TWD - Perfect Party Cake

I've been diligently baking and photographing, but I've been a bad bad blogger and haven't posted my TWD assignments in a little while. I'll play catch up in a couple of days. In the meantime, this weeks recipe for the Perfect Party Cake was selected by Carol of mix, mix… stir, stir. The recipe can be found on her blog and on pages 250-252 of Dorie Greenspan's "Baking: From My Home to Yours."

My co-workers and I have enjoyed this cake twice in the last couple of months. The first time I baked it, it was to celebrate impending nuptials. I made the cake exactly as written and it was fantastic! Everyone loved everything about this cake - the filling, the frosting, the coconut - it was all fantastic. The second time was for a birthday celebration and I turned the cake into cupcakes. I made both regular sized cupcakes and mini cupcakes.

The frosting was thick enough to use in a piping bag and each cupcake was topped with generous swirl of frosting and a sprinkle of coconut. Instead of using raspberry preserves, I simply added a fresh raspberry to each cupcake. The results were divine! This recipe is by far my favorite so far and I'll be using it again and again!

Please visit the rest of the TWD blogs to see what the rest of my fellow bakers did this week!

TWD - Fresh Mango Bread

Fresh Mango Bread. My co-workers have become accustomed to my TWD treats and have in fact, come to expect them. When I announced this weeks recipe, the first words out of our office managers mouth were "Did you get to pick?" I love mangoes. Love, love, love mangoes. Alas, this weeks recipe was chosen by Kelly from Baking with the Boys. Kelly is my hero!

I spent the first 18 years of my life growing up in Michigan before I headed to Miami for college. Among the many wonderful things I discovered in college, mangoes topped the list! It was hard to leave behind my beloved fruit when I moved back to Michigan. I am taking my son to Disney World at the end of June. Forget about the Mouse - can someone please direct me to a farmers market or a produce stand? I'm bringing an extra suitcase.

A fresh, juicy mango, freshly plucked from the tree is absolute bliss. It has been suggested that mangoes are best eaten in the bathtub and while I have never eaten one in a bathtub, I often suck on the pit while leaning over the kitchen sink. Yes, I'm a heathen!

OK - on to the mango bread. This bread recipe is fantastic! The combination of ginger and fruit chunks was sublime. I intend to make this bread frequently. My official taste tester thought it was delicious but I've been hoarding this one from my co-workers. I may share a few slices tomorrow! I managed to find some wonderful ripe mangoes at Whole Foods and the hardest part of this recipe was actually put the fruit into the dough instead of into my mouth! I fell a little short of the 2 cups of fruit that the recipe, uuummm ... suggested.

Please visit Kelly's blog for the recipe and the TWD Blogroll to check out the rest of the TWD bloggers. Now if you'll excuse me, that mango in the first photo has yet to be eaten ...

TWD - Tartest Lemon Tart

I have to apologize for being a super blog slacker lately! Last week the TWD group baked a Tiramisu Cake but I didn't blog about it because the dog ate my homework. For real. See ...

At the time of my cake baking he had only been a member of our household for a few hours and I set my cake layers out by the window to cool, just as I always do, and he just started chomping away when I had my back turned. He's new and cute and I'm an inexperienced dog owner ... c'est la vie. I'll try it again in a week or so. Now, on to this weeks TWD Baking Assignment! Today's Tartest Lemon Tart was chosen by Babette of Babette Feasts. One of my co-workers was just telling me about the movie Babette's Feast - looks like a sign that I should visit Blockbuster! Please visit Babette's Blog for the recipe, which can also be found on page 336 of Dorie Greenspan's "Baking: From My Home to Yours."

My tart tasted super lemony with just a tiny hint of bitterness, but it was fantastic! Dorie recommends using a blender to get a smooth custard but this super slacker was too lazy to dig out the blender so I used my food processor instead. I could not get a smooth custard so I strained it into the crust and was very happy with the results. My official taste tester loved it (and I did too)! My tart was very skinny - I think my tart pan may be 10 inches instead of the recommended 9 inches and it was not very photogenic!

Please visit the rest of TWD Bakers to see how they made out with the Tarty Tart! Next week is Mango Bread! I CAN. NOT. WAIT! I love mangoes!

TWD - Chocolate Cream Tart

This week's recipe for Chocolate Cream Tart was chosen by Kim of Scrumptious Photography. Please take the time to visit her blog. You will not only can you find the recipe for the Chocolate Cream Tart, you will also find absolutely stunning photos of yummy food! You can also find the recipe on pages 352 and 353 of Dorie Greenspan's "Baking: From My Home to Yours."

Once again, I struggled with the TWD recipe. I seem to have lost my baking mojo! I've baked Dorie's shortbread tart crust before with no problem but this time around, the crust was super dry and crumbly. I'm not sure where I went wrong - other than the fact that it was over baked - oops! The chocolate cream filling came together easy and was creamy and delicious. I decided to make mini tarts this time around.

I also decided to sneak in a layer of homemade peanut butter because ... well, just because I could. Everything except for the crust was to die for yummy! I will definitely try this one again. In the meantime, please visit the rest of the TWD bakers to see what they cooked up this week!

Daring Bakers - Cheesecake

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

Have you ever eaten something so good that the taste of it haunts you? Many years ago I made a Key Lime Cheesecake with Strawberry Butter Sauce that was absolutely divine. I think about that cheesecake with a frequency that borders on obsession. We were allowed to choose our own flavors for this challenge and not surprisingly, the key lime cheesecake crept back into my brain.

Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake was wonderfully smooth and creamy. I added about 1/2 cup freshly squeezed key lime juice which made it over the top delicious! The strawberry sauce wasn't as good as I remember but it certainly didn't stop me from eating it! I served a slice to my official taste tester and he pronounced it "evil" and licked his plate clean.

The photos are actually from a mini cheesecake that I kept at home for myself and the taste tester. After the photography session, I remembered some blackberries that I had stashed in the refrigerator so I made a quick single serving of blackberry butter sauce. Oh my ..... the combination of the key limes and blackberries was indescribable. Yum!

I can't wait to see what the rest of the Daring Bakers have concocted this month! You can also check out the new Daring Kitchen website which is full cool cooking stuff! May will also be the inaugural month of the Daring Cooks Challenges! I can't wait for these challenges!

TWD - Four Star Chocolate Bread Pudding

This week, Lauren of Upper East Side Chronicle chose the recipe for Four Star Chocolate Bread Pudding, which can be found on pages 410 and 411 of Dorie's "Baking: From My Home to Yours". The recipe can also be found on Lauren's blog.

So, bread pudding was this week's directive and I'm fairly certain that I failed miserably. I have never tasted bread pudding. I have never made bread pudding. I have no idea what bread pudding is supposed to look like or taste like. Since I was wondering around in unknown territory, I decided to halve the recipe and bake it up in ramekins. I had some leftover liquid and in hindsight I think I should have added more of the milk/cream mixture.

I tasted it at room temperature and after chilling overnight in the refrigerator and I wasn't really excited about it so I brought some to a co-worker who professes to love the stuff. She thought the taste and texture were excellent but the pudding was a little dense. I'm glad tried something new! Thanks Lauren!

Please check out the rest of the TWD bakers to see how they did. I'm sure they baked up some decadent creamy concoctions that will make me want to try this recipe again!

TWD - Banana Cream Pie

I have a confession to make .... I had a complete kitchen meltdown on Sunday. The kind of meltdown reserved for those moments when you have screamin' PMS and somebody stole the last chocolate bar from your super secret hiding spot. And left the wrapper the behind out of spite. You know what I'm talkin' about!

So here's the story. Phase I of the banana cream pie extravaganza required pie crust making. I made Dorie's "Good for Nothing", I mean "Good for Almost Everything" Pie Dough as instructed. I've baked this crust before and sadly had to throw it out because it shrank. It shrank A LOT! I decided to give it another go and valiant efforts resulted in ... shrinkage.

Sigh ... so I had a little fit and was ready to call the whole thing off. Sorry folks, no pie for you. Luckily, some cooler heads in the TWD group prevailed and I was convinced to give it another go round. For the second attempt, I decided to take the graham cracker crust route. Since I had some leftover macadamia nuts, I threw those in the mix too - just for good measure! :) I made a couple more changes along the way too. The biggest tweak to the recipe was my decision to use my 10-inch tart pan instead of a regular pie pan. I made a half batch of both the custard and the topping and used only a single layer of bananas.

Would you just look at that beautifully fluted and well behaved graham cracker macadamia nut pie crust! I was quite happy with the results! I've never baked banana cream anything so I had to dig into this one right away and despite my crust troubles, I think I may come back to this recipe! The custard was smooth and creamy and the addition of cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar wonderfully complemented the bananas and the macadamia nuts. The topping was rich and delicious with a light touch of sour cream.

Thanks to Amy of Sing for Your Supper for choosing this week's recipe which can be found on her blog and on pages 342 and 343 of Dorie Greenspan's "Baking: From My Home to Yours." Don't forget to check out the rest of the TWD bakers to see how they baked their Banana Cream Pie.