Krispy Kreme doesn't have anything on these.....

Doesn't your mouth water already? 

This past Friday was Doughnut Day in my Laminated Dough and Pastries. We made Apple Fritters, Glazed Doughnuts, and Cinnamon Twists.

And oh my goodness, what yummy confections they were!! Krispy Kreme didn't have anything on these! I know I've said this before about product we've made in this class, but honestly, these were the best doughnuts ever!

Sheeting the Dough; Assembling Apple Fritters. 

For all the baking I've done, I've never actually deep fried anything!  It was a bit nerve-wracking to fry at first, because I was so scared about burning the fritters/doughnuts or about not keeping the oil hot enough to actually fry the doughnuts.....  Not to mention the potential of burning myself....

Frying a fritter; Glazing a fritter in honey glaze

But since this experience, I've now become more confident in frying... It isn't a scary as it may seem.... no doughnuts were marred in the experience and I didn't suffer any harm. I think I could tackle it at home as well!

Fresh doughnuts, just begging for a cup of coffee! 

Chef gave us some pointers about frying. Always keep your oil around 365 F. Depending on the the number of items you want to fry at a time and the temperature of the items, you might want to have the oil temp slightly higher prior to frying to allow the temp to always stay above 365 F.

I really do not want to admit how many of these awesome doughnuts I've consumed since Friday..... A. was here this weekend, so I knew we'd both enjoy them.... I've never seen A. get quite so excited about something I've baked!

I really did plan to give some of them away, but they seemed to disappear into our stomachs too fast.....  So addicting! Besides, doughnuts really taste the best when they're warm and the glaze is still drippy :)

There's really nothing like a fresh doughnut. 

My fear of frying is now conquered and I'm certain I'll make these again.....  My head is already spinning with all the potential flavor combinations.....

When life gives you key lime curd....

I really really hate waste, a fact that just might come from the fact that I'm also a pack rat.  I especially hate throwing away food.  I always feel like I'm throwing away my money (and hard work).

I've been tweeking a key lime curd recipe to use in my practical final for "Intro to Cakes" so I've had several batches of curd in my refrigerator, most of which have gone bad before I've had a chance to think of something to do with them...

While searching in my mess-of-a-freezer for bread to have with my dinner, I discovered some shortcrust dough from earlier this fall. And inspiration struck!  Why not make a tart shell and fill it with some of the curd!

And why not bake the tart shell in my toaster oven because it was already pre-heated and cooking my dinner.   Voila, Key Lime Curd Tart!

getting ready to eat my tart while watching a "Grey's Anatomy" marathon

Alas, the crust got a little darker than I originally wanted (a little over "caramelized").... so I'm thinking that perhaps the toaster oven doesn't heat quite as evenly as I originally thought.  Still tasty though!

I like making smaller, individual desserts because I'm quite often creating for just myself. And I have almost zero willpower and an insatiable sweet tooth.

Because this curd recipe was modified to be paired with a very sweet coconut cake, it's a very tangy (aka tart) curd.  Almost too tart.  I did contemplate adding whipped cream or meringue, but.... I didn't this time.  Perhaps in the future.

For one of the few times in my life, I actually could not finish the entire dessert!

I'll include recipes tomorrow....  I need to find them on my other computer....

Happy Halloween: Pumpkin Cake

Happy Halloween!

Although I really will not be celebrating today, my apartment complex did have a Halloween party earlier this week.  The party also featured a contest for the best food item made with pumpkin.  So, I decided to bake a pumpkin cake to both enter the contest and practice my cake assembly/icing skills further.

I used a recipe from Martha Stewart's website for the cake and then modified the cream cheese icing we use in my Intro to Cakes class for the frosting.

I made the cake the night before the party and planned to ice it after I was done with class for the day. During my final class of the day, I had a sudden inspirational thought: Why not use caramel in the cake decoration as well? I knew I should have made the caramel myself (it's really pretty simple) but I was short on time, and most of all, I didn't want to do the dishes from making it.  I end up doing a lot of dishes in Culinary School and really dislike doing them again when I get home.....  So, I bought a jar of caramel sauce.

I thought I could get the caramel sauce to make a spider web-type pattern, but it was a little too runny to hold the pattern.  I could not even get the cake photographed before the caramel started running off....

Oh well, it still tasted good.  Instead of plain cream cheese icing, I decided to make a spiced cream cheese icing.  I've grown up with a phenomenal pumpkin pie recipe, courtesy of my late Great Grandma, full of great spices that all compliment pumpkin quite well. I used those spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground ginger) in the cake as well as in the icing.

I did slightly under-judge how much icing I would need for a 4 layer cake.  And the jar of my caramel sauce came to my rescue! I used caramel between two of the layers and then cream cheese between only one of the layers (always pipe an icing "dam" though when using a less solid filling, such as caramel or a fruit curd etc.).  Here's what it looked like after being sliced at the party.  Sorry the lighting wasn't quite so great....

I had to leave the party early, so I haven't heard yet if I won, but everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy my cake!

Here's the recipe, modified from Martha Stewart's

Pumpkin Cake with Spiced Cream Cheese Icing and Caramel Sauce

Pumpkin Cake
Ingredients
      2 sticks of unsalted butter, at room temperature
      3 cups of granulated sugar
      4 eggs, at room temperature
      3 1/3 cups flour
      2 tsp cinnamon
      1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
      1/2 tsp ground ginger
      1 tsp salt
      1 tsp baking powder
      1 tsp baking soda
      1 cup milk (I used cream, though because I was out of milk)
      1 can of organic pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)

Instructions
1.  Preheat oven to 350 F.  Butter 2 8x2 inch round cake pans and 1 6x2 inch round cake pan.  Line with parchment paper and butter the parchment as well.

2.  Stir together the flour, spices, baking powder, and salt.

3.  Cream the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy in the bowl of of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until combined. Add the pumpkin puree. Add the dry ingredients alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Pour into prepared pans and bake until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Note that the smaller 6" cake will take less than the 8" cakes. The 8" cake should bake in around 50 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Spiced Cream Cheese Icing
Ingredients
      12 oz softened cream cheese
      8 oz softened unsalted butter (2 sticks)
      4 oz powdered sugar
      Sprinkle cinnamon, ground ginger, and freshly grated nutmeg, to taste

Instructions
1.  Add the spices to the powdered sugar and whisk to combine.

2.  Cream the cream cheese and the spiced powdered sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until well combined. Do no over whip.

2.  Add the softened butter and mix until combined.

p.s. Here's my halloween costume from the party! Do you get it?  :)

This post contains affiliate links, meaning Sweet Treats makes a small commission off items purchased 

after an Amazon link is clicked with no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support.

Better late than never: Daring Bakers Oct 09 Challenge

Yes, I know I'm suppose to post results on Oct 27 for Daring Bakers' Challenges.....  But this month I am late :( Sorry!  I had several awful tries and then just couldn't get everything together before I left on my trip to ND.

I don't mean to be presumptuous, but I very rarely have total and complete disasters in the kitchen. Well, I guess I may when it comes to cooking, but very very unusual for baking.  However, I have been quite humbled by this challenge....

I give you: The Daring Bakers' French Macaron Challenge!

my one lonely macaron

The 2009 October Daring Bakers' Challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming's The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

She writes, in the introduction to the challenge:

Unless you’ve been frozen in permafrost for the past five years, you’ve likely noticed that cupcake bakeries have popped up all over like iced mushrooms. Knock one down, and three take its place. Much has been made about not only the cupcake’s popularity, but also its incipient demise as the sweet du jour. Since we seem to be a culture intent on the next sensation, pundits, food enthusiasts and bloggers have all wondered what this sensation might be. More than a few have suggested that French-style macaroons (called macarons in France) might supplant the cupcake. This may or may not come to pass, but the basic premise of the French macaroon is pretty tasty.

In the United States, the term “macaroon” generally refers to a cookie made primarily of coconut. But European macaroons are based on either ground almonds or almond paste, combined with sugar and egg whites. The texture can run from chewy, crunchy or a combination of the two. Frequently, two macaroons are sandwiched together with ganache, buttercream or jam, which can cause the cookies to become more chewy. The flavor possibilities and combinations are nigh endless, allowing infinitely customizable permutations.

I started making Macarons this summer, when I tried one my co-worker Teena made.  It was so delicious!  I couldn't believe I'd never tried them before (or tried baking them).  I had really good success with making Pistachio macarons in July and even used them as garnish on my birthday cake in July.

However, I think the move to SC and the great increase in humidity may have had some effect. I made two attempts, neither of which was very successful. I ended up with a few good options, but then had major issues with my filling and was down to two macarons.  THEN when I was getting ready to photograph these two lonely macarons, one broke :(  (which of course meant I had to eat it.)  So, I only had one to photograph.

I had so many ideas of options for macarons and fillings but decided on two kinds, both based on beverages.  I wanted to do an Earl Grey macaron with vanilla bean white chocolate ganache and then an Espresso macaron with dark chocolate ganache. Alas, though, I only got the Earl Grey option done, and a pretty poor execution at that.

Earl Grey macaron with vanilla bean white chocolate ganache

I'm still not exactly sure what went wrong with my recipe.... I'm not even going to post it because of my terrible results.  I do fully intend to figure out a way to fix it, however.  I will say this, though, that to get the Earl Grey flavor, I ground (via a mortar and pestle) the contents of one Harney & Sons Imperial Earl Grey tea sachet.  And I used another tea sachet to infuse the cream I used in the White Chocolate Ganache. The ganache was also a disaster, probably due to the fact that I used a greater ratio of infused cream because I wanted the added Earl Grey flavor......

My macarons failed to develop much for "feet" and worst of all, they all stuck horribly to the pan.  With the second batch, I tried putting them back in the oven to see if they set further if they would come off the pan, but then I ended up forgetting them in the oven, and they turned too brown (plus still stuck to the pan).  They also shattered really easily.....

I spoke with a couple of my Chefs from school, and it was recommended that I use a recipe with the addition of Meringue Powder and potentially age my egg whites further.  I'll give those options a try and report back!

Overall, the mess-ups still tasted good, and I really do hope to make my duo of tea and coffee macarons sometime soon!

Apple Strudel Class

While I was back in Grand Forks, I taught a Hand Stretched Austrian Apple Strudel Class at the UND Wellness Center Culinary Corner. It was a BLAST! I had forgotten how much I really enjoy teaching classes like that..... And I think everyone really enjoyed it too!

This was also the first class my parents were able to attend. Thanks Dad for taking pictures!

My Mom and friend Kelli helped me prep for the class.

As is visible from the pictures, I taught in my full culinary uniform, so that the participants could see what I wear while in school.

Demonstrating how to weigh eggs....

It was one of the largest classes I've ever taught, but I really didn't even notice.... And I also knew several of the participants, but that didn't seem to make me nervous either.

What I was a bit nervous about was the stretching process, because I do not have tons of experience... Overall, though, we got it stretched pretty well (friend Kelli helped me, once again)

Spattering the butter over the stretched strudel

Then, of course, one of the most important part of the class is the serving......

....and the eating!!

Thanks so much again to the UND Wellness Center Culinary Corner and Karina Wittmann for allowing me this opportunity! I hope to be able to teach other classes when I'm back in the future! Thank you also to all the participants and to my parents and friend Kelli for all their help. And I must not forget to thank my kitchen assistant Gray as well. :)

Sweet Place: Patrick's French Bakery

I traveled back home to Grand Forks recently for a long weekend trip. The trip was great, but the getting to Grand Forks part was not so great.... I ended up getting stuck in Minneapolis overnight (so close to home, yet so far away) and then my dad ended up just driving to get me instead of taking my final flight back.

While I was extremely upset about not getting back on time (and extremely might be an understatement), one good thing was that since my dad picked me up, I got to spend some extra time with him and we also stopped for lunch at one of my favorite Bakery/Cafe's in the world: Patrick's French Bakery.

We were going to just have a snack, but then realized how close it was to lunch (and that my stomach was still on Eastern time).

I ate a Bouchee a la Reine which is flaky puff pastry filled with chicken, chives, mushrooms and dumplings in a creamy sauce.

Absolutely Delicious!!

Then, for dessert, my dad and I split a Feullantine Pralinee Chocolate Cake which was also delicious. Very nice chocolate mousse with a cake layer on the bottom, entirely enrobed in chocolate ganache and garnished with gold leaf.

I've always really enjoyed just gazing at the beautiful pastries inside the case, but now, since I'm studying Baking and Pastry, I looked with new eyes....

Look at those delicious viennoissrie products!

I think I now have some ideas for new danish to try to make sometime back in Charleston....

I was a bit worried that after making such amazing product in my Laminated Doughs and Pastries class that I would be disappointed by Patrick's products.... But was I ever wrong! Everything was still as wonderful as ever.

We bought several things to take home for dessert that night (where I think I gave my grandparents one of the shocks of their lives because they didn't know I was coming). Patrick's Cheesecake, the Lemon Meringue Tarte and the Napoleon were eaten quite quickly :)

So, I guess getting stuck has its perks after all :)

Danish, Danish, Danish.....

I've had a danish filled week!

In Bakeshop Production, we had our only Laminated Dough week, which was both wonderful and sad all at the same time. I've been so spoiled in my dedicated Laminated Doughs class because we make everything entirely from scratch, where as in Bakeshop, due to time constriction, we worked entirely with commercially-made dough.

I really do understand that many restaurants and bakeshops have to rely on commercially-made dough, because the process of laminating is so long and laborous. But I love the laminating process and it seemed like the flavor was just not quite the same.....

So, we made turnovers with commercial puff pastry.

As I believe I’ve mentioned before, there are some really funny people in my class, so we’re continually laughing.

We were able to choose what shapes we wanted to do, as well as which fillings to use. I used entirely blueberry because it is one of my favorites.

The turnovers looked really beautiful before going in the oven. Unfortunately, the commercial puff pastry acts differently than the puff pastry we’ve made in Laminated Doughs..... It really puffed unevenly and failed to hold my designs I cut. Plus, several of my edge seams opened. And then I wasn’t completely thrilled with the flavor afterwards..... I’m afraid I’m getting really really spoiled by the products we’re making my dedicated Laminated Doughs class. I even forgot to take a picture of our final turnovers!

After the turnovers, we also made danish. Even though I’m in laminated doughs and pastries, we haven’t yet done much danish (later in the semester we will). So it was interesting to see how the different danish shapes are made.

We filled them with various pie fillings and then some cream cheese as well, if we wanted. Here’s how I chose to make- up my danish...

Then, after they were baked, Chef demonstrated glazing with an apricot glaze.

One especially fun thing about this class is that although we were working with commercially made dough, Chef did let me help demonstrate how a laminated dough is created. So, I made a half batch of our normal Croissant dough from Laminated Dough class and we mixed it, proofed it, and did a partial lamination in class.

Everyone in class thought the products we made were amazing. And yes, they did taste okay... probably better than things you might buy in a store... However, I’m getting spoiled and now would much rather not have to use commercial products, if I can help it, in the future.

So, after the Bakeshop laminated class, I was really happy to go to regular Laminated Doughs. And let me tell you, we made some AWESOME products this week.....

One extra help we had this week was that we had final laminated dough all ready to go, so we just had to concentrate on making fillings and cutting the dough into the correct shapes.

We made Apple Fontains, which have also been called “El Baños" by Chef Jeff’s previous classes. Hopefully I've spelled that right.... I'm a former French student, not Spanish...

The name “El Baños” comes from the shape of the dough, if it’s cut on the square and not on the diamond. See the above right and see if you can figure out the name :) They’re suppose to look like “fountains” hence the original name.

Then, we proofed the dough and made apple filling (by cooking apples in South Carolina Cotton Honey and a little cream) before filling the fontains. Delicious!

Here’s an image of one of my classmates adding some “Snow” garnish to her Fontains.

We also made a Streusel Danish with Sour Cream Pastry Cream, Apricots and a Cherry.

The apricots were torched a bit before baking to give them a nice caramelized effect.

I wasn’t quite sure what I would think of the sour cream pastry cream, but it was really delicious.... The sour cream just gave it a slightly lighter taste.

Then on top of the pastry cream, we added the caramelized apricot (with a cherry in its center) before baking them.

Next came the Cranberry Apricot Scrolls.

These were probably the easiest of the ones we made on Friday, but they also are one of my favorites (although it's very difficult to choose due to the fact that they were all extremely delicious!).

I’ve had a similar pastry before, only raisins were used in place of dried cranberries. I’m usually a big raisin fan, but I do admit that the cranberries were pretty delicious too....

And last, but not least, were the Banana Coconut Cream danish.

We made a delicious coconut cream mixture and piped it onto croissant dough, topped it with some banana slices, and proofed it.

After they had risen, we added some banana and coconut garnish on top before baking them.

Yummy too!

There simply is no comparison between the flavors of the commercial dough and the dough we make. Absolutely no comparison.

Is your mouth watering yet? :)