October Daring Bakers Challenge - Doughnuts!

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.

I've been wanting an excuse to make donuts for a while so was really excited about this challenge. They were really easy to make and I'll definitely make them again, but only for events... they were a little too good to just have around the house!

I made the yeast doughnuts and made doughnuts holes, rings and also made some jam filled ones.

Preparation time:
Hands on prep time - 25 minutes
Rising time - 1.5 hours total
Cooking time - 12 minutes

Yield: 20 to 25 doughnuts & 20 to 25 doughnut holes, depending on size

Ingredients
Milk 1.5 cup / 360 ml
Butter 1/3 cup / 80 ml / 70 gm / 2.5 oz
Active Dry Yeast 4.5 teaspoon (2 pkgs.) / 22.5 ml / 14 gm / ½ oz
Warm Water 1/3 cup / 80 ml (95°F to 105°F / 35°C to 41°C)
Eggs, Large, beaten 2
White Granulated Sugar ¼ cup / 60 ml / 55 gm / 2 oz
Table Salt 1.5 teaspoon / 7.5 ml / 9 gm / 1/3 oz
Nutmeg, grated 1 tsp. / 5 ml / 6 gm / ¼ oz
All Purpose Flour 4 2/3 cup / 1,120 ml / 650 gm / 23 oz + extra for dusting surface
Canola Oil DEPENDS on size of vessel you are frying in – you want THREE (3) inches of oil (can substitute any flavorless oil used for frying)

Method
1. Place the milk in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat just until warm enough to melt the shortening. (Make sure the shortening is melted so that it incorporates well into the batter.)
2. Place the shortening in a bowl and pour warmed milk over. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let dissolve for 5 minutes. It should get foamy. After 5 minutes, pour the yeast mixture into the large bowl of a stand mixer and add the milk and shortening mixture, first making sure the milk and shortening mixture has cooled to lukewarm.
4. Add the eggs, sugar, salt, nutmeg, and half of the flour. Using the paddle attachment of your mixer (if you have one), combine the ingredients on low speed until flour is incorporated and then turn the speed up to medium and beat until well combined.
5. Add the remaining flour, combining on low speed at first, and then increase the speed to medium and beat well.
6. Change to the dough hook attachment of the mixer and beat on medium speed until the dough pulls away from the bowl and becomes smooth, approximately 3 to 4 minutes (for me this only took about two minutes). If you do not have a dough hook/stand mixer – knead until the dough is smooth and not sticky.
7. Transfer to a well-oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.





8. On a well-floured surface, roll out dough to 3/8-inch (9 mm)thick. (Make sure the surface really is well-floured otherwise your doughnuts will stick to the counter).
9. Cut out dough using a 2 1/2-inch (65 mm) doughnut cutter or pastry ring or drinking glass and using a 7/8-inch (22 mm) ring for the center whole. Set on floured baking sheet, cover lightly with a tea towel, and let rise for 30 minutes.











10. Preheat the oil in a deep fryer or Dutch oven to 365 °F/185°C.
11. Gently place the doughnuts into the oil, 3 to 4 at a time. Cook for 1 minute per side or until golden brown (my doughnuts only took about 30 seconds on each side at this temperature).



12. Transfer to a cooling rack placed in baking pan. Allow to cool for 15 to 20 minutes prior to glazing, if desired.

For the jam filled doughnuts I just rolled the dough into balls, coated them in vanilla sugar after and once cooled piped jam into them with a piping bag.

Daring Bakers Challenge - September 2010 - Decorated Sugar Cookies

The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.



This was really easy to make, and the biscuits lasted for a good couple of weeks in an airtight container. These were great as decorations, but I don't think I'll make them again unless it is for Christmas or a special occassion.



Basic Sugar Cookies

Ingredients
200g Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
400g Plain Flour
200g Caster Sugar / Superfine Sugar
1 Large Egg, lightly beaten
51 tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions
• Preheat oven to 180°C
• Cream together the butter, sugar and any flavourings you’re using. Beat until just becoming creamy in texture.
• Beat in the egg until well combined, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• Add the sifted flour and mix on low until a non sticky dough forms
• Knead into a ball and divide into 2 or 3 pieces.
• Roll out each portion between parchment paper to a thickness of about 5mm then refrigerate for a minimum of 30mins.
• Once chilled, peel off parchment and place dough on a lightly floured surface.
• Cut out shapes with cookie cutters or a sharp knife.
• Arrange shapes on parchment lined baking sheets and refrigerate for another 30mins to an hour.
• Bake until golden around the edges, about 8-15mins depending on the size of the cookies.
• Once completely cooled, decorate as desired.

Royal Icing

315g – 375g Icing Sugar
2 Large Egg Whites
10ml / 2 tsp Lemon Juice
5ml / 1 tsp Almond Extract, optional

Directions
• Beat egg whites with lemon juice until combined.
• Sift the icing sugar to remove lumps and add it to the egg whites.
Tip: there are 2 amounts of icing sugar listed, the lesser amount is good for a flooding consistency, and the larger amount is for outlining, but you can add even more for a much thicker consistency good for writing. If you add too much icing sugar or would like to make a thinner consistency, add very small amounts of water, a few drops at a time, until you reach the consistency you need.
• Beat on low until combined and smooth.
• Use immediately or keep in an airtight container.
Tip: Royal Icing starts to harden as soon as it’s in contact with air so make sure to cover containers with plastic wrap while not in use.

Daring Bakers Challenge - July 2010 - Swiss Swirl Ice-cream Cake

The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.















Swiss Rolls
Ingredients
6 medium sized eggs
225 gm caster sugar extra for rolling
45gms plain flour
40gm cocoa powder,
2 tblsp /30ml boiling water

For the filling
500 ml whipping cream
1 vanilla pod, cut into small pieces of about ½ cm (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
70gms caster sugar

Method
1. Pre heat the oven at 200 deg C /400 deg F approximately. Brush the baking pans ( 11 inches by 9 inches ) with a little oil and line with greaseproof baking paper. If you have just one pan, bake one cake and then let the pan cool completely before using it for the next cake.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and sugar and beat till very thick; when the beaters are lifted, it should leave a trail on the surface for at least 10 seconds.
3. Add the flour mixture, in three batches and fold in gently with a spatula. Fold in the water.
4. Divide the mixture among the two baking pans and spread it out evenly, into the corners of the pans.
5. Place a pan in the centre of the pre heated oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes or till the centre is springy to the touch.
6. Spread a kitchen towel on the counter and sprinkle a little caster sugar over it.
7. Turn the cake on to the towel and peel away the baking paper. Trim any crisp edges.
8. Starting from one of the shorter sides, start to make a roll with the towel going inside. Cool the wrapped roll on a rack, seam side down. Repeat with the second cake.

Filling
1. Grind together the vanilla pieces and sugar in a food processer till nicely mixed together. If you are using vanilla extract, just grind the sugar on its own and then add the sugar and extract to the cream
2. In a large bowl, add the cream and vanilla-sugar mixture and beat till very thick.
3. Divide the cream mixture between the completely cooled cakes.
4. Open the rolls and spread the cream mixture, making sure it does not go right to the edges (a border of ½ an inch should be fine).
5. Roll the cakes up again, this time without the towel. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge till needed, seam side down.

Vanilla ice cream
Ingredients
625 ml whipping cream
1 vanilla bean, minced or 1 tsp vanilla extract
115gms granulated sugar

Method
Grind together the sugar and vanilla in a food processor. In a mixing bowl, add the cream and vanilla –sugar mixture and whisk lightly till everything is mixed together. If you are using the vanilla extract, grind the sugar on its own and then and the sugar along with the vanilla extract to the cream.
Pour into a freezer friendly container and freeze till firm around the edges. Remove from the freezer; beat till smooth and return to the freezer. Do this 3-4 times and then set completely.

I used an ice-cream maker instead which was really easy.

Hot fudge sauce
Ingredients
230gms caster sugar
24gms cocoa powder
15gms cornflour
355ml water
14gms butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method
1. In a small saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, cornflour and water.
2. Place the pan over heat, and stir constantly, till it begins to thicken and is smooth (for about 2 minutes).
3. Remove from heat and mix in the butter and vanilla. Keep aside to cool .

The chocolate ice cream
Ingredients
500 ml whipping cream
230gms caster sugar
24 gm cocoa powder

Method
1. Grind together the sugar and the cocoa powder in a food processor.
2. In a saucepan, add all the ingredients and whisk lightly.
3. Place the pan over heat and keep stirring till it begins to bubble around the edges.
4. Remove from heat and cool completely before transferring to a freezer friendly container till firm around the edges. If you are using an ice cream maker, churn the ice cream according to the manufacturer’s instruction, after the mixture has cooled completely.
5. Remove from the freezer, beat till smooth and return to the freezer. Do this 3-4 times and then set completely.

Putting it all together…
1. Cut the Swiss rolls into 20 equal slices (approximately 2 cm each).
2. Cover the bottom and sides of the bowl in which you are going to set the dessert with cling film/plastic wrap.
3. Arrange two slices at the bottom of the pan, with their seam sides facing each other. Arrange the Swiss roll slices up the bowl, with the seam sides facing away from the bottom, to cover the sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze till the slices are firm (at least 30 minutes).
4. Soften the vanilla ice cream. Take the bowl out of the freezer, remove the cling film cover and add the ice cream on top of the cake slices. Spread it out to cover the bottom and sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze till firm (at least 1 hour)
5. Add the fudge sauce over the vanilla ice cream, cover and freeze till firm (at least an hour)
6. Soften the chocolate ice cream and spread it over the fudge sauce. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4-5 hours till completely set.
7. Remove the plastic cover, and place the serving plate on top of the bowl. Turn it upside down and remove the bowl and the plastic lining. If the bowl does not come away easily, wipe the outsides of the bowl with a kitchen towel dampened with hot water. The bowl will come away easily.
8. Keep the cake out of the freezer for at least 10 minutes before slicing, depending on how hot your region is. Slice with a sharp knife, dipped in hot water.

I didn’t leave the cake in the freezer for long enough before I served it so had a bit of a mess with the fudge sauce, but it was great the next day.

Daring Kitchen Challenge - June 2010 - Chocolate Pavlovas with Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.

I was a little cynical when I first saw this challenge... chocolate pavlova almost seemed sacrilegious, pavlova has always been the basic pavlova with lemon curd, cream and fresh fruit. However I was pleasantly surprised when it all came together, the chocolate pavs where surprisingly light and the chocolate orange mousse with the marscarpone cream.

Chocolate Pavlovas
Recipe:
3 large egg whites
½ cup plus 1 tbsp (110 grams) white granulated sugar
¼ cup (30 grams) confectioner’s (icing) sugar
1/3 cup (30 grams) cocoa powder

This was very easy to make - the egg whites and sugar were combined in the mix master and the icing sugar and cocoa folded through once glossy. I piped the mixture into circles and a heart - the circles turned out better - and then Into the oven for 2 hours till dry and crisp.

Going into the oven:





















The finished product:


Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse
1 ½ cups (355 mls) cream
grated zest of 1 average sized lemon
9 ounces (255 grams) 72% chocolate, chopped
1 2/3 cups (390 mls) mascarpone
pinch of nutmeg
2 tbsp (30 mls) Grand Marnier (or orange juice) - I replaced this with Cointreau

1. Put ½ cup (120 mls) of the heavy cream and the lemon zest in a saucepan over medium high heat. Once warm, add the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let sit at room temperature until cool.

I popped this in the fridge to cool down faster and didn't have any problems.

2. Place the mascarpone, the remaining cup of cream and nutmeg in a bowl. Whip on low for a minute until the mascarpone is loose. Add the Grand Marnier and whip on medium speed until it holds soft peaks. (DO NOT OVERBEAT AS THE MASCARPONE WILL BREAK.)

3. Mix about ¼ of the mascarpone mixture into the chocolate to lighten. Fold in the remaining mascarpone until well incorporated.

This mousse worked out really well - the orange flavour was quite subtle, but VERY rich.









Mascarpone Cream
1 recipe crème anglaise
½ cup (120 mls) mascarpone
½ cup (120 mls) heavy cream

1. Prepare the crème anglaise. Slowly whisk in the mascarpone and let the mixture cool. Put the cream in a bowl and beat with electric mixer until very soft peaks are formed. Fold the cream into the mascarpone mixture.

The creme anglaise recipe I used was quite thick so I couldn't drizzle over the pav and used it as a third layer instead.








To assemble...
Spoon the mousse onto the chocolate pavlovas, then top with the mascarpone cream - i grated chocolate over the top to finish it off. It would have been lovely to have some fresh berries, maybe raspberries with this to freshen it up a bit. All in all a good dessert but I don't think I will be rushing to make this again.

Daring Kitchen Challenge - May 2010 - Croquembouche!

The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.



Fairly simple to make the individual elements - I found the most complex part was actually putting the whole thing together...

Profiteroles
The first batch of profiteroles I made went flat once they were pulled out of the oven, and didn't seem to puff up properly. When I made the second batch, I cranked the oven up to 250 degrees for the first 10 minutes, then turned it down to ~180 degrees for a further 20 minutes. The second batch worked much better and were a nice size. I made the profiteroles the night before and found they went a little soft - even though they were in an airtight container. Next time I will definitely make the profiteroles the day of eating.

Creme Patissiere
Fairly simple to make - although I did need to get the barmix out to make it smooth as the egg started cooking. I made a chocolate and a vanilla creme - both were nice, I think the vanilla was the favourite though.

Putting it all together
I decided to cover some of the puffs with toffee, and some with chocolate. I went through 4 batches of the toffee glaze as I found I couldn't use it fast enough. I went with a pile of puffs, rather than making a hollow tower. I put a layer on, then drizzled glaze over the layer to hold it together. To finish I drizzled chocolate and toffee glaze over the whole tower.

This was a slightly daunting first challenge, but after seeing it on Masterchef last year I had been keen to try it. I'll definitely do this again!