

My favorite Instagram shot from this month

Alex and Penny drawing together

Penny sitting in a patch of ramps.  She was stealing cooked ramp greens from my plate just yesterday.

I'm adding this to Simply Sugar and Gluten Free's Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays

DB Bacon Cups

The April 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Evelyne of the blog Cheap Ethnic Eatz. Evelyne chose to challenge everyone to make a maple mousse in an edible container. Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 27th to May 27th at http://thedaringkitchen.com!

We took this week off of school and lazed around so much that I put off making this recipe until after it was supposed to be posted.  Alex loved the bacon cups and I can see myself making them again for him.  Wrapping the bacon so that it doesn't shrink and leave big holes is tricky and you do have to watch them to make sure they don't overcrisp.   I filled my cup with my own maple syrup sweetened mashed sweet potatoes instead of trying to make a dairy-free mousse.  Penny loved the mash.

Links:
-Our host this month is Evelyne of the blog Cheap Ethnic Eatz.  See her blog for all the recipes.
-The bacon cup recipe was inspired by not martha and 59kilos.
-Visit the Daring Kitchen to see all the creative edible containers and vote for your favorite.

DB Maple Florentine Cookies and Coconut Panna Cotta

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

Another month gone by and I continued my wheat free experiment.  I also spent most of this past month going fairly low carb and nearly zero sugar so I needed to make quite a few alterations to this month's recipes.  For the panna cotta, I used coconut milk and gelatin without any sweetener at all.  The raspberry gelee on top, made from frozen berries, got just a scant teaspoon of honey to cut the tartness.  They were delicious together and plenty sweet enough for me. 

I ended up spending more time on the Florentine cookie recipe.  I remembered how one of my Christmas cookie experiments with maple sugar produced a lacy cookie so I thought I could adapt this recipe to lessen the refined sugar.  I cut the amount of sugar, replaced it with maple sugar and replaced the wheat flour with gluten-free flours.  My first batch ended up too chewy but were so well received by Alex that I made a second batch to work on a better texture.  I'm quite happy with this lower sugar, maple flavored version. 

Maple Florentine Cookies
My dairy-free, gluten-free, less refined sugar version of these Nestle Florentine Cookies.  If possible weigh your ingredients, the cup measurements are not as exact.
Makes ~2 dozen cookie sandwiches

2/3 cup (150g) coconut oil
2 cups (160g) oatmeal, I used regular oats
2/3 cup (110g) maple sugar
~1/4 cup (35g) almond meal
~1/4 cup (30g) tapioca starch
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons milk, I used unsweetened almond milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon xanthan gum
pinch of fine sea salt
1 cup (170g) dark chocolate

-Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F and line a couple of cookie sheets with parchement paper.
-Melt the coconut oil in a large saucepan.  Remove from heat and stir in all the ingredients, mix very well.
-Spoon or scoop on tablespoons of the dough three inches apart.
-Bake for 6-8 minutes until golden brown.  Cool fully on the paper before moving. You can carefully slide the paper with the cooling cookies off your baking sheets onto your counter. Then you can cool the baking pans off with cold water and use another piece of paper to keep the production going.  Or take your time. 
-Repeat to use all the dough.
-Melt your chocolate (double boiler or microwave) and spread a small amount between each cookie before sandwiching.  Baked tops shoudl be facing outside.

Links:
-For the unaltered challenge recipes see our host Mallory's site, A Sofa in the Kitchen.
-Mallory used Giada De Laurentiis' Panna Cotta recipe and the Florentine recipe came from Nestle Classic Recipes which can also be found on the Nestle Kitchen website.
-I get my maple sugar from our local co-op which carries U.P. Sugar Shack sugar.  You can also purchase maple sugar online at Marx Foods. 
-Ready to take on a monthly baking challenge?  Visit the Daring Kitchen and don't forget to look at the Daring Baker Blogroll for other cookie/gel combos.

My first batch of Florentines was made with rice and tapioca flours.  They came with some gluten-free chocolate cutout cookies (raspberry frosted) to a Valentine's Day get together.  Unfortunately, I committed the cardinal sin of forgetting that there were kids there with diets even more restricted than Alex's.  I know from experience that it sucks when there are treats he can't have but just didn't think it through. 

DB Entremets with Patterned Biscuit Joconde

The January 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Astheroshe of the blog accro. She chose to challenge everyone to make a Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremets dessert.

This month's Daring Baker challenge was an exceptionally fun one.  I've wanted to try making patterned joconde, almond sponge cake, since I saw this Love Cake last year.  How cool is it to decorate a cake, WITH cake!  Alas with the wheat free restriction I put myself on for this month and the fact that I was generally steering clear of all grains and sugars, I couldn't revel in the challenge as much as I'd like.

To not tempt myself too much, I made a third of a batch for just a few small individual entremets.  There is so little wheat flour in both the decor paste and the joconde especially in proportion to the amount of eggs involved so I didn't worry too much about the type of flour I replaced it with.  For the joconde I used 2/3 tapioca starch and 1/3 sweet rice flour and I used all tapioca starch for the decor paste.  In place of the melted butter, I used a little Earth Balance margarine. Otherwise these recipes didn't need to be messed with.  To make my pattern I cut a few notches in a piece of cardboard and used it to create diagonal stripes.  I ended up with enough decor paste to prep two sheet pans but only enough joconde batter for one pan.  Well, it turns the decor paste out is pretty much the same as tuile batter so I baked off the second pan to make cookie sticks for decoration.  Both the joconde and the tuile sticks needed significantly less time than the recipe calls for, ~ 5 minutes for the joconde and a little less for the tuiles.  I think I spread it thinner than it was supposed to be and that would account for my altered baking time.

For my fillings, I wanted to go as nutrient dense as possible to not completely blow my plan for the month.  I made this avocado pudding and combined it with soaked cashew creme sweetened with maple syrup. For some texture I soaked/dehydrated/toasted pecans and coated them in chocolate.  I couldn't quite sell Alex on the pudding, though Penny liked it.  So I filled one of the entremets with Alex's new favorite ice cream and a couple of layers of chocolate coated pecans.

In all, this was a fun technique to try out.  Even though I felt a little heady from the sugar in the joconde it was a very tasty cake and so easy to work with.  The possiblities for decorating full sized cakes and making little entremets are endless!  And Alex especially liked the chocolate tuile sticks I made from the decor paste-- perhaps some chocolate ice cream cones should be in his future.  Thanks for the great challenge Astheroshe!
 
Links:
-Check out our host Astheroshe on her blog, accro.  She has the complete recipe along with her spumoni inspired fillings, HERE.  See above for my wheat-free/dairy-free adaptations.
-I filled my entremets with this avocado pudding from Jenn, The Leftover Queen. 
-I didn't use a recipe for the cashew creme.  I just took well soaked cashews and blended them with a little water and a touch of maple syrup and vanilla extract until they were whipped.
-For a fun example of this technique see Gesine Bullock-Prado's Love Cake.  I really loved her book, Confections of a Closet Master Baker.  It's a must read for food lit lovers of the baking persuasion.  And she has a new cookbook called Sugar Baby due out in April, which looks very cool.

-As always, if you'd like to join in the baking fun visit the Daring Kitchen and look to the Daring Baker Blogroll for other examples of this technique.

The decor paste, decor covered in joconde batter, baked patterned joconde before flipping to reveil the pattern and after

Patterned joconde lined molds

Alex's ice cream filled entremet

His new favorite ice cream, Almond Dream Praline Crunch

DB Christmas Stollen

The 2010 December Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie’s Baking. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make Stollen. She adapted a friend’s family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart’s book.........and Martha Stewart’s demonstration.

Though I do appreciate all yeasted goodies I've never been a big fan of Christmas breads like stollen and panetone.  They are often dry and flavorless and I much prefer the sticky goodness of the much maligned fruitcake, even the brick like kind.  But this year I fully embraced the challenge and fell in love with stollen.

I followed Penny's recipe replacing the butter with Earth Balance tub margarine.  For the fruit I made my own candied tangerine peel with cognac soaked currants and dried cranberries.  I used the spice combination from the Martha Stewart recipe because I have a recent obsession with mace, an extremely underused spice.   To avoid having on giant stollen wreath in the house to tempt me, I split my recipe into three loaves.  Two I froze and later shared one each with my parents and in laws and one I kept to enjoy.

It was fragrant, fruity, yeasty and wonderful and a fitting send off because in our household we're trying out being wheat free.  I made almost all of our Christmas cookies this year wheat free because my husband feels better not eating it.  And I'm personally committing to all of January completely wheat and gluten free to jumpstart my diet and see if I feel better eating that way.  Wish me luck because I know I'll be daydreaming about yeasty deliciousness like this stollen.

Links:
- Here is the complete stollen recipe which can also be found on our host Penny's blog, Sweet Sadie's Baking
-Along with advice from her German friend who bakes Stollen every year, Penny used the information in Peter Reinhart's Bread Baker’s Apprentice and this Martha Stewart recipe for a stollen wreath
-Visit the Daring Kitchen and see more festive breads made this month by browsing the Daring Baker Blogroll.

Slices of stollen

Penny and Fritz with the snow drift after the big snow on December 12th, I love birthday snow!

The ducks still wander around in the snow, but thankfully we've been able to convince them that their nice heated house is the best place to spend the night.

The best Christmas photo I could get this year

A dreamy Christmas Fritz

He like the rest of us is a little sad this Christmas because our oldest dog Roxy unexpectantly passed away earlier this month. We all miss her very much.