It’s been a year since I’ve posted a Daring Baker challenge, and I’m hanging my head over it.  Actually, I’ve just crawled out from under the rock where I’ve been hiding.   Last March, the delicious Citrus Tian Dessert made with blood oranges and California Cuties marked the start of an extended absence from the once a month fun I’d enjoyed with the Daring Bakers for several years.  Five months went by before I tackled another challenge –  the Baked Alaska last August for one of my son’s birthdays — but that less than counts since I never posted it.  I kept saying I would, but didn’t.  Pathetic.

But I’m back.  At least I think I am, and wanting to make sure I don’t miss out on any more.  In fact, I just might join in on the Daring Kitchen challenges since I find myself with no excuse not to join in on that fun as well.  I know I’ve missed out on some good recipes, but it’s more the sense of community generated by each of the monthly events I crave.  I miss the easy, relaxing camaraderie.  I miss it a lot.

The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.  Maybe that’s why it was go easy to get back in the saddle this month.  Coffee cake is something everyone seems to enjoy.  When I co-hosted the Daring Bakers in July of 2008, I chose a Danish Braid which is made with yeasted, laminated dough.  If shape counts, this Pastry Ring with Chocolate and Cardamom is made of a yeasted dough, also in layers, and is remarkably similar in appearance to this month’s challenge.

But this coffee cake dough feels like bread dough to me.  It looks like bread dough, smells like bread dough when it is baking, and looks like bread after it’s sliced.  I’m thinking it’s somewhat like a cinnamon bread dough, only filled with meringue.  Ah, that would be what intrigued me about this challenge most.  The meringue.

I had fun deciding exactly what I’d put in the filling — give it a shot since it doesn’t involve all the turning and rolling involved in the Danish Braid and Pastry Ring,  and you will too.

 

Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake with Apricots and Pistachios

Makes 1 round coffee cake, approximately 10 inches in diameter
(half of the original recipe — for original quantities, please refer to the hosts’ links above)

Ingredients

For the coffee cake dough:

2 cups flour
1/8 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1-1/8 teaspoons active dried yeast
3 fl. oz. whole milk
1/8 cup
1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 large egg at room temperature

10 strands saffron

For the meringue:

2 large egg whites at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon orange blossom water

1/4 cup sugar

For the filling:

1/2 cup salted, roasted pistachios

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1/2 cup sliced dried apricots

Wash: 1-2 T whole milk

Powdered sugar for dusting

Directions

Prepare the dough:

In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 cup of the flour, the sugar, salt and yeast.

In a saucepan, combine the milk, water and butter and heat over medium heat until warm and the butter is just melted. Add the 10 saffron threads to the warmed liquid and allow to steep off of the heat for 10 minutes. This will give the mixture a distinct aroma and flavor and a yellowish-orange hue.

With an electric mixer on low speed, gradually add the warm liquid to the flour/yeast mixture, beating until well blended. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes. Add the egg and another 1/2 cup of the flour and beat for 2 more minutes.

Using a wooden spoon, stir in enough of the remaining 1/2 cup flour to make a dough that holds together. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes until the dough is soft, smooth, sexy and elastic, keeping the work surface floured and adding extra flour as needed.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let rise until double in bulk, 45 – 60 minutes. The rising time will depend on the type of yeast you use.

Prepare your filling:

In the bowl of a food processor or spice grinder, combine the pistachios, cardamom, coconut, lemon zest and sugar and pulse a few times until the ingredients are evenly chopped.

Once the dough has doubled, make the meringue:

In a clean mixing bowl – ideally a plastic or metal bowl so the egg whites adhere to the side (they slip on glass) and you don’t end up with liquid remaining in the bottom – beat the egg whites with the salt, first on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high and continue beating until foamy and opaque. Add the vanilla then start adding the 1/4 cup sugar, a tablespoon at a time as you beat, until very stiff, glossy peaks form.  Add the orange blossom water last and blend in.

Assemble the Coffee Cake:

Line a baking/cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Punch down the dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a 20 x 10-inch rectangle. Spread the meringue evenly over the rectangle up to about 1/2-inch from the edges. Sprinkle the ground nut mixture over the meringue, then sprinkle the dried apricots over.

Now, roll up the dough jellyroll style, from the long side. Pinch the seam closed to seal. Very carefully transfer the filled log to the lined cookie sheet, seam side down. Bring the ends of the log around and seal the ends together, forming a ring, tucking one end into the other and pinching to seal.

Using kitchen scissors or a sharp knife (although scissors are easier), make cuts along the outside edge at 1-inch intervals. Make them as shallow or as deep as desired but don’t be afraid to cut deep into the ring.

Cover the coffee cake with plastic wrap and allow them to rise again for 45 to 60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Brush the tops of the coffee cake with milk. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes until risen and golden brown. The dough should sound hollow when tapped.

Remove from the oven and slide the parchment paper off the cookie sheet onto the table. Very gently loosen the coffee cake from the paper with a large spatula and carefully slide the cake off onto cooling rack. Allow to cool.

Just before serving, dust the top of the coffee cake with confectioner’s sugar as well as cocoa powder if using chocolate in the filling. It is best eaten fresh, the same day or the next day.

 

Sprinkle the saffron in the milk and butter to steep

The dough is soft and sticky at first

Evidence of at least one bit of saffron in the dough

Organize filling ingredients

Ready for the meringue

Dried apricots go on last

Ready for proofing

I had some leakage...

Notes:

• The best thing about this recipe is the versatility.  You can have fun with the ingredients like I did.  If you would like to try a more traditional coffee cake, check out Jamie’s chocolate-walnut version.  She includes a yummy apple version in the same post.   Or check out Ria’s Indian spiced version for something completely different and quite exotic sounding.  I’d love to try that mix of spices in something baked!
• On the dough:  It’s a wet, sticky dough that rose very slowly for me (2 hours), and when it did couldn’t muster up much energy.  There was barely a glimmer of needing a good punching down.  I didn’t use my proofer, but swear each time this happens that I have one, so why NOT use it 100% of the time.  To be fair, I have had great results without the proofer, so like to keep it real when ever possible.  This means running around with the dough from window to sunny window.  Crazy.
• On the saffron in the dough:  When I saw that I’d be adding the saffron to liquid that hadn’t been heated very long, I wondered.  And I immediately saw the result.  Maybe I didn’t heat it quite long enough.  The saffron was very slow to spread its fragrance and lovely color.  I usually add saffron to water (or liquid) just boiled and left to steep.  An intense color is almost immediately visible.  My dough ended up with a token strand of saffron, which by the end of the second rise was showing evidence of some stubborn spreading of color.  Reminds me of getting 1/2 cherry in a can of fruit cocktail when I was a kid.  Hilarious!
• The mixture of nuts, spice, and fruit I chose was heavenly right from the grinder.  I’m thinking the same mixture is definitely going into a muffin very soon.  But in the finished coffee cake, the flavors lost their individuality.  Maybe more cardamom was needed, but I didn’t want to overwhelm the other flavors.
• On the second rise:  There’s something a bit strange about dough filled with meringue sitting at room temperature for another rise.  Hmmm…Mine began to leak as it broke down and I’m wondering whether cream of tartar would have changed that. Or whipped the meringue even longer than I did.
• The coffee cake cooks fairly quickly, and mine continued to lose even more of the merinque during baking.  Would this be a legitimate Daring Baker challenge without all these little problems?  Heck no!
• The resulting “cake” was slightly sweet — which I like — scented with citrus, and rich with the flavor of apricots.  I love apricots, so this was perfect.  The crumb was quite firm — even dry to us.  Too dry.  I’m thinking it would make great toast or French toast.
• All in all, a recipe to have fun with another time switching up the fillings, but the jury is still out on that meringue.  Interesting.  Maybe I just screwed it up!
• There are even more Daring Bakers now — so many on the I’m having trouble finding names I remember, but take the time to check out the blogroll for a few of their yeasted coffee cakes if you have some time!

The math isn’t exactly challenging:  12 cookies in 12 days; this is December 11th; tomorrow is the last day; and I have posted five cookies.  Five.  Bear in mind that I’ve made eight, and have dough for a ninth sitting in the fridge just waiting for several hours of time so that I can play my favorite holiday music, spread out my materials, and decorate cookies.  Trust me when I say that time between the hours of 6 and 10 p.m. does not count as an available chunk.  Once upon a time I could have been extremely productive at that time of day, but no longer.  It’s easy to conclude then that I will be engaging more in a month of cookies, or something like that.  And perhaps I’ll throw in a holiday bread or two.  Maybe.

Nevertheless, here are my Hazelnut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, which not only look like ordinary chocolate chippers, they taste like ordinary chocolate chippers.  That isn’t a bad thing if you’re me, because chocolate chip cookies will always be my favorite cookie even though I’d never consider it a holiday cookie.

I had hazelnuts in the pantry, so decided to make my own hazelnut butter for these.  It’s not complicated if you have a Cuisinart, 10 minutes, and don’t mind telling your neighbors to prepare for the sound of nuts clacking crazily against plastic.

Hazelnut-Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chips

Don’t forget to check out my fellow cookie bakers this holiday season.  Claire of The Barefoot Kitchen, Courtney of Coco Cooks, and Judy of No Fear Entertaining who are all returning this year, and Michelle of Big Black Dog, Di of Di’s Kitchen Notebook, Renee of Flamingo Musings, and Tiffany of The Nesting Project who will be joining us this year.  A special nod goes to Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes who started the group last year, but cannot join in on the craziness this year.

Each year that the holiday cookie spreads come out in food magazines, the Linzer cookies catch my eye.  Most often, they appear in bar form, constructed on a sheet pan, spread with jam, covered with a lattice top, and perhaps sprinkled with powdered sugar.  Thinking about the attraction now, it was the pastry that caught my attention, and when I made them,  they were always a favorite.

With that interest, I chose Hazelnut Linzer Cookies as my first choice for our holiday bake fest.  Although nothing like the Linzertorte I’ve enjoyed in the past, these cookies are a pleasant combination of nutty crunch and sweet, tart jam.

If they’re so satisfying and the first to be baked, why not the first to be shared?  My notes tell the story.

Hazelnut Linzer Cookies

Last year at this time, our house was completely torn up due to a remodel.  When left to consider where I might set up shop while all of the dust, noise, and construction workers took over, it didn’t take long to decide that if I moved my Mac down to the kitchen, I’d be just fine.  It would mean that I could cook, shoot photos, then pass samples among the crew for critique before settling in to write about what I was busy making: cookies.  This isn’t completely out of place if one considers that it is December, and many cooks do bake cookies for the holidays.  But do they bake in the middle of what seemed to be a disaster zone at the time, and at the pace of one cookie per day?  “The 12 Days of Cookies:  A Gourmet cookie extravaganza” was born.

It doesn’t sound as crazy now that a year has passed, but the time has arrived to bake more cookies.  Sandy of At the Baker’s Bench has invited those of us who participated last year to join in on the cookie baking frenzy once again along with a few new participants.  Instead of choosing recipes from Gourmet, we are making Bon Appetit our source for recipes, but since I have a tendency to deviate from the norm, I just may select a recipe here or there for consideration as well.

The goal is to bake 12 cookies, posting one each day for 12 days.  Since this involves far less of a commitment than making 101 of Mark Bittman’s Simple Salads, I think I’ll be just fine — especially since there is not one construction worker in sight.  I’m happy to say that I’ll bake with quite a fine group of individuals:  Claire of The Barefoot Kitchen, Courtney of Coco Cooks, and Judy of No Fear Entertaining who are all returning this year, and Michelle of Big Black Dog, Di of Di’s Kitchen Notebook, Renee of Flamingo Musings, and Tiffany of The Nesting Project who will be joining us this year.  A special nod goes to Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes who started the group last year, but cannot join in on the craziness this year.

Are you ready?

Chocolate and Almond Dipped Sandwich Cookies

For the cookies…

• 1/4 cup slivered almonds
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

For the filling…

• 1 cup whipping cream
• 12 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped garnish
• 6 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/4 cups slivered almonds (about 5 ounces), toasted, chopped

The directions can be found here.

Notes:

• I made the cookie dough as written and kept it in the fridge overnight before cutting with 3″ rounds.
• My cookies appeared to want to do the dreaded spread while baking, but stopped before disaster.  The edges aren’t as clean as I would have liked, but the cookie is very tasty, so I’ll forgive the recipe.
• I decided to dip the cookies into shaved almonds instead of the blanched almonds the recipe calls for.  They’re attractive.  Not exactly holiday-looking, but they’re the first ones to disappear from a platter of three other types.  I rest my case.
• Do I need to say that you could fill these with just about any kind of ganache or buttercream?  Dulce de leche?  Then your mind can spin out of control on what you’d like to dip them in.
• Of course, you might just eat all of them warm from the oven, avoid the messy dipping, and call it a meal.
• Oh.  My.  I’d say we’re off to a fabulous beginning.

The very last issue of Gourmet sits in a stack along with the most recent issues of Saveur, Bon Appetit, and Food & Wine — all barely touched.  Holiday catalogs I’d rather not receive lay scattered in the mix as well reminding me that I should probably pay attention.  How can it be the end of November?  The month has flown by and with it my favorite season of the year, leaving only a few days to think about recipes I’d like to try this year for Thanksgiving.  Outside of making a simple list of traditional dishes and leaving it to sit on the kitchen counter, I’m still not prepared.

I’ve accepted that this just won’t be the year to try yet another way to mash and flavor potatoes with the likes of parsnips or roasted garlic, white truffle oil or black truffle shavings.  I won’t have to wonder why a stuffing recipe calls for freshly made cornbread that has to sit on the counter for a day before it can be cubed and tossed with other ingredients to make an herby stuffing.  And I’ve decided that deep-frying a ton of microscopically thin onion rings to flavor a new spin on the classic green bean casserole won’t be happening, either, even though it was quite a fabulous recipe.  No, we’re going to be relatively conservative this year which is why I was able to spend some time in the kitchen today trying a new recipe with some of my favorite flavors:  apples, pecans, and cinnamon with a hint of orange.

David Guas’ Spiced Upside-Down Apple Bundt Cake was perfect from the moment I saw it in Food & Wine’s “Last Bite.”  Even though I’ve never owned a bundt pan, it was the least of my worries because the recipe calls for buttermilk.  Whenever I buy buttermilk,  it gets pushed to the back of the fridge and is forgotten until long after the date stamped on it, then ends up down the drain.  Not this time!   I found it with a day to spare — not that I could tell given its characteristic pungent smell.

How does one tell whether buttermilk is sour when it always smells badly?  It’s a very good thing that it works so nicely as a cooking ingredient, don’t you think?

Spiced Upside-Down Apple Cake

The recipe can be found here in the November 2009 issue of Food & Wine.

Make the streusel first and make sure to add the pepper.  Yes, it’s unusual, but it’s very nice with this cake since the apples are sweet.  They compliment one another well.

The spiced apples are so tasty I had trouble keeping myself from spooning them right into my mouth.  Make sure you saute them only until just beginning to soften and then spread them out on a baking sheet to set in the fridge to cool.

The cake batter is thick and easily spooned over the cooled apples in the generously oiled (Pam) cake pans.

The brioche tins baked for 45 minutes, and the 6″ round cake for 1 hour.   Test for doneness with a wooden skewer.  After they come from the oven, let them sit for 5 minutes before turning them upside-down on a baking rack positioned over a baking sheet.  You may have to rescue a few apples stuck to the bottom of the pan.  Just add them to the top of the cake.

Divide the streusel evenly over the cakes, pressing gently into the apples.  They’re quite moist so let cool an hour before serving.

Notes:

• I used cardamom in the streusel instead of cinnamon. I couldn’t resist. Its somewhat citrusy taste had me thinking of lemon pepper, but that didn’t quite pan out.  Although I could taste the pepper in the streusel when eaten alone, it was less noticeable when I sampled the finished cake.  I’d definitely add more pepper next time.
• I didn’t have Calvados so used Laird’s Applejack instead.  No, it’s not quite French apple brandy from Normandy, but it worked out quite well in this cake.  There is no boozy taste at all — something I don’t enjoy in baked desserts.  If you’d rather not use alcohol, apple cider will work just fine.
• Fuji apples were substituted for the Granny Smith’s because I was out of those as well.  Fuji’s aren’t as tart, but they held up well and the flavor was excellent.
• We enjoyed this cake.  It’s super moist and surprisingly light in texture with hints of orange laced through it.  The streusel topping provides a perfect crunch.  Although pecans are ground in the streusel, I think next time I’d enjoy chopping a few more to add to the apples before spooning the mixture into the pans.
• Raisins or dried cranberries would be a nice addition to this cake as well.
• Definitely a keeper!
• Oh — of course you can make this with one 10-inch bundt pan.

We’ve been eating quite a bit of soup and salad lately.  With the business of our lives, it often seems to be the only way to make sure we don’t fall into the take-out habit, or worse, microwaved frozen food.  Call me a food snob — or better yet, consider that it’s not challenging to make a healthy meal that doesn’t take a lot of time and goes easy on the wallet.

Picture this:  my husband and I pass through the house each morning getting ready for work and I begin to think about any excuse not to have to stop at the market on the way home.  I mull over the contents of the veggie bin while I’m brushing my teeth, and search my fuzzy memory for ingredients  that may be languishing in the pantry.

“There are carrots I could make some soup with,” I begin staring into my mirror.

“That would be good,” he mutters, peering into his mirror,  busy with his own routine.

“And there are those apples you forget to eat on a regular basis.  I saw a recipe for a salad I want to try — but I’m not quite sure what condition the celery is in.  Do we have lemons?”  I call from the closet as I’m trying to figure out what to squeeze myself into for the day.

“Anything you make will be good,” he says from his side of the closet, “and I have been eating an apple a day.”

I head down the stairs, give a quick look in the fridge, and grab my coffee before running out the door and calling my goodbyes feigning success in the accomplishment of a dinner plan.

Jump ahead 11 hours.  It’s about 6PM and we’re both home.  Our son has come downstairs to graciously share himself with us, then flops on the couch to figure out what we’ll watch that evening.  My husband and I start peeling and chopping, sauteeing and blending.  On most days within an hour of arriving home — give or take a half hour for diversions — we’re all in the family room  talking about the day, slurping soup, eating salad and enjoying a DVRd show one of us has lobbied for.

On one such night, we tried a new spin on an old classic:  Waldorf Salad.  When I think of why I’ve never liked it, the mayonnaise would be the reason.  As much as I enjoy most salads, slathering a fatty dressing on one has never appealed to me.  If you’re like me or at least interested in something seasonal, but more healthy, try this.  It will be a part of our Thanksgiving dinner this year.

Waldorf Salad sans Mayo

1/2 c. walnuts, toasted lightly and chopped
1 T minced shallot
zest of 1/2 lemon, finely grated
juice of 1/2 lemon, freshly squeezed
1 T white wine vinegar
1/8 c. fruity extra virgin olive oil
2 T walnut oil
dash ground cumin
salt & cracked pepper to taste
mache or other soft salad greens
2 lg. radishes, thinly sliced
1/4 red onion, sliced thinly
2 ribs celery, sliced
hand full of golden raisins
1 crisp apple such as Braeburn, Fuji, or Granny Smith
crumbled goat’s cheese
(cored and sliced into thin wedges)

Toast the walnuts in a skillet over medium low heat, tossing occasionally to avoid burning.  Remove from skillet and set aside when they become aromatic.

Make the dressing by combining the shallot, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vinegar.  Add the oils in a slow drizzle, whisking as you go.  Add the cumin, salt and pepper, then taste and correct seasoning.

On a large platter or individual salad plates, create a bed of the greens and set aside.   Toss the apples, celery, radishes, and onions with enough of the dressing to coat the vegetables, but reserve a bit to pour on later.  Pour the mixture over the bed of greens, then top with raisins, walnuts, and sprinkle with goat’s cheese.

Enjoy a perfect bite loaded with each of the flavors and textures of this great salad.

Notes:

• This recipe was adapted from Food & Wine’s “Lemony Waldorf Salad” which appeared in the November 2009 issue.
• The original recipe calls for twice the oil and canola instead of the extra virgin olive that I used, but I have trouble adding that much oil to any salad and don’t love canola.  Walnut oil has a distinctive flavor which adds a pleasant taste to this salad.  Add a bit at a time to the dressing if you’ve not tried it before.  I use La Tourangelle brand walnut oil which I am lucky to find at my local market.  It’s not as expensive as hazelnut oil which is fabulous.
• Mache is a lovely, delicate salad green with a taste not unlike greenleaf or butter lettuce.  It’s my favorite and can be found at Whole Foods or, if you’re lucky, Trader Joe’s.
• I included the goat’s cheese to provide not only a bit of tang, but hint toward the creaminess in the traditional Waldorf — which actually included only mayonnaise, celery, and apples served on a bed of lettuce.  Don’t even tell me you use Miracle Whip in salad.  Please.
• Some may want to pass on the raisins, but they truly add a pleasant flavor to this.  Give them a try.
• To make ahead, prep all the veggies and make the dressing.  It’s easy to plate when everything is ready at the last minute.
• We never had salad for Thanksgiving when I was growing up — unless you count jello salad as salad.  I added non-giggly salad to our menu when my boys were quite little hoping to slow the meal down a bit to enjoy courses.  We still do that and enjoy it quite a bit.  I could be convinced to try something giggly again, however.