Rewind: Crispy-Topped Brown Sugar Bars

I'm a conscientious person and love to bake, so how come I am already needing to "catch up" with baking through Baking Chez Moi?  Two weeks ago I had an unexpected illness that threw me into the hospital.  I was really sick.  The crisis is over and I'm slowly regaining energy and stamina.  When I'm not sleeping, I'm resting, and this has been frustrating since I'm ordinarily an active person.  Fortunately, my family has taken up the slack and my good friend Roberta gave me her best "mother advice":  Don't, don't overdo anything! Don't go bake any cookies or anything!! Just take it easy.

I took Roberta's advice for as long as I could, but today I did bake.  It was great to be back in the kitchen and happily, these bars are easy to make.

I heeded the advice of those who wrote in on the Tuesday Chatter and decided to bake the crust for a shorter time than Dorie suggests.  After 13 minutes, my crust was puffy and reasonably golden so I pulled it out, put on the chocolate, and back in the oven.  

I had attempted the caramelized Rice Krispies yesterday.  My energy was low and I didn't stir them quite as vigorously as I should have, and they turned out a little clumpy but good enough.

The sugar starting to burble

The verdict of my family is that these are quite tasty.  And I'm so  glad to have had enough energy to bake them--even though I'm a week late.

One happy little treat

Lemon Madeleines

Every cookie has its place and time and madeleines want to be eaten right away with tea or coffee.   These lovely lemon madeleines with their lemony glaze are especially yummy with tea.

This is a straight-forward recipe found in Dorie Greenspan's Baking Chez Moi on page 212.  The ones I baked yesterday didn't get the "bump" that some Madeleines have but I still have some batter left and will try again today!  (My madeleine pan only has 9 molds so it takes a bit of time to bake them since you have to leave them in the fridge for at least an hour.)  If I'm successful with the bump, I'll edit this post---

Adding the glaze

Out of the oven with the glaze happily melted

Pretty and delicious!

Pink Grapefruit Tart

First let me say that I live in Rochester, NY, which is just south of Lake Ontario.  We generally have long winters with a lot of snow--we are the third snowiest city in the U. S.  But this has been one very cold, very snowy winter.  This picture of my house makes it almost look pleasant--sort of winter wonder-land-y.  But since that picture was taken on a cold, sunny day last week, we've had even more snow.  And it remains very cold:  today it is 7 degrees F with the wind blowing and it is expected to drop down to -8 F.  All I've got to say, is thank goodness for central heat, indoor plumbing, and baking!  Those three are keeping me sane.

The snow is building up.

I love baking tarts because they are so beautiful.  And because often I am able to make parts of it over a couple of days and then assemble it on the day I plan to serve it.  So it was with this tart.

Peeling and sectioning the grapefruit.  I improved with practice.

Straining out the zest before I blending the cream in the blender.

I wasn't quite sure what "set" meant, but I think I got it just right.    The layer of almond cream cooling.

The decorated tart.  I used the idea Dorie shared when she posted a picture on Facebook.

Getting ready to serve to our friends.  We had French Onion Soup with homemade baguettes.

There were lots of oooohhhs and aaahhhhs when my friends took a look at this tart.  And it was so delicious, that there wasn't a bit left!

Marquise au Chocolate

I love working with chocolate and cream and so this was a delightful treat to make and I ended up with a bonus . . . . . . leftover egg whites!

For the Marquise you beat up egg yolks and sugar, melt a LOT of chocolate, whip up some cream, and gently blend it all together, then freeze it in a loaf pan.  Then serve it up!

Mixing the cream and the chocolate and then . . . hours later, enjoying a slice.

After I popped this yummy loaf into the freezer, I wondered what I might do with the egg whites.  Usually I freeze them, but today I decided to make marshmallows!  I'd tried them twice before using the recipe from Baking from my Home to Yours, and while they were delicious, they were super sticky.  I suspected that the problem had been the humidity in the air while I was making the marshmallows.  Right now, it is super cold outside and with the furnace running frequently, the air inside is quite dry.  I think I was right about the humidity because this time the marshmallows turned out wonderfully well!

Marshmallows from the egg whites!

In hot chocolate.

They melted so wonderfully!

I wonder how the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers did this week?  And also, what happened to those leftover egg whites!  Check them out here.

Brown Butter Vanilla Bean Weekend Cake

This week the Tuesdays with Dorie bakers baked the very lovely Brown Butter Vanilla Bean Weekend Cake from her book Baking Chez Moi.   Dorie says it's the kind of cake that sits out on the counter, inviting you to have a little nibble as you pass by.  I'm not sure this cake will last the whole weekend in our house!

It's an easy cake to bake with three fun elements:

1. browning the butter
2. working vanilla bean seeds into the sugar with your fingers
3. adding rum!

I love browning butter--seeing those little brown bits appear is fascinating chemistry magic.

Bubbling butter

Just about right

I don't usually have vanilla beans in the house because they are sooooooo pricey.  But I ordered three from Penzey's and used one for this delightfully nibble-able cake.  I forgot how much fun it is to work the vanilla seeds into sugar!  Such a lovely tactile baking experience!  

The vanilla bean!

Vanilla seeds in the sugar

And the rum--well, I don't drink alcohol except for a very occasional half-a-glass of wine, but I must say that adding rum to this cake is inspired.  When I first started baking through Baking from My Home to Yours I used to leave out the alcohol if Dorie said it was optional.  I've become a convert, however.   In Dorie's recipes, it's never too much (my big fear).  That little bit of alcohol imparts just the right amount of flavor and amps up the butter and the vanilla flavors in the cake. 

Nibbling away at the cake!  Will it last the whole weekend?

We have been nibbling all weekend--think I'll go check to see if there is a little sliver left for me!

Have a look at what the other Tuesdays with Dorie Bakers think of this lovely little cake.

Granola Energy Bars

I was eager to try these granola bars because I've tried two other recipes in the past and neither was successful.  Dorie never disappoints!

As I do a lot of baking and have made my own granola for years, I had all of the ingredients on my shelves -- save one:  rice syrup.  Frankly, I had never heard of rice syrup.  But living in Rochester, NY, the home of Wegmans grocery stores, it was easy to find.

I assembled all the ingredients and then started. The first big problem was that I couldn't open the jar of rice syrup!  It was brand new, but sticky.  I tried all my jar opening tricks:  whacking the lid to break the seal, prying up an edge of the lid, using a round rubber grippy thing, and finally putting a rubber band around the lid and then using the grippy thing.  Success!

Ironic TAMPER SEAL label.  No one could easily get into this jar!

I mixed everything up, no problem.  I loved Dorie's encouragement to try different things and so I decided to use 1/2 cup dried cherries and 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips.

The technique in making these is to heat up the rice syrup with 2 Tbsp. butter, then pour it over the toasted granola mixture and mix it all up before putting it in a pan.  I saved the chocolate chips for last, but it was still too warm for them and they melted away as I stirred them in!

They aren't overdone.  The mini chips melted and made everything chocolate-y.

The technique that Dorie used to press the mixture down into the pan right after they came out of the oven was brilliant!  My other attempts at making granola bars have always resulted in a falling-apart mess.  These are winners because they hold together and taste good. 

Ready to be taken to lunch.

I took these to a lunch with my teacher friends.  When these women get together, there is always an abundance of food.  My contribution was perfect--they could take one home to eat at another time!

Gingerbread Bûche de Noël

This is an absolutely beautiful dessert!  It does take a bit of time, but it is possible to make the pralines, filling, and cake a day ahead so that on serving day, it's only necessary to make the beautiful, billowy frosting and assemble the log.

This was really fun to make, from making the pralines, to watching the cake batter double in size, to making the beautiful frosting.  I was so engrossed that I didn't take pictures!

Whipping up the cake

The finished log

I wasn't quite sure how or when to serve this because there are only three of us in the house.  But Dorie's serving idea included the suggestion to serve it on its own with champagne.  So yesterday I called some friends and invited them to come over that evening  to share the Bûche with some champagne!  They came, we ate, drank, and talked!  A wonderful gathering made possible by baking of the Bûche!  Perhaps it will be a new holiday tradition!

Happy holidays to all!