Fall is in the air

For us here in Birmingham Alabama we have had a very mild end to summer and with a whisper of Fall in the air my thoughts turn to pumpkin! Yes it's that time again-YEA- pumpkin season. I wait all Spring and Summer to enjoy my favorite flavor pumpkin and spice.

To kick off my pumpkin obsession I made pecan pumpkin muffins with whipped cream cheese these muffins are not too sweet, light and packed with pumpkin finished with lightly sweet cream they are the perfect companion to a cup of coffee or tea. Go ahead whip up a batch and sit back and enjoy the promise that Fall is around the corner. Recipe here

When you can't be in Italy live like you are

Put out a plate of cheeses, meats, fruit and olives. Open a bottle of wine and sit back a spend a few hours eating and talking and somehow life is just a little sweeter...it's the wine;)

Daring Baker Time

The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonfulof Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular DobosTorte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: ExquisiteDesserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

The Dobos Torta is a five-layer sponge cake, filled with a rich chocolate butter cream and topped with thin wedges of caramel. (You may come across recipes which have anywhere between six and 12 layers of cake; there are numerous family variations!) It was invented in 1885 by József C. Dobos, a Hungarian baker, and it rapidly became famous throughout Europe for both its extraordinary taste and its keeping properties. The recipe was a secret until Dobos retired in 1906 and gave the recipe to the Budapest Confectioners' and Gingerbread Makers' Chamber of Industry, providing that every member of the chamber can use it freely.

I first encountered the Dobos Torta at the Culinary Institute, it was a staple of the pastry shop and a favorite of most. What's not to like in this "cake" thin layers of cake sandwiched together with chocolate butter cream a match made in heaven.

This torta is quite easy to put together if your not intimidated by the many steps. When making the sponge cake folding is the key also if you whip your egg whites a little less your sponge won't be as dry. The dryer the egg whites the dryer your sponge. For this cake the layers are all baked individually instead of being baked as a whole cake then split into layers. I must admit I thought about taking this shortcut but decided to be true to the recipe and bake each layer individually.

Look at those nice thin layers!

Like many of the bakers have commented I did not like this buttercream recipe. The only way I could keep it from turning to liquid was to keep it in the refrigerator even putting it together I also thought it was overly rich. Next time I make this I will use my old favorite buttercream.

I had no problem with the Carmel until it came to separating the pieces I tried to cut them and well they shattered breaking some of the pieces.
Since I had a problem with the Carmel breaking I decided to lay it flat on the cake rather than standing them up as is traditional.

I brushed the layers with Kahlua which did helped moisten them but wow did it add to the richness of this dessert. Everyone loved it but it was just way to rich for me and I knew we would never finish it so I took it to church. One of the older ladies at our church was telling me how much she liked it and I responded "yes but it is so rich it will hurt you" to which she followed "I like being hurt like that"


Check out all the other Tortes at The Daring Bakers Kitchen.
Thank you Angelia and Lorraine for this great challenge and once again can't wait till next month!

Wedding

Here they are finally...pictures from the wedding I did a few weeks ago! Why has this taken so long you ask? Well July has been just a little crazy for me. The wedding was mid -July, the next week was my church's VBS- one week of 16 pre-schoolers-I was exhausted! Then because it's been that kind of month our computer died, I mean dead! So here I find myself almost 3 weeks later just now getting this post done. Better late than never, I guess.

Brides Table
Hot food upstairs...spinach artichoke dip, BBQ meatballs, popcorn chicken egg rolls and dollar sandwiches

Cold appetizers downstairs antipasti, hummus dip, domestic cheese and fruit

Claire and Brandon were a joy to work with, I always say I am not doing another wedding then I meet great people that I get attached to and just make it so much fun!

Instead of a grooms cake we had a chocolate fountain with lots of sweet things to dip cheesecake pops, pretzels, strawberries, marshmallows and brownies...lots of sweets yum

Mocha coffee punch
Once again I have declared never again, but instead of never maybe just I'll never do the food and cake again. I really did not plan on both for this wedding but about one month before the wedding Clarie said "oh yea I can't believe we haven't talked about the cake" know she would not be able to get a cake on such short notice I agreed to do it. Wedding cakes in July are just a bad combination and offer many challenges. It was so humid I could not get the initial to stick to the cake to save my life sorry Clarie but it just wouldn't work for me.

Congratulations to you both and may this be the start of a wonderful adventure!

So here it is daring baker time of the month and yet again I haven't posted anything since last month..bad, bad, bad. Here in AL we have been extremely hot and honestly I just haven't felt like eating much of anything, unless it's cold.

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England

I was excited about this challenge because as I read the recipe I realized it was in fact an old favorite of mine I just never knew the name, I always called it Almond Tart. Anytime I want that perfect pastry for a cup of coffee this was what I would choose. The other thing that interested me in this challenge was the whole pudding/tart confusion.

My new favorite show is Gordon Ramsey's "The F Word "and every time he referred to the pudding course I was suddenly confused, did the English have a special course just for pudding? But as I watched I figured out pudding was synonymous with dessert...sometimes the English language can be so confusing;)

Is it a tart or is it a pudding?
Someone once said something like “The Bakewell pudding is a dessert.
The Bakewell tart is that girl over there.”

It’s a debate that rages on and we aren’t taking sides on this one. But we will say that many people call this pudding a tart.

So for this tart err pudding I had great expectations, I was going to get some local fresh blackberries or blueberries and make my own jam I had all these grand ideas whirling around in my head. Well they never quite made it out of my head and then I found myself scampering the night before posting date. As I dug around the refrigerator all I could find was just barley enough store bought raspberry jam and absolutely no almonds...I could kick myself for not buying them at the bulk store. I did however have almond paste and with a few variations I made it work, the texture was a little different than traditional frangipane but it tasted delicious! Maybe this is yet another evolution of the bakewell tart.



Shortbread Crust:
1 egg yolk
2 Tbs. very cold water
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
8 Tbs. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into
1/4-inch cubes

In a small bowl, stir together the egg yolk, water and vanilla; set aside.

To make the dough by hand, in a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and salt. Using a pastry cutter or 2 knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the egg mixture and mix with a fork just until the dough pulls together.

To make the dough in a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, stir together the flour, sugar and salt in the mixer bowl. Add the butter and beat on medium-low speed until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the egg mixture and beat just until the dough pulls together.

Transfer the dough to a work surface, pat into a ball and flatten into a disk. Use the dough immediately, or wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, about 30 minutes.

To roll out the dough, on a lightly floured board, flatten the disk with 6 to 8 gentle taps of the rolling pin. Lift the dough and give it a quarter turn. Lightly dust the top of the dough or the rolling pin with flour as needed, then roll out until the dough is about 1/8 inch thick. Use a small, sharp knife to cut out a round or rounds 2 inches greater in diameter than your tart pan.

Frangipane:
1 rolled-out round of tart dough

8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room
temperature
1/2 lb. almond paste, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup raspberry jam
1/3 cup sliced almonds

Fold the dough round in half and carefully transfer to a 9 1/2-inch tart pan, preferably with a removable bottom. Unfold and ease the round into the pan, without stretching it, and pat it firmly into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Trim off any excess dough by gently running a rolling pin across the top of the pan. Press the dough into the sides to extend it slightly above the rim to offset any shrinkage during baking.

Refrigerate or freeze the tart shell until firm, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 375°F.

Line the pastry shell with aluminum foil or parchment paper and fill with pie weights or raw short-grain rice. Bake for 20 minutes, then lift an edge of the foil. If the dough looks wet, continue to bake, checking every 5 minutes, until the dough is pale gold, for a total baking time of 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and reduce the heat to 350°F.

In a bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed or a whisk, beat the butter until smooth. Add the almond paste, one piece at a time, beating until smooth after each addition. While continuing to beat, sprinkle in the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the flour.

Spread the jam evenly over the bottom of the partially baked tart shell.


Spoon in the almond paste mixture and spread evenly over the jam. Sprinkle the surface evenly with the sliced almonds.


Bake the tart until the filling is golden and the middle is firm to the touch, 35 to 45 minutes.

All I need now is a cup of coffee...make mine iced;0

Check out all the other Bakewell Tarts here at Daring Bakers

The May challenge! | The Daring Kitchen

It's that time again wow these months are flying by especially when you have a deadline...which I missed oops the holiday at the beginning of this week has me totally confused (not hard to do).

"The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers."

Strudel beautiful strudel made from a very simple dough of flour, water and oil stretched just as thin as possible not something I just whip up every day. I have made strudel one other time in my pastry class at the CIA well I helped make it, it was a group project. So I was very excited about this challenge as I found it a challenge and believe it or not I did actually finish early even though I am posting late, one of these days I will get it all together!

This month we had the freedom to choose the filling for our strudel and right off the bat I knew it would involve cherries, hub's favorite and almond my favorite, isn't it cute how we complement each other! I had planned on making an apple, bluecheese and walnut one also but well that just never happened...good intentions

All the components for strudel is very easy it's just the stretching that is a bit tricky and in my case the getting it on the sheet pan proved to be the most difficult.

here is my dough beautifully stretched with a few minor holes, not to bad I thought

added my crumbs and since I decided to make cherry strudel I thought some almond paste crumbs would be more tasty then the traditional bread crumbs...and I like the added sweetness.
Now this is where my troubles come in, because I was in a hurry of course I am taking this on at like 9pm, I did not let the cherry filling fully cool and it just melted the pastry in some places making it very difficult to transfer the the sheet pan not to mention getting cherry juice on my favorite antique table cloth. To quote my grandmother "the hurrieder I go the behinder I get" dutch was her first language so hurrieder works.

I did have a big blowout as I transferred it to the sheet pan, so to keep it from hemorrhaging cherry filling during baking I made a strudel bandage out of the extra dough and just sort of patched it not right but it worked.

I topped it with a bit more of the crumb mixture...I love crumbs and baked. Not the most beautiful pastry I've ever made but man was it tasty!

couldn't resist adding a glaze not traditional but yummy!
A nice hot cup of coffee and it's a good day. Check out the other strudels at The Daring Kitchen
Jump in and make one yourself the recipe is for apple strudel but you can fill it with just about anything. Apple Strudel Recipe

Bad blogger Good Cooking Classes

Tomato Bruschetta Cooking Class on Food of Northern Italy

I must apologize to my followers there has not been much to follow lately. I don't know where time has gone but it has been flying, so many times I have thought I need to post that and just haven't gotten around to it. But those days are over so check back regularly to see what's happening in Pamela's Kitchen.


So just what has been taking up my time and what have you missed out on? I have started doing cooking classes. I have talked about it for a long time and this winter the opportunity arose at the local community school. So far I have done 6 classes at the school and 2 private cooking class parties. What is a cooking class party you ask? That's when you and a handful of your friends have me come into your home for a cooking demonstration and dinner. It's a lot of fun we talk, drink some wine, cook and then sit down to a GREAT dinner.

If you have missed my cooking classes here is some of the fun you have missed

learning to make fresh pasta

hands on rolling pasta

more rolling and cutting
separating the pasta

prepping shittake to saute

Cleaning a pork tenderloin

My favorite classes....so far the breads class which is my passion and the Italian Class my obsession!

Classes are ongoing leave me your e-mail for details or schedule a cooking class party!