Citrus-berry terrine

Not sure what I can tell you about this, except that it was delicious! I made a half recipe sometime back in June, with oranges and an assortment of berries and enjoyed it for dessert with whipped cream, for breakfast (it's just fruit after all) and probably for lunch too, as I needed to clean out the fridge before leaving town. I may even have had it for a midnight snack if the photos of it sliced are any indication. So, you get the big picture and the end piece, okay? 

This is a French Fridays post--we don't publish recipes. Thanks to Laws of the Kitchen for being in a much earlier time zone--I was avoiding packing last night and saw her post, which reminded me to put my own up.

The Daring Bakers make panna cotta and florentines

Pistachio marzipan panna cotta with florentines

Who needs an excuse to make panna cotta? The Daring Bakers, I guess! I don't why I don't make it more often: it's simple, delicious, and impressive enough that it looks like you were slaving over it, when in fact the fridge did most of the work. I made a number of variations this month, and I love when a challenge inspires me to eat nothing but pudding for a month. It's a good thing the canal is still open and I can skate it off!

Pistachio Dome

I never got the challenge florentines made, as I decided to go with a more traditional (I think), recipe using almonds and candied orange peel. This was great as I made a big jar of candied orange peel in December and it was taking up precious space in my fridge.  I found this recipe here, and quite enjoyed these confections. They're more like a candy than a cookie, meaning rich and delicious. 

Ginger-vanilla panna cotta with blood orange gelee

I have belatedly realized that I haven't written down any of my recipes for this month. I really need to measure and write things down when I'm in the kitchen rather than assume I'll remember weeks later. I did not use the challenge panna cotta recipe either, as I knew it'd be too rich for me. The first panna cotta I made, during a gray and cloudy week, was ginger-vanilla with a blood orange gelee. I adapted the recipe from the panna cotta plus gelee I had posted just a couple of days before the challenge was announced. I omitted the Amaretto and steeped some freshly chopped ginger in the cream/milk mixture.

Coconut panna cotta with tangerine, blood orange and cardamom granita

Next, I combined a recipe I was testing with one of my own. I was testing the granita above (which was lovely) and decided to make a panna cotta to serve it on, just for kicks. Inspired by some beautiful coconut panna cottas in the Daring Kitchen forum, I set out to create my own lighter version. I love coconut milk, but again, I didn't want it to be too rich. So, I combined it with milk and Cointreau and I really enjoyed the results. You can find the coconut panna cotta recipe here and the granita recipe here.

I love this green

The pistachio marzipan panna cotta was my absolute favourite. I had some leftover homemade pistachio marzipan from these amazing brownies, so I combined it with some milk and a bit of cream to make a soft, slightly textured and very pistachio panna cotta. I am really kicking myself for not writing this one down, as it was outstanding. That said, I doubt I'll be blanching and peeling any more pistachios to make more marzipan, so it might just have to be a happy memory. I think I already whined about that job in the brownie post so I'll stop now. If I do have a burst of enthusiasm, you'll be the first to know.

Thanks so much to Mallory of a sofa in the kitchen for the great challenge idea. Be sure to check out the Daring Kitchen homepage to see a slide show of some stunning creations. Here's the challenge PDF, complete with recipes and helpful links. 

Blog-checking lines: The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

Clementine almond cake

Do you go through crates of clementines every winter like I do? I can't get enough of them before Christmas, and can easily eat ten a day. After Christmas, though, I find I don't care for them nearly as much. They still taste good, but they just don't call out to me the same way. Every year I buy a box in January and they hang around until I have to throw the last few away. This year I decided to make a cake with some of them, and if the batter was any indication, I'll be buying a lot more clementines. (It's still in the oven as I write this)

This is a Nigella Lawson recipe, which I found on the Food Network website, as well as on Smitten Kitchen. The recipes are the same, but the SK site has the weight measurements, and lots of good tips about baking the cake. Do you read the comments when you look up recipes? I always do, because (a) I'm nosy, and (b) I like to know what other bakers thought. It's funny that the same cake got rave reviews and people were generally enthusiastic about it on the SK site, but many on the Food Network thought it was a lot of work, and not sweet enough. Different audiences, I suppose. I thought this was an incredibly easy cake to make. 2 hours of unattended boiling for the clementines, a quick whirl in the food processor, and the rest can be mixed together by hand. I even blanched my own almonds and ground them, but that's only because I'm a nut. Actually, I have a store nearby that sells the freshest and tastiest nuts, and I'd rather use them than some flavourless, overpriced dust.

I managed to leave the cake overnight before tasting it, and it was well worth the wait. It was very moist, orangey, sweet enough, but with a very slight marmalade bitterness, and a bit crunchy from the almonds. I saw Meyer lemons on sale the other day, and I think they'd be marvelous here too. I served it with some candied orange peel, but only because I have a quart jar of it in the fridge and need to use it up. You really don't need anything but a fork.

Clementine cake
Source: Nigella Lawson via Smitten Kitchen
4 or 5 clementines (mine weighed about 400 grams, or just under a pound)
6 eggs
1 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar (225 grams)
2⅓ cups ground almonds (250 grams), or whole, blanched almonds
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder

1. Cover the clementines with cold water, bring to a boil, and simmer for 2 hours. Drain and cool to room temperature.
2. Preheat oven to 375℉. Grease an 8" springform pan and line with parchment. (I used a 9" pan)
3. If you are beginning with whole almonds, combine them and the sugar in the food processor and process until finely ground. Add baking powder and pulse to mix. If you have purchased ground almonds, go to the next step.
4. Cut clementines in half and remove any seeds. Add the cooked clementines, peel and all to the  food processor and process until reduced to a thick orange puree. This will only take a few seconds.
5. Beat eggs and add almonds, sugar and baking powder. Add the clementines and mix well.
6. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 60 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. You may need to cover the cake with foil after 30 minutes or so to prevent over-browning. I took mine out after 50 minutes, but I discovered that it was still a bit squidgy in the very centre, and I should have used the foil and left it in the oven a few more minutes.
7. Cool in pan on rack. Unmold when cool. This cake is best made the day before, and it keeps well. You may sprinkle the top with icing sugar or make a simple icing sugar and clementine juice glaze, but it really doesn't need it. 

I have submitted this for Sweets for a Saturday. 

The Daring Cooks make soufflé!

I realize there is a bottle of Amaretto right behind the soufflé, but there was no time to move it!

Watching a soufflé rise in the oven is way better than anything you can find on television. I watch what's happening in my oven all the time, but this was the best show I've seen in ages, and I wouldn't mind watching a repeat. In fact, I think there should be a specialty channel: Soufflé TV.

After a few minutes. They started out level with the top of the dish.

This month's challenge comes to us from the lovely Linda and Dave of MonkeyShines in the Kitchen. For my sweet soufflé, I couldn't decide what to make, meaning I left this close to the deadline. I had some lovely homemade applesauce from freshly picked apples, but then I made something else with it. Oops. Passionfruit? A favourite flavour, but I kept forgetting to pick any up. Banana? Possibly. Then I spied the bag of oranges in the back of the fridge. Orange and Amaretto are one of my favourite flavour combinations. I used a simple recipe and added orange zest, along with a couple of tablespoons of Amaretto.

After 10 minutes or so. MonkeyShines described these as rocket ships!

The soufflé mixture was fairly liquid, from the booze, I guess, and I was afraid it would spill over the edge and end up on the bottom of my oven. That didn't happen, and as you can see, they rose rather well. I was actually afraid they were going to propel themselves right out of the dish! I took the one on the right out after about 18 minutes, as I like a creamy centre. I left the other one in the oven while I took pictures, and it was fine--just a bit drier. These tasted wonderful--they were crispy on the edges from the sugar crust, and had a lovely orange flavour. The Amaretto was subtle, but I fixed that:

By scooping out a place for more Amaretto. Mmm. Getting pictures of these was the trickiest part, as they don't last long, and it was a partially cloudy day. The sun was playing cat and mouse, or, more accurately, playing chicken. I need to work on my food styling, but I was satisfied with the taste, and that's what counts for me. But that's not all...

I also made a savoury soufflé, a beet and feta one, soon after the challenge was revealed. It made a nice lunch, but didn't puff as much as I wanted. The texture was creamy, though, and the feta added bursts of flavour. It looked like a big fuschia cauliflower, I think.

Can you see me, reflected in the kettle?

Blog-checking lines: Dave and Linda from Monkeyshines in the Kitchen chose Soufflés as our November 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge! Dave and Linda provided two of their own delicious recipes plus a sinfully decadent chocolate soufflé recipe adapted from Gordon Ramsay’s recipe found at the BBC Good Food website.

Recipes and full challenge PDF after the jump.

Rhubarb and orange mini cakes

This is the last rhubarb recipe, I promise! Till next year, anyway. I have about 12 things I didn't get around to making this year on my mental to-do list. Don't worry, I'll probably forget at least half of them. 

I made this recipe twice last week, because it was that good. That good, but problematic too. The first time, I made a half recipe in a loaf pan, as the recipe called for, and it was delicious, but too tender. Too tender is usually not a problem with cakes, but this was impossible to slice. I ended up bringing a container of icing covered crumbs to school. They were all eaten, as teachers are not that fussy, I guess. Especially when it comes to a soft cake with rhubarb melted into it, leaving behind a tangy flavour. The second time I made it I decided to make individual cakes. I'd call them cupcakes, but I haven't got a cupcake tin, and so I used ramekins, which made for 7 slightly-too-large-for-one serving cakes out of another half recipe. I think you'd get a dozen if you use a regular muffin tin. Or refrigerate your cake for easier slicing. But cold butter cake? It doesn't appeal to me much, as it gets so firm.

This recipe was adapted from one in Rustic Fruit Desserts, by Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson. They call it Lemon buttermilk rhubarb bundt cake. Makes 1 bundt cake, 2 dozen cupcakes, or 2 loaf cakes. Go ahead, make the whole recipe. Otherwise you'll just make it again the next day.

Cake:

2½ cups plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour (12½ ounces+⅝ ounce)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter

1¾ cups (12 ounces) granulated sugar

zest of 1 orange

3 eggs

¾ cup buttermilk

1 pound rhubarb, trimmed and very thinly sliced (3 cups or 12 ounces prepared)

Preheat oven to 350℉, and butter your pan(s).

Sift the larger measure of flour, the baking powder and salt together. Cream the butter, sugar and zest together for 3-5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition. Stir in the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. The batter will be very thick, but that's fine, because the rhubarb will release a lot of liquid. 

Toss the sliced rhubarb with the 2 tablespoons flour and fold it into the batter. Spread the batter evenly in your prepared pan(s). 

Bake for 20-25 minutes for cupcakes, 55-65 minutes for a loaf cake, and an hour for the bundt cake. Bake till the top is firm and the centre springs back when lightly touched. A toothpick will come out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before unmolding. Turn right side up to cool completely.

Orange glaze

2 cups (8½ ounces) sifted icing sugar, or more as needed

juice of 1 orange 

1 tablespoon soft butter

Whisk the glaze ingredients together. The mixture should be thick, so don't add all the orange juice at once. Add more sugar or juice to get the consistency you want. Spread over the cake/cupcakes as soon as you remove from the pan. (I preferred the cake without this, as it was very sweet)

Apparently this cake keeps for 3-4 days, covered at room temperature. I ended up keeping mine in the fridge, because it was so hot, but the texture was better at room temp.

Daring Bakers' March Challenge: Orange Tian

Tian? What? It certainly sounds fancy, doesn't it? A tian is a layered dish, either sweet or savoury. The required components for this month's challenge were:

• the pastry base (pâte sablée)
• the orange marmalade
• the whipped cream
• the citrus segments
• and a caramel sauce 

I was excited about making marmalade, as I have made all sorts of preserves before, but never marmalade. I got so excited that I made about 3 litres of the stuff, or 14 jars! I used a tablespoon in the tian recipe, so there are leftovers. Want some? I've been eating it instead of ginger honey on my toast, but considering I don't eat much toast, it could last a while. I made it with Seville oranges, and it was delicious, but there was definitely a bitter undertone.  The colour was beautiful, so I may just hang a jar in my window as a suncatcher. Except I don't get much sun in my apartment. This photo was taken at my mother's--she gets lots of sun.

I really spaced out the components of this challenge. About a week after the marmalade I made the caramel and segmented the oranges (navel and blood) and grapefruit as they had to sit overnight in the caramel. The next day I made the pâte sablée and realized I had no whipping cream to make the filling. So, the citrus got an extra day in the caramel. At least some of it did--it was pretty tasty.

The next day it rained and was completely grey outside, so I postponed again. My north-facing apartment gets little enough light as it is, and I couldn't get enough to photograph anything in natural light. Of course I haven't got lights--I'm using a point and shoot camera! So, I just ate a bit more of the fruit and hoped I'd have enough to put the dessert together.

Once I finally remembered to pick up the whipping cream and the weather cleared up it came together really quickly. The recipe called for stabilizing the cream with gelatin, but since I was only making 2 small tians I didn't think this was necessary. I had read in Rose's Heavenly Cakes that dulce de leche could be used to sweeten and stabilize whipped cream, so I did that, as I thought that it would be nice with the caramel sauce, and it was. I already knew that dulce de leche went very nicely with the pastry, as I had made cookies out of the leftover pastry, sandwiched them together with dulce de leche and used them for Tuesdays with Dorie just a day earlier. Recycling is in, people!

These were delicious! The crisp and buttery pâte sablée base with the caramel whipped cream, fresh citrus and more caramel sauce made for a great combination. I used Seville orange juice in the caramel sauce, so it was not very sweet. The marmalade in the cream was a nice surprise too. Well, not really a surprise, since I had just made it, but I was still somewhat surprised to find it there. Not paying attention can have its benefits!

Mandatory blog-checking lines: The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris. 

Thanks Jennifer for a great challenge! Check out the slideshow to see what all the rest of the fabulous Daring Bakers have come up with this month.
:)

Recipes after the jump.