TWD/BWD: Double-Decker Salted Caramel Cake

 

Our second April recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie was the Double-Decker Salted Caramel Cake.  Apparently, there are quite a few April birthdays in this baking group!  (Actually, one of my daughters has an April birthday!)

This cake tasted to me like an old-fashioned cake doughnut, lightly spicy with a touch of caramel.  However, it took nearly twice as long to bake as the recipe suggested.  At 45 minutes, I could tell immediately that the center wasn't close to being baked. so it stayed in the oven for a good 20 extra minutes.

The other pet peeve I have about any cake, is that there is never enough frosting to both fill and cover the cake.  The recipe needs to be doubled to accomplish that.  So, there is a thin layer of filling, and a cake that is frosted 3/4 around.  (Not pictured in the photos.)  I did sprinkle some cocoa nibs on top, which added a delightful crunch.  Next time, I would also sprinkle some on the filling.

The caramel swirl showed up only in the top layer, but it was still delicious.

 

I liked the cake, but it was a lot for one person to eat.  I made notes in the cookbook about how to deal with that next time, as well as baking times and frosting amounts.

 

Head over to the Tuesdays with Dorie website to see comments from the other bakers.

Bolo do Caco (Madeiran Tile Bread)

This month, the Babes have taken a virtual trip to Madeira to sample some Bolo do Caco, or, Tile Bread.  Elizabeth, of Blog from OUR Kitchen, introduced us to this delicious bread.  

They are circular yeasted flatbreads made with sweet potatoes, so they're basically a Portuguese-style sweet potato roll.  I was able to select some white sweet potatoes for my biweekly veggie/fruit box.  (I had one leftover that I turned into chips.)  The bread can be baked in the oven, on a grill, or on the stove top.  I used my comal, since it perpetually sits on one of my burners ready for the next tortilla or flatbread.

The dough came together nicely, and didn't take too long to cook on the heated comal.  They were terrific toasted and slathered with butter.  But, then, what bread isn't?!

Stop by the Babes' websites to see what clever changes they made to these traditional flatbreads, and, of course, if you want to make them yourself, you can find a great recipe on Elizabeth's blog.

 

• Blog from OUR Kitchen – Elizabeth (Kitchen of the Month)
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories – Karen
• A Messy Kitchen – Kelly
• My Diverse Kitchen – Aparna 
• Bread Experience  - Cathy
• Thyme for Cooking - Katie
• My Kitchen in Half Cups – Tanna  
• Feeding My Enthusiasms – Elle

TWD/BWD: Goat Cheese-Black Pepper Quick Bread

 

 

Time for the first April bake for Tuesdays with Dorie.  I chose to make the Goat Cheese-Black Pepper Quick Bread.

Because I'm not a fan of goat cheese, I substituted feta cheese instead.  This is a savory quick bread with hints of lemon and a subtle heat from the black pepper.  It makes excellent toast, especially when slathered in butter!

 

Head over to the Tuesdays with Dorie website to see which delicious recipe the other bakers made.

TWD/BWD: Breakfast-in-Rome Lemon Cake

 

 

I've been waiting a long time to make this Breakfast-in-Rome Lemon Cake.  It's one of the first recipes I tagged after I got the cookbook, Baking with Dorie, by Dorie Greenspan.

 I decided to experiment by making half a recipe, and making individual bundtlettes.  Unintentionally, I also conducted a second experiment with this recipe.

All the hardware/software prep was done in advance.  As was merrily zesting a freshly picked lemon, when I suddenly realized I was zesting it over the flour mixture rather than the sugar.  Whoops!  There were several options I could have used to fix this, but, in the end, I decided just to rub the zest into the flour and see what would happen.

Now, if I hadn't exposed my little error, you would never have known the difference.  The cakes turned out beautifully delicious, light and spongy.  Next time, however, I will double check that I'm zesting over the correct bowl!

 

Stop by Tuesdays with Dories website to see which recipe the bakers made for the second March challenge.

TWD/BWD: Parisian Custard Tart

 

 

I love any kind of custard, so this Parisian Custard Tart from Baking by Dorie caught my eye when I first got the cookbook.  It's also known as Flan Patissier, and it reminds me of the pasteis de nata that I ate in Portugal.

 

I used puff pastry to line the pan; then I filled it with the delicious vanilla custard.  After baking it until the top is brown, I chilled it overnight before serving.

 

This is a great make-ahead dessert for all those custard-lovers out there!

 

Stop by the Tuesdays with Dorie website to see which dessert the bakers made for today.

TWD/BWD: Copenhagen Rye Cookies with Chocolate, Spices, and Seeds

 

 For the second February recipe, I made the Copenhagen Rye Cookies, filled with chocolate and a variety of seeds. The seeds added both crunch and flavor.  I kept getting a hint of banana, which I think was from the flax seeds.  I also love the sprinkling of Maldon salt on the top.

Apparently, I forgot to set the timer for the last batch.  I got distracted and didn't think much about it until I realized I hadn't heard the timer ring.  Hmmm.  Had I already taken them out of the oven?  So I checked.  And, there they were, merrily cooking away and getting over baked!  Even though they were extra brown, I decided they were salvageable.  They were especially tasty when dunked in a hot beverage, so no harm done.   (I wouldn't recommend this, however.)

So, this is another delicious cookie from Baking with Dorie, by Dorie Greenspan.  Check out the Tuesdays with Dorie website to see which recipes the other bakers made this week.

Babes Bake a Gneiss Bread

 

Kelly, of A Messy Kitchen, was our Kitchen of the Month for February.  Kelly challenged us to make Black Sesame Shokupan, using a different technique for making milk bread:  yudane (yoo-dah-nay).  You combine flour and boiling water and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight. The resulting bread is soft and tender and has a longer shelf life, although, to be honest, this type of bread doesn't last very long.

We had the choice of making a marbled bread using black sesame paste, or, a more traditional looking bread.  I couldn't resist the marbled bread!  I bought a jar of black sesame paste (before the recipe had been added to Kelly's post), which is a good thing because I need it for other bakes (orange-black sesame cookies, for one).

 

I had fun creating the marbled effect.  The end result was glorious!  Each slice shows a different pattern, and each slice is truly a work of art.  I should have photographed each slice to show the progression (overkill maybe?).  I was truly sad when the bread was gone.  Definitely a bread I will make again.  (Thinking of County Fair time this summer.)

This was a terrific choice for our first 2024 challenge.  Forgive the geological humor in the title, but I couldn't resist.

For the recipe, go to Kelly's website.

And, to see how the other Babe's did, check out their websites as well. 

 

• Blog from OUR Kitchen – Elizabeth
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories – Karen
• A Messy Kitchen – Kelly (Kitchen of the Month)
• My Diverse Kitchen – Aparna 
• Bread Experience  - Cathy
• Thyme for Cooking - Katie
• My Kitchen in Half Cups – Tanna  
• Feeding My Enthusiasms – Elle