Almond Croissants January 19, 2009

Lately I have been craving the almond croissants that my boss makes every once in a blue moon on Saturday mornings for the employees.  I watched him prep them one day and they are so easy it is CRAZY!!!  First he uses store bought croissants.

Yeah you would think that since he is a pastry chef that he would make them, but NO.

Then he slices them open and brushes them with a simple syrup, which I left out the first time and they tasted perfectly fine.  Next fill them with frangipane filling (almond cream),  and put the top back on.  Spread some filling on the top and sprinkle with some sliced almonds.  Place in a preheated 350°F oven and bake for 20-30 minutes until golden brown.  Dust with powdered sugar and enjoy.

Tuesdays With Dorie: French Pear Tart January 6, 2009

This weeks Tuesdays with Dorie was chosen by Dorie Greenspan, herself.  Dorie chose the French Pear Tart located on pages 368-369 in her book, Baking: From My Home to Yours. As soon as I saw this recipe I was very excited because although I do not like pears, I do like pear tarts.  I know I am weird.  I have no idea why I am like that

For this recipe I decided to make Dorie’s Sweet Dough for the crust.  I did not use a food processor to make it.  I just did it the old fashion way with my hands The recipe calls for the dough to be partially baked.  When I made the Thanksgiving Twofer Pie I also had to partially bake the crust and it was cooked too much for me.  So this time I decided to only bake the shell for 15 minutes instead of the 25 minutes called for in the recipe.  For the Almond Cream I did not grind my own almonds since I already had almond meal on hand.  Also, I used both dark rum and vanilla extract and the flavor was spot on.  I guess if you wanted the tart to have more of an almond flavor you could add 1/2 tsp almond extract.  Once the shell was  cool I added the filling and the pears and baked the tart for another 55 minutes.  The crust ended up turning out great and it was cooked through.

The Almond Cream puffed up beautifully and was perfectly browned.  To finish the tart I melted some apple jelly and brushed it on while the tart was still a little warm.  Then I dusted powdered sugar around the sides.  The tart tasted fantastic.  For a second, I thought that it might be a little too sweet but the pears mellow out the sweetness.

Spiced Cranberry Bundt Cake October 20, 2008

When I received the November 2008 issue of Bon Appetite, I was instantly pulled in by the recipe for a Spiced Cranberry Bundt Cake.  Not until later when I actually sat down and read the magazine did I realize that the recipe was from Dorie Greenspan, along with the accompanying article.  I guess I don’t pay too much attention when I am reading sometimes because come to find out that Dorie is actually doing a three part write up for Bon Appetite amply named The Baker.  This being the second part.  The first part was a Bacon Cheddar Quick Bread with Dried Pears.   I will have to try that recipe when I am craving a savory quick bread.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Lenox Almond Biscotti October 14, 2008

This weeks Tuesdays with Dorie was chosen by Gretchen of Canela & Comino; she chose Dorie’s Lenox Almond Biscotti which is located on pages 141-143 of Baking:From My Home to Yours. I was excited when I saw this weeks recipe because I actually make biscotti all the time.  I guess it started when I tasted my Great Uncle Fred’s biscotti for the first time when I was 14 or 15 year old.  They were always beautiful and he made many different flavors: Anise-Walnut, Cherry-Almond, Cranberry-Almond, Pistachio, etc.  After tasting all of his biscotti I knew that I had to have the recipe.  I called my grandmother (Uncle Fred’s sister) and asked her if there was anyway that she could get me Uncle Fred’s biscotti recipe.  She said that she would try, but she didn’t know if he would give it to me since it actually was a secret.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Granola Grabbers August 19, 2008

This weeks Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by Michelle of Bad Girl Baking and she chose the Granola Grabbers cookies on page 82 of Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. My first thought was interesting a cookie with a base of granola with peanuts, almonds, wheat germ, golden raisins, and sweetened coconut. Funny thing is I had all of the ingredients except the granola. Just looking at the recipe all I could think was this actually is a pretty healthy cookie as cookies go. Not too much butter, sugar or flour.

Peach Almond Tart August 14, 2008

I saw this recipe about a month ago when I was reading Ivonne’s blog, Cream Puff In Venice. As soon as I saw the picture I knew that I was going to have to make this tart. First thing I thought was if good quality peaches were available. The next was that I needed a square tart pan. After a month went by I procured a peck of fresh from the orchard peaches and stop by Williams Sonoma and picked up a square tart pan.

LETS DO THIS!!!

I got little feet… July 15, 2008

I got little fee eet. I got little fee eet, yeah. :to the music of Jungle Fever:

HOLY CRAP!!!!!

I really can’t believe it.

My first try, first freaking try and my macarons have little feet (the little bubblies at the bottom of the cookie). I am extremely happy about this.

From all of the posts I have read about people trying to make French Macarons and all of the trouble they have gone through. I am completely surprised. I thought something was going to have to go wrong. But all three batches turned out perfectly with little feet. I need to work on my piping skills but man, that is awesome.