daring-bakers « WordPress.com Tag Feed

Holy Cannoli!

Dana — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:58:45 +0000

Introducing our first challenge as Daring Bakers!

We ended up waiting until the last minute for this challenge. Big mistake. First, finding cannoli forms posed a problem. Apparently they were nowhere to be found in Ithaca during the past week. So Steve and I went to Home Depot to fashion some of our own. Which led to the second lesson of this challenge… we are not that great at sawing (its been 10 years since the last time?). Which led to the third lesson… always have the woman ask for help with cutting something down to size. Sad but true. We ended up with 7 wooden dowels pieces as forms (there should have been 8…. but apparently we aren’t great with a ruler either).

The cannoli dough was tough to work with. We ended up using a pasta machine to roll out the dough thin enough, but then it wasn’t wide enough to get a large circle out of it. So we ended up with only 3 to 3-1/2 inch circles. Basically – tiny tiny cannoli. Leave it to me to make even cannoli in miniature size. We could have made a bunch of them, but again, we were rushed for time. We put the tiny dough circles around the forms and fried away. They cooked extremely quickly at the suggested temperature and blistered only a tiny bit.

The filling was more of a success. It tasted delicious and was easy to pipe into the shells. For me, the hint of orange zest really made the difference. We garnished the ends with simple chopped pistachios. The cannoli tasted delicious, but I’m not sure how often we’ll be making them. Certainly they are a time commitment and honestly, just not my favorite. I usually don’t go for creamy fillings… or crunchy for that matter. But I’m glad to have them in my arsenal.

For our first challenge I thought it was a lot of fun. We can’t wait for the next one!

Holy Moley, it's Cannoli!

gdfd — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:48:03 +0000

So I’ve been noticeably absent the last couple of months, and to be honest I didn’t think I’d be able to continue…..but I finished some training and am now just doing language -so I freed up some time. YAY!!! (Just a heads up…trying to learn Russian, not so easy.) I was excited to get a challenge that would take my mind off all the foreign words occupying my brain and when I read our challenge I was not very excited…but hey it was something new that I hadn’t done before so I jumped aboard.

The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.

I’ve had Cannoli before and I’ve never liked it, so I went into it a little half hearted. I did purchase the cannoli forms and I love having them, totally recommend everyone getting them. Even if you NEVER use them. There’s nothing like the feeling you get when you open the drawer and see them and think to yourself…I could totally make Cannoli right now if I wanted to. The dough was super easy to make and as I was working with it the smell was so light and delicious I started getting pretty excited about this little treat. I used a pasta machine to get the dough thin enough which worked perfectly and made it a simple task. I worked my way down to the second to smallest setting and thought I should try them a little thicker. I made 2 that were not as thin but I didn’t get the bubble effect and I didn’t think they looked as lovely. (sorry there are no pics of the process, still trying to figure the lighting out in the apt.)

I’ve never really fried before so I was a little scared, but as I went along and they were looking so pretty I forgot how scary it was. I did taste one before I filled it and I did not like it very much….so I was a little bummed. I was going to make two fillings…the pumpkin one that Lisa was generous enough to give us and a lemon mousse-like one. I got all my ingredients out for the pumpkin one and my pumpkin was bad. ARGH!!!!! I love me the pumpkin but since we were going out of town I didn’t want to go out and purchase a new one to leave in the fridge for a week. So I just stuck with the lemon. Oh My Goodness! Once I filled the cannoli shells and tried them….I LOVED them. They were fantastic. The filling made the flavors in the shell jump out. I couldn’t stop eating them. The crisp bite of the shell was perfect I was so proud of myself. I will never purchase a cannoli again as it could never compete with the homemade one. I can’t wait to try the pumpkin filling.

Thanks Lisa for expanding my horizons….and giving us a great challenge.

Easy Lemon Mousse

1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons grated fresh lemon rind
2/3 cup lemon juice
4 eggs
1 package unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
2 cups whipping cream

Bring sugar, lemon rind and juice to boil. In a bowl beat eggs; pour in hot lemon mixture and mix well. Pour back into pan and bring to just a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook and stir constantly for 5 minutes, or until thickened. Scrape into a bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in small saucepan; let stand 5 minutes. Heat over low heat until dissolved; stir into lemon mixture, mixing well. Place plastic wrap on surface of mousse and let cool, stirring once, gently,for 30 minutes or until no longer warm. In another bowl, whip cream and fold into lemon mixture. Refrigerate.

Daring Bakers November- Cannoli!

kristineleuze — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:22:13 +0000

Cannoli. When I read we were going to be frying for Daring Bakers I had mixed feelings. But the day I decided to make them, my son and I had a lot of fun. I call these “carnival cannoli” in honor of my son, the boy who loves everything covered in sprinkles.

Compared to last month’s macaron challenge they were easy. And luckily for me not addictive! After eating a hundred pounds of macarons last month my body probably needed the break. Yes, these were fried, but I only ate one. The cannoli were good but not that good. If I’m going to make something that takes all day, I’m going to make macarons again! Sorry, but I love those things. Okay, now onto the cannoli!

The dough itself is very forgiving and easy to make. The consistency of it is like nothing I have ever baked before- it was great for my kid to play with since it wasn’t sticky and did not have eggs or anything in it that he couldn’t touch raw. This is a rare occurrence since most everything we bake has eggs in it and I am always telling him not to touch. With this dough I could tell him to roll it out, touch, do whatever. Here’s what the dough looks like:

The ricotta cheese has to be drained of excess liquid. I did mine in a cheesecloth lined strainer overnight in the fridge:

The filling can be whipped up in a snap:

At this point I was thinking this was going to be the easiest challenge ever. Then it got a little trickier. We went over to my parents’ house to use their pasta machine:

Andrew was more than happy to help me work this contraption.

Thanks to Andrew, I discovered that the more you put the dough through the machine the better the dough gets and after several times through you finally get something you can work with. Andrew could have done this all day but I finally convinced him to make the cut-out circles so we could dip them in chocolate and eat them! Here is my stack of circle cut-outs:

We drove back home to do the frying. While I heated the oil we prepared some melted chocolate and sprinkles.

When I fried them up I was panicking. The oil temp was rising super fast and I had a hard time controlling it. Then I forgot to seal the dough with egg white on the metal tube and the first one came apart in the oil. The second one I did, I put the egg white on but I could not get the thing off the tube after it was fried! Finally I figured out to twist them off much like you would open a bottle of soda or something. I got into my groove, with a perfect system down and correct oil temp just as I dropped my last shell into the oil. It usually goes that way for me . . . Oh well!

I dipped both ends in chocolate and sprinkles and I piped them with a large star tip. Here they are all lined up:

When my husband came back in from walking our daughter around the block he was pleasantly surprised to find these. All day he thought I was making some kind of pasta. I didn’t know that he had no idea what cannoli were! I wish I had a cigar box to display them in. I think that would be kind of cool. Here are my best three:

CANNOLI SHELLS
2 cups (250 grams/16 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons(28 grams/1 ounce) sugar
1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.06 ounces) unsweetened baking cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon (approx. 3 grams/0.11 ounces) salt
3 tablespoons (42 grams/1.5 ounces) vegetable or olive oil
1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.18 ounces) white wine vinegar
Approximately 1/2 cup (approx. 59 grams/approx. 4 fluid ounces/approx. 125 ml) sweet Marsala or any white or red wine you have on hand
1 large egg, separated (you will need the egg white but not the yolk)
Vegetable or any neutral oil for frying – about 2 quarts (8 cups/approx. 2 litres)
1/2 cup (approx. 62 grams/2 ounces) toasted, chopped pistachio nuts, mini chocolate chips/grated chocolate and/or candied or plain zests, fruits etc.. for garnish
Confectioners’ sugar

CANNOLI FILLING
2 lbs (approx. 3.5 cups/approx. 1 kg/32 ounces) ricotta cheese, drained
1 2/3 cups cup (160 grams/6 ounces) confectioner’s sugar, (more or less, depending on how sweet you want it), sifted
1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon (4 grams/0.15 ounces) pure vanilla extract or the beans from one vanilla bean
3 tablespoons (approx. 28 grams/approx. 1 ounce) finely chopped good quality chocolate of your choice
2 tablespoons (12 grams/0.42 ounces) of finely chopped, candied orange peel, or the grated zest of one small to medium orange
3 tablespoons (23 grams/0.81 ounce) toasted, finely chopped pistachios

DIRECTIONS FOR SHELLS:
1. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer or food processor, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the oil, vinegar, and enough of the wine to make a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and well blended, about 2 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge from 2 hours to overnight.

2 Cut the dough into two pieces. Keep the remaining dough covered while you work. Lightly flour a large cutting or pastry board and roll the dough until super thin, about 1/16 to 1/8” thick (An area of about 13 inches by 18 inches should give you that). Cut out 3 to 5-inch circles (3-inch – small/medium; 4-inch – medium/large; 5-inch;- large. Your choice). Roll the cut out circle into an oval, rolling it larger and thinner if it’s shrunk a little.

3 Oil the outside of the cannoli tubes (You only have to do this once, as the oil from the deep fry will keep them well, uhh, oiled..lol). Roll a dough oval from the long side (If square, position like a diamond, and place tube/form on the corner closest to you, then roll) around each tube/form and dab a little egg white on the dough where the edges overlap. (Avoid getting egg white on the tube, or the pastry will stick to it.) Press well to seal. Set aside to let the egg white seal dry a little.

4. In a deep heavy saucepan, pour enough oil to reach a depth of 3 inches, or if using an electric deep-fryer, follow the manufacturer’s directions. Heat the oil to 375°F (190 °C) on a deep fry thermometer, or until a small piece of the dough or bread cube placed in the oil sizzles and browns in 1 minute. Have ready a tray or sheet pan lined with paper towels or paper bags.

5. Carefully lower a few of the cannoli tubes into the hot oil. Do not crowd the pan. Fry the shells until golden, about 2 minutes, turning them so that they brown evenly.

8. Lift a cannoli tube with a wire skimmer or large slotted spoon, out of the oil. Using tongs, grasp the cannoli tube at one end. Very carefully remove the cannoli tube with the open sides straight up and down so that the oil flows back into the pan. Place the tube on paper towels or bags to drain. Repeat with the remaining tubes. While they are still hot, grasp the tubes with a potholder and pull the cannoli shells off the tubes with a pair of tongs, or with your hand protected by an oven mitt or towel. Let the shells cool completely on the paper towels. Place shells on cooling rack until ready to fill.

9. Repeat making and frying the shells with the remaining dough. If you are reusing the cannoli tubes, let them cool before wrapping them in the dough.

DIRECTIONS FOR FILLING:
1. Line a strainer with cheesecloth. Place the ricotta in the strainer over a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Weight it down with a heavy can, and let the ricotta drain in the refrigerator for several hours to overnight.

2. In a bowl with electric mixer, beat ricotta until smooth and creamy. Beat in confectioner’s sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and blend until smooth. Transfer to another bowl and stir in chocolate, zest and nuts. Chill until firm.(The filling can be made up to 24 hours prior to filling the shells. Just cover and keep refrigerated).

ASSEMBLE THE CANNOLI:
1. When ready to serve..fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain or star tip, or a ziplock bag, with the ricotta cream. If using a ziplock bag, cut about 1/2 inch off one corner. Insert the tip in the cannoli shell and squeeze gently until the shell is half filled. Turn the shell and fill the other side. You can also use a teaspoon to do this, although it’s messier and will take longer.

2. Press or dip cannoli in chopped pistachios, grated chocolate/mini chocolate chips, candied fruit or zest into the cream at each end. Dust with confectioner’s sugar and/or drizzles of melted chocolate if desired.

Darning Bakers do Cannoli!!

ericasedibles — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:35:54 +0000

I was thrilled when I saw this months challenge was making Cannoli! They are not something that I am particularly fond of but have wanted to make for a long time. This was truly a challenge for me. My fiance is from New Jersey (which I think must be the pastry capital of North America) and he hasn’t had a cannoli since coming to Canada. He was so excited yet a little a little concerned because he said “You know it takes years to master that, I wonder if they will be any good?” With a comment like that I knew I had to succeed.

he November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.

Cannoli

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and well blended, about 2 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge from 2 hours to overnight.

5. Carefully lower a few of the cannoli tubes into the hot oil. Do not crowd the pan. Fry the shells until golden, about 2 minutes, turning them so that they brown evenly.

9. Repeat making and frying the shells with the remaining dough. If you are reusing the cannoli tubes, let them cool before wrapping them in the dough.

Thank you to Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives for such a wonderful challenge. If it were not for the deep frying these are something I would make quite often, everyone loved them, I even managed to impress my fiance who was a little skeptical.

Looking forward to Decembers Challenge!

November Daring Bakers Challenge: Holy Moly Canolli!

ismellchips — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:01:28 +0000

Cannoli are known as Italian-American pastries, although the origin of cannoli dates back to Sicily, specifically Palermo, where it was prepared during Carnevale season, and according to lore, as a symbol of fertility. The cannoli is a fried, tube-shaped pastry shell (usually containing wine) filled with a creamy amalgamation of sweetened ricotta cheese, chocolate, candied fruit or zest, and sometimes nuts. Although not traditional, mascarpone cheese is also widely used, and in fact, makes for an even creamier filling when substituted for part of the ricotta, or by itself. However, cannoli can also be filled with pastry creams, mousses, whipped cream, ice cream etc. You could also add your choice of herbs, zests or spices to the dough, if desired. Marsala is the traditional wine used in cannoli dough, but any red or white wine will work fine, as it’s not only added for flavor or color, but to relax the gluten in the dough since it can be a stiff dough to work with. By the way, the name ‘Lidisano’ is a combination of Lidia, Lisa and Sopranos..LOL

Makes 22-24 4-inch cannoli
Prep time:
Dough – 2 hours and 10-20 minutes, including resting time, and depending on whether you do it by hand or machine.
Filling – 5-10 minutes plus chilling time (about 2 hours or more)
Frying – 1-2 minutes per cannoli
Assemble – 20–30 minutes

RECIPE NOTE: THE EQUIVALENTS FROM THIS RECIPE WERE PREPARED USING THIS CONVERSION SITE: http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/index.asp.

Note – If you want a chocolate cannoli dough, substitute a few tablespoons of the flour (about 25%) with a few tablespoons of dark, unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch process) and a little more wine until you have a workable dough (Thanks to Audax).

Note – If you want chocolate ricotta filling, add a few tablespoons of dark, unsweetened cocoa powder to the above recipe, and thin it out with a few drops of warm water if too thick to pipe.

5. Carefully lower a few of the cannoli tubes into the hot oil. Do not crowd the pan. Fry the shells until golden, about 2 minutes, turning them so that they brown evenly.

9. Repeat making and frying the shells with the remaining dough. If you are reusing the cannoli tubes, let them cool before wrapping them in the dough.

Pasta Machine method:
1. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Starting at the middle setting, run one of the pieces of dough through the rollers of a pasta machine. Lightly dust the dough with flour as needed to keep it from sticking. Pass the dough through the machine repeatedly, until you reach the highest or second highest setting. The dough should be about 4 inches wide and thin enough to see your hand through

2. Continue rolling out the remaining dough. If you do not have enough cannoli tubes for all of the dough, lay the pieces of dough on sheets of plastic wrap and keep them covered until you are ready to use them.

3, Roll, cut out and fry the cannoli shells as according to the directions above.

For stacked cannoli:
1. Heat 2-inches of oil in a saucepan or deep sauté pan, to 350-375°F (176 – 190 °C).

2. Cut out desired shapes with cutters or a sharp knife. Deep fry until golden brown and blistered on each side, about 1 – 2 minutes. Remove from oil with wire skimmer or large slotted spoon, then place on paper towels or bags until dry and grease free. If they balloon up in the hot oil, dock them lightly prior to frying. Place on cooling rack until ready to stack with filling.

PUMPKIN FILLING
1/2 cup (123 grams/4.34 ounces) ricotta cheese, drained
1/2 cup (113 grams/4.04 ounces) mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup (122.5 grams/4.32 ounces) canned pumpkin, drained like ricotta
3/4 cup (75 grams/2.65 ounces) confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1/2 to 1 teaspoon (approx. 1.7 grams/approx. 0.06 ounces) pumpkin pie spice (taste)
1/2 teaspoon (approx. 2 grams/approx. 0.08 ounces) pure vanilla extract
6-8 cannoli shells

1. In a bowl with electric mixer, beat ricotta and mascarpone until smooth and creamy. Beat in confectioner’s sugar, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla and blend until smooth. Transfer to another bowl, cover and chill until it firms up a bit. (The filling can be made up to 24 hours prior to filling the shells. Just cover and keep refrigerated).

2. Fill the shells as directed above. I dipped the ends of the shells in caramelized sugar and rolled them in toasted, chopped pecans.

TIPS AND NOTES:
- Dough must be stiff and well kneaded

- Rolling the dough to paper thinness, using either a rolling pin or pasta machine, is very important. If the dough is not rolled thin enough, it will not blister, and good cannoli should have a blistered surface.

- Initially, this dough is VERY stubborn, but keep rolling, it eventually gives in. Before cutting the shapes, let the dough rest a bit, covered, as it tends to spring back into a smaller shapes once cut. Then again, you can also roll circles larger after they’re cut, and/or into ovals, which gives you more space for filling.

- Your basic set of round cutters usually doesn’t contain a 5-inch cutter. Try a plastic container top, bowl etc, or just roll each circle to 5 inches. There will always be something in your kitchen that’s round and 5-inches if you want large cannoli.

- Oil should be at least 3 inches deep and hot – 360°F-375°F, or you’ll end up with greasy shells. I prefer 350°F – 360°F because I felt the shells darkened too quickly at 375°F.

- If using the cannoli forms, when you drop the dough on the form into the oil, they tend to sink to the bottom, resulting in one side darkening more. Use a slotted spoon or skimmer to gently lift and roll them while frying.

- DO NOT crowd the pan. Cannoli should be fried 2-4 at a time, depending on the width of your saucepan or deep fryer. Turn them once, and lift them out gently with a slotted spoon/wire skimmer and tongs. Just use a wire strainer or slotted spoon for flat cannoli shapes.

- When the cannoli turns light brown – uniform in color, watch it closely or remove it. If it’s already a deep brown when you remove it, you might end up with a really dark or slightly burnt shell.

- Depending on how much scrap you have left after cutting out all of your cannoli shapes, you can either fry them up and sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar for a crispy treat, or let the scraps rest under plastic wrap and a towel, then re-roll and cut more cannoli shapes.

- Push forms out of cannoli very gently, being careful not to break the shells as they are very delicate. DO NOT let the cannoli cool on the form, or you may never get it off without it breaking. Try to take it off while still hot. Hold it with a cloth in the center, and push the form out with a butter knife or the back of a spoon.

- When adding the confectioner’s sugar to the filling..TASTE. You may like it sweeter than what the recipe calls for, or less sweet, so add in increments.

- Fill cannoli right before serving! If you fill them an hour or so prior, you’ll end up with soggy cannoli shells.

- If you want to prepare the shells ahead of time, store them in an airtight container, then re-crisp in a 350°F (176 °C) oven for a few minutes, before filling.

(Empty shells waiting to be filled.)

I decided to take this on as a two day challenge to accomodate my hectic schedule and I am glad I did. I am also very glad that my darling hubby got me a pasta machine last Christmas so that I didn’t have to roll the dough by hand. It made it so much easier to get that paper thin dough you are looking for.

Speaking of dough, I did not have marsala in the house but I did some red wine I used instead (Merlot). It made my dough look a rather frightening reddish wine colour but it didn’t hurt the taste in the end result. I also left out the nuts in this recipe as my hubby is not a nut fan and I was not about to eat 2 dozen cannoli by myself!

The filling was not overly sweet and I did enjoy the subtle flavor of chocolate with a more pronounced orange flavor. This recipe was a bit time consuming but I am glad I gave this a try. I think I would like to attempt a variety of fillings if I ever did this again and it would make quite an impression on any guests you might happen to serve this to.

I give this recipe 7.5 chips out of a bag of 10.

"LEAVE THE GUN, TAKE THE CANNOLI"

lisamichele — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:48:51 +0000

Who doesn’t love this line from The Godfather? Classic.

As I typed the title to this entry, one thought entered my brain – how many others are going to use the above title or ‘Holy Cannoli’? OK, that’s not really relevant here…what’s relevant is, I am the host of this month’s Daring Bakers Challenge – Weeee! When Lis asked me last April if I wanted to host, it took me about half a nano second to shriek “Hell Yeah!” I had so many ideas, and so many visions of super daring, albeit amazing, cakes, cookies, breads et al. SO, what did I end up choosing? Something not baked, although it can be. I was excited, thinking “WOW, this is perfect, how many people have actually made cannoli from scratch..shells and all?”. Yep..this could be the epitome of the word DARING., especially for those who were not interested in making cannoli from scratch, but did so anyway..and are now practically certified cannoli pro’s, not to mention connoisseurs. Some who participated never liked cannoli, but now do – so I’ll call them cannoli converts.

Commercial cannoli forms (tubes) in various sizes

The night before I posted my challenge at the Daring Kitchen, I suddenly had doubts..”This isn’t baking” – “A lot of people do NOT like to deep fry anything”..”Shoot, some have never even heard of cannoli!”. Well, after all the research and tesing I did with different recipes, and time spent carefully writing out every detail of this challenge, I knew I had no choice, as there was not enough time to bake something new and write out another detailed challenge post. Naturally, there was a lot of trepidation by many at first, but now I’m glad I chose the cannoli as the Novemeber Daring Bakers challenge, because from what I’ve seen from other Daring Bakers, diving in head first and finding ways to make cannoli forms (traditional and unique) if they didn’t want to purchase them or couldn’t find them..has completely blown me away. I am so proud to be a member of such a group of talented and creative people..I could just run around the block butt naked. Wait, I can’t really run yet :p

Growing up, one of my fondest memories was going to Chinatown wih my parents and their friends, about once a month, usually to one of the hidden Hunan Houses, which were simple, unadorned doors down a few stairs off the street, that not many knew about. We would be there for hours, ordering course after course after course – some of the best Chinese food I ever had. For dessert, it was always over to Little Italy, a short walk away. Cannoli was at the top of the list, and when creating this challenge, I was trying to get as close to some of that cannoli as I could, especially the ones from Ferrara’s. This is why I ended up with a combo of two recipes, plus a few personal tweaks. Let’s just say, for two weeks, all I did was fry cannoli shells!

Blistering makes for a light and crispy shell. The telltale sign of a good cannoli.

Before I continue..lookie lookie..I have my OWN blog checking lines for the big brother bot! Thing is, do I need to post one since this is MY challenge? Should I change ‘Lisa’ to ‘ME’, and Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives to ‘HERE’ a la third person speak (which I hate, BTW)? I suppose I’ll just post it as if it was someone’s else’s challenge, as I don’t need the bot skipping over me due to the words not being exactly as written.

Guess what? If you click the link – you end up HERE, over and over! I won’t let you leave my humble abode ;D

Pumpkin cheese filled cannoli dipped in caramel and pecans with spun sugar - the shell dough rolled around the form using square, rather than circular or oval, cut-outs.

All kidding aside, as mentioned above..I was astounded by all the Macguyver’s in this challenge. Since traditonal cannoli forms are not something most have lying around their kitchen..they would have to purchase them, OR, make their own cannoli forms. It was amazing what some came up, from the super traditional Sicilian forms..which is SAWING a broomstick or cane into 6 to 8 inch lengths, sanding them down and oiling them! Would you believe a ton of Daring Bakers actually did this? Now if that isn’t the true spirit of a Daring Baker, I don’t what is! Other forms used were oiled cannelloni or manicotti pasta tubes, aluminum foil pans cut and rolled, wooden spoons, butter knives, tomato paste cans..and the list goes on! Tell me Daring Bakers aren’t some of the most creative and crafty people around, and I’ll laugh in your face!

Stacked cannoli aka Cannolipoleons, with mini chocolate chip – orange filling and raspberries.

On that note – I also gave the DB’ers a choice of simply cutting out shapes like a rolled cookie dough, frying them, and stacking them like Napoleons aka Cannolipoleons, with the filling of their choice. What amazed me was, most chose to make the traditional tube shaped cannoli, whether or not they had metal cannoli tubes, hence all the creative materials used to roll the dough around..more than most resulting in absolute success! Some even managed to make cannoli bowls and ice cream cones! I’ll say it again – I’m truly in awe of my fellow Daring Bakers

When choosing this challenge, I had to take into consideration that the month of November was going to be a tough time for many Daring Bakers in the USA, due to Thanksgiving preparation. This is another reason why I chose cannoli over some more challenging ideas..such as a layered dacqouise and sponge cake with a deep caramelized sugar-coffee (or any flavor one wanted to use) syrup, called a Cardinal Slice – OR, another amazing Italian pastry called Sfogiatelle (Isn’t it beautiful? BUT it’s very involved!), I knew many would be focusing on their Thanksgiving meals, so daring, but not too involved, was what I aimed for. I offered up a Pumpkin cannoli filling for those who wanted to add these to their Thanksgiving dessert table..although any cannoli and filling would make a wonderful Thanksgiving dessert or savory addition to the meal, if desired. Some took that ’savory’ route..from bacon and egg, to Mexican, to even turkey! You really must check out the Daring Bakers Blogroll for this challenge, because cannoli has been taken to so many different shapes, fillings and levels in general, it’s utterly amazing!

For those of you out there who are not members of the Daring Bakers, I’m going to post the challenge as I did at the Daring Kitchen, verbatim. Who knows, you just may want to take a daring stab at these rich, lovely Italian pastries. Enjoy!

Sorry all, we’re not baking this month (this line fooled some, which was the initial intention, I just hope some opened the entry to read the rest! lol)……so put away your baking pans and get out the deep fry thermometer and oil! Hi everyone, thanks for baking, err, deep frying with me this month! We’re making Cannoli! This is/was my first time making cannoli from scratch, but it’s well worth it, and a great new experience/dessert to add to your repertoire. I hope you all enjoy, and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone’s take on this sweet (or savory, if desired) Italian favorite.

Posting Date – November 27, 2009

Equipment:
Cannoli forms/tubes – optional, but recommended if making traditional shaped cannoli. Dried cannelloni pasta tubes work just as well!
Deep, heavy saucepan, enough to hold at least 2-3-inches of oil or deep fryer
Deep fat frying thermometer. although the bread cube or bit of dough test will work fine.
Metal tongs
Brass or wire skimmer OR large slotted spoon
Pastry bag with large star or plain tip, but a snipped ziplock bag, butter knife or teaspoon will work fine.
Cooling rack
Paper bags or paper towels
Pastry Brush
Cheesecloth
Sieve or fine wire mesh strainer
Electric Mixer, stand or hand, optional, as mixing the filling with a spoon is fine.
Food Processor or Stand Mixer – also optional, since you can make the dough by hand, although it takes more time.
Rolling pin and/or Pasta roller/machine
Pastry or cutting board
Round cutters – The dough can also be cut into squares and rolled around the cannoli tube prior to frying. If making a stacked cannoli, any shaped cutter is fine, as well as a sharp knife.
Mixing bowl and wooden spoon if mixing filling by hand
Plastic Wrap/Clingfilm
Tea towels or just cloth towels

Required: Must make cannoli dough and shells. If you don’t have or do not want to purchase cannoli forms, which I would never ask of any of you, you could simply cut out circles, squares, or any shapes you want and stack them with the filling of your choice to make stacked cannoli’s aka Cannolipoleons (directions below). If desired, you can channel MacGuyver and fashion something heat proof to get traditional shaped cannoli (6-8 inch sawed off lengths of a wooden broom stick or cane, sanded down and oiled, is THE authentic cannoli form!), or non-traditional shapes such as creating a form to make bowls, or even using cream horns if you happen to have them. Mini cannoli would be great too, and I’ve provided links to retailers of cannoli forms of all sizes.

Also, for those who don’t like to cook or bake with alcohol – grape juice, cranberry juice, pomegranate juice, apple juice..any sweet juice of a fruit, especially ones used in or to make wine, can be substituted. Just add a little more vinegar to insure you get enough acid to relax the dough.

Variations: The filling is YOUR choice! Anything you want to fill them with is perfectly fine, sweet or savory, or you can use the filling recipe provided – making whatever changes you want to it. Cannoli would make a great addition to a Thanksgiving dessert table/spread. In many Italian households, during the holidays, cannoli is always part of the dessert offerings. You could also make a Thanksgiving themed cannoli, like pumpkin cannoli (I came up with a great pumpkin filling recipe below) or apples, pecans, walnuts, any dried fruits etc. An idea to gussy up your cannoli is; dipping the rims of the shell in melted chocolate and rolling in chopped nuts or sprinkles, then letting them set prior to filling. Dipping or pressing mini chocolate chips into the filled ends OR just stirring mini chocolate chips into the filling prior to stacking or filling whatever shaped shells you come up with, is another great idea and makes a nice presentation The sky is the limit here, be creative! Naturally, if you have any dietary restrictions, by all means, go with it. I’ve provided a link to a gluten-free cannoli recipe and a slightly savory vegan cannoli recipe to help get you started.

Bonus option: Make your own ricotta and/or mascarpone cheese! http://lisamichele.wordpress.com/2009/05/04/eating-my-curds-and-ditching…
http://www.bakingobsession.com/2009/05/02/homemade-mascarpone-cheese/

Technically, I know, this is not baking, and if you prefer to steer clear of the deep fry, you can bake the shell. You won’t get the snappy, blistery texture and appearance that make cannoli so special, but I’m sure it’ll taste good nonetheless. Here’s a link where the cook bakes some of his cannoli shells: http://www.ifood.tv/network/cannoli/recipes

Lidisano’s Cannoli
Makes approximately 22-24 4-inch cannoli
Prep time:
Dough – 2 hours and 10-20 minutes, including resting time, and depending on whether you do it by hand or machine.
Filling – 5-10 minutes plus chilling time (about 2 hours or more)
Frying – 1-2 minutes per cannoli
Assemble – 20–30 minutes

RECIPE NOTE: THE EQUIVALENTS FROM THIS RECIPE WERE PREPARED USING THIS CONVERSION SITE: http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/index.asp.

CANNOLI SHELLS
2 cups (250 grams/8.82 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons(28 grams/1 ounce) sugar
1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.06 ounces) unsweetened baking cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon (approx. 3 grams/0.11 ounces) salt
3 tablespoons (42 grams/1.5 ounces) vegetable or olive oil
1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.18 ounces) white wine vinegar
Approximately 1/2 cup (approx. 59 grams/approx. 4 fluid ounces/approx. 125 ml) sweet Marsala or any white or red wine you have on hand
1 large egg, separated (you will need the egg white but not the yolk)
Vegetable or any neutral oil for frying – about 2 quarts (8 cups/approx. 2 litres)
1/2 cup (approx. 62 grams/2 ounces) toasted, chopped pistachio nuts, mini chocolate chips/grated chocolate and/or candied or plain zests, fruits etc.. for garnish
Confectioners’ sugar

Note – If you want chocolate ricotta filling, add a few tablespoons of dark, unsweetened cocoa powder to the above recipe, and thin it out with a few drops of warm water if too thick to pipe.

5. Carefully lower a few of the cannoli tubes into the hot oil. Do not crowd the pan. Fry the shells until golden, about 2 minutes, turning them so that they brown evenly.

9. Repeat making and frying the shells with the remaining dough. If you are reusing the cannoli tubes, let them cool before wrapping them in the dough.

3, Roll, cut out and fry the cannoli shells as according to the directions above.

For stacked cannoli:
1. Heat 2-inches of oil in a saucepan or deep sauté pan, to 350-375°F (176 – 190 °C).

2. Fill the shells as directed above. I dipped the ends of the shells in caramelized sugar and rolled them in toasted, chopped pecans.

TIPS AND NOTES:
- Dough must be stiff and well kneaded

- Oil should be at least 3 inches deep and hot – 360°F-375°F, or you’ll end up with greasy shells. I prefer 350°F – 360°F because I felt the shells darkened too quickly at 375°F.

- When adding the confectioner’s sugar to the filling..TASTE. You may like it sweeter than what the recipe calls for, or less sweet, so add in increments.

- Fill cannoli right before serving! If you fill them an hour or so prior, you’ll end up with soggy cannoli shells.

- If you want to prepare the shells ahead of time, store them in an airtight container, then re-crisp in a 350°F (176 °C) oven for a few minutes, before filling.

- Practice makes perfect. My first batch of shells came out less than spectacular, and that’s an understatement. As you go along, you’ll see what will make them more aesthetically pleasing, and adjust accordingly when rolling. My next several batches turned out great. Don’t give up!!

Links:

Alternative:
Gluten free cannoli recipe that looks great –
http://evilcakelady.blogspot.com/2009/02/annmaries-gf-birthday-cannoli.h…
Vegan cannoli –
http://www.godairyfree.org/Alisa-s-Blog/Alisa-s-Milk-Free-Blog/Vegan-Can…
http://community.livejournal.com/vegancooking/2307428.html#cutid1

Online resources:
http://www.pastrysampler.com/Questions_and_Answers/cannoli.htm
http://www.seriouseats.com/talk/2009/01/hey-jerzeeeeeee-i-want-to-make-c…

Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cannoli&search_type=&aq=f – scroll through, loads of videos on the making of the shells. filling, etc. Mario Batali’s are particularly good.

Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=cannoli&m=text – Loads of beautiful and unique cannoli photos along with the traditional. Great way to get some ideas for fillings and décor.

Online retailers for cannoli forms
http://www.fantes.com/cannoli.html#small
https://www.pastrychef.com/CANNOLI-TUBES_p_36-1202.html – If you want to buy a lot of them for one set price.
http://www.consiglios.ca/ProductCart/pc/viewCat_h.aspidCategory=408&gcli…
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=…

Thanks to all who participated in this challenge with me!

{db} holy cannoli

Wendy — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:37:00 +0000

Not only was this the first time I made cannoli, it was the first time I’ve tasted them. I baked rather than fried, which is the traditional way to make cannoli. I didn’t have enough oil in the house to fry and didn’t feel like going out and buying a jug of it. I really liked the taste of it, a crispy sweet treat. I can see how frying it would make it even more tasty.

(Today I am in Vava’u, Tonga)

Daring Bakers 25th Challenge: Cannoli

pixeltheatre — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:02:00 +0000

The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the ItalianPastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book. After recovering from the mild heart attack after reading Lisa Michele’s tag line in the DB forum : “Sorry all, we’re not baking this month…”, I was glad to see we were heading to Italy this month.

Deep frying is something I have rarely done, not because I don’t like fried food, but because I never liked the lingering smell in my apartment afterwards. With Hun, though, it is something I’ve had more of a chance to explore. Hun has a backyard. And that’s where we setup the Coleman stove and fry our hearts (or at least, dinners (hum…. turkey…) appies and desserts (hum… deep fried oreo wontons…) out. In moderation, natch. :)

This challenge also brought some bittersweet memories back. The only time I had done some fried Italian pastries was in the early 80’s, following the death of my stepfather, who was Italian. I still remember being in the kitchen of one of his sisters, with the rest of the women of the extended family, frying something called, I think, bugis (sp?) (liar, in italian), a fried strip of dough, with powdered sugar sprinkled on top. These were served at the memorial the following day. I can’t remember how many of those we made that afternoon, but looking back on it, I find it interesting that food not only brings us together in times of celebration, but also in times of mourning.

I didn’t have any cannoli tubes but following Lisa’s suggestion, I fried my cannoli as sheets instead of tubes, and stacked them with the ricotta filling in between. I made a lemon/limoncello sauce to go with it. This dessert closed an evening of Daring challenges, with sushi as the main course. It was a busy weekend!

Note – If you want chocolate ricotta filling, add a few tablespoons of dark, unsweetened cocoa powder to the above recipe, and thin it out with a few drops of warm water if too thick to pipe.

5. Carefully lower a few of the cannoli tubes into the hot oil. Do not crowd the pan. Fry the shells until golden, about 2 minutes, turning them so that they brown evenly.

9. Repeat making and frying the shells with the remaining dough. If you are reusing the cannoli tubes, let them cool before wrapping them in the dough.

Cannoli shell preparation, cutting out the dough circles, sealing the dough around the form, frying the shells, finished shells ready to fill

3, Roll, cut out and fry the cannoli shells as according to the directions above.

For stacked cannoli:
1. Heat 2-inches of oil in a saucepan or deep sauté pan, to 350-375°F (176 – 190 °C).

pumpkin-pecan and turkish delight cannoli (daring bakers)

mlle noëlle — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 05:01:03 +0000

I actually made my Daring Bakers challenge early this month, woot! Marvin informed me that we were g

November Daring Baker's Challenge: Cannolis!!

liz2024 — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 05:00:38 +0000

The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book. Lisa Michele is one of my very favorite fellow Daring Baker’s so I am so excited to do her challenge!!

I chose to make three different fillings and use a semi chocolatey shell dough! I was only planning on making a plain vanilla filling with chocolate chips, but then Ned urged me to make one with the pistachios that we had in the pantry and when I heard that the pumpkin filling recipe used marscapone (which I had leftover from another pumpkin creation) I called Laurita immediately when she was getting our turkey from Trader Joe’s and she got me a can of pumpkin to complete that filling! From what I hear about the pumpkin shortage, boy am I glad to be able to get that can! These three fillings were lovely and are so delicious each in their own way. Fantastic choice for a challenge LM, fantastic!

So the great thing about this challenge is that for the frying portion I was able to enlist dear sweet Neddy as the chief of the frying station and puller of the cannoli shells off the molds! I made the dough three days ahead of time and let the ricotta drain for that long too…maybe not the best idea, but as you can see above I think it all turned out well. So the dough was really easy to make in the food processor, but when I started trying to roll it out with my pasta machine that was just NOT happenin! So out came my trusty rolling pin and it worked like a breeze. The temperature of the oil and how long to fry each took awhile to figure out, but I think we got our technique down and filling these babies couldn’t be easier! I think my fillings should probably be a little thicker, but they worked just fine for our uses. More ricotta to make it thicker I guess? This was a great holiday treat to make and now that I have metal cannoli forms, I will most certainly be doing this again!

Equipment:
Cannoli forms/tubes – optional, but recommended if making traditional shaped cannoli.
Deep, heavy saucepan, enough to hold at least 2-3-inches of oil or deep fryer
Deep fat frying thermometer. although the bread cube or bit of dough test will work fine.
Metal tongs
Brass or wire skimmer OR large slotted spoon
Pastry bag with large star or plain tip, but a snipped ziplock bag, butter knife or teaspoon will work fine.
Cooling rack
Paper bags or paper towels
Pastry Brush
Cheesecloth
Sieve or fine wire mesh strainer
Electric Mixer, stand or hand, optional, as mixing the filling with a spoon is fine.
Food Processor or Stand Mixer – also optional, since you can make the dough by hand, although it takes more time.
Rolling pin and/or Pasta roller/machine
Pastry or cutting board
Round cutters – The dough can also be cut into squares and rolled around the cannoli tube prior to frying. If making a stacked cannoli, any shaped cutter is fine, as well as a sharp knife.
Mixing bowl and wooden spoon if mixing filling by hand
Plastic Wrap/Clingfilm
Tea towels or just cloth towels

Lidisano’s Cannoli
Makes 22-24 4-inch cannoli
Prep time:
Dough – 2 hours and 10-20 minutes, including resting time, and depending on whether you do it by hand or machine.
Filling – 5-10 minutes plus chilling time (about 2 hours or more)
Frying – 1-2 minutes per cannoli
Assemble – 20–30 minutes

3 tablespoons (23 grams/0.81 ounce) toasted, finely chopped pistachios

Note – If you want chocolate ricotta filling, add a few tablespoons of dark, unsweetened cocoa powder to the above recipe, and thin it out with a few drops of warm water if too thick to pipe.

5. Carefully lower a few of the cannoli tubes into the hot oil. Do not crowd the pan. Fry the shells until golden, about 2 minutes, turning them so that they brown evenly.

9. Repeat making and frying the shells with the remaining dough. If you are reusing the cannoli tubes, let them cool before wrapping them in the dough.
Cannoli shell preparation, cutting out the dough circles, sealing the dough around the form, frying the shells, finished shells ready to fill

3, Roll, cut out and fry the cannoli shells as according to the directions above.

2. In a bowl with electric mixer, beat ricotta until smooth and creamy. Beat in confectioner’s sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and blend until smooth. Transfer to another bowl and stir in chocolate and/or nuts. Chill until firm.(The filling can be made up to 24 hours prior to filling the shells. Just cover and keep refrigerated).

Check out the rest of my DB posse here!!

DARING BAKERS: Cannoli!

moozie — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 04:24:42 +0000

As this is the 11th hour of the Daring Baker’s November Challenge – cannolis – i am going to do this post mostly in photos – that’s the best part anyway – no?

rolling the dough through the kitchen aid - apparently essential with such hard dough

getting thinner

ahh - i can see the light!

check on the oil temp

cutting out rounds with a cookie cutter tin lid

mom (was so excited to hear that cannolis were on the menu - she insisted we do them together) works away

mom wraps the first one ...

and it goes into the oil

...and it pops right open and the next 5 or so do too

in true capricorn spirit, i decide there is no way a cannoli shell will get the best of us and i start a sealing process - PINCHING.

take that oil bubbles! lets GO!

mom also starts holding them down ...

and success looms near!

and we start cranking them out

and they start stacking up!

and we have a little photoshoot

...well, wouldnt you have done the same?!

then mom gets a little silly ...

yep, she's goofy ...

..and another close-up

and work begins on the dipping chocolate

and the dipping commences ...

aww so pretty

dipped and good to go

chocolate also goes into the filling

complete with pistachios, cinnamon and rose water!

piping into the dipped shells

all filled and delicious!!

All done!

Thanks for all your help mom – glad we got to bake together!

me and mom!!

!! xoxoxo

Cannoli

Tara — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:18:41 +0000

I did it! (Well, I’ve half-ways done it….) Last night I bit the bullet and made the cannoli shells part of the entire cannoli dessert. My apartment still smells of oil but it was worth it. I’m actually kind of proud I participated in this Daring Bakers Challenge! I will hopefully be filling them tonight, but I decided I should post now since I have the time.

The process was actually not too difficult. The recipes below were provided to us by the Daring Bakers and I have noted where I did things differently. The end result is actually pretty looking (no matter what my poor quality picture shows) and it would be an impressive dessert to serve at a dinner party.

Will I be making it again? Probably not. I’m just not a big fan of frying foods. Its smelly, messy, and about as unhealthy as it gets. BUT, I am glad I made cannoli and would feel confident in making it again if the occasion arrises.

Cannoli

CANNOLI SHELLS

2 cups (250 grams/16 ounces) all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons(28 grams/1 ounce) sugar

1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.06 ounces) unsweetened baking cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon (approx. 3 grams/0.11 ounces) salt

3 tablespoons (42 grams/1.5 ounces) vegetable or olive oil

1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.18 ounces) white wine vinegar (I actually didn’t have any so I used apple cider vinegar.)

Approximately 1/2 cup (approx. 59 grams/approx. 4 fluid ounces/approx. 125 ml) sweet Marsala or any white or red wine you have on hand (I used a Pinot Nior I had on hand. It flavored the dough a lot, but I didn’t notice the taste once the shells were fried. It does produce a slightly darker cannoli than white wine would, though.)

1 large egg, separated (you will need the egg white but not the yolk)

Vegetable or any neutral oil for frying – about 2 quarts (8 cups/approx. 2 litres)

1/2 cup (approx. 62 grams/2 ounces) toasted, chopped pistachio nuts, mini chocolate chips/grated chocolate and/or candied or plain zests, fruits etc.. for garnish (I used melted semi-sweet chocolate and chopped mixed nuts.)

Confectioners’ sugar

DIRECTIONS FOR SHELLS:

1. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer or food processor, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the oil, vinegar, and enough of the wine to make a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and well blended, about 2 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge from 2 hours to overnight.
2. Cut the dough into two pieces. Keep the remaining dough covered while you work. Lightly flour a large cutting or pastry board and roll the dough until super thin, about 1/16 to 1/8” thick (An area of about 13 inches by 18 inches should give you that). Cut out 3 to 5-inch circles (3-inch – small/medium; 4-inch – medium/large; 5-inch;- large. Your choice). Roll the cut out circle into an oval, rolling it larger and thinner if it’s shrunk a little.
3. Oil the outside of the cannoli tubes (You only have to do this once, as the oil from the deep fry will keep them well, uhh, oiled..lol). Roll a dough oval from the long side (If square, position like a diamond, and place tube/form on the corner closest to you, then roll) around each tube/form and dab a little egg white on the dough where the edges overlap. (Avoid getting egg white on the tube, or the pastry will stick to it.) Press well to seal. Set aside to let the egg white seal dry a little.
4. In a deep heavy saucepan, pour enough oil to reach a depth of 3 inches, or if using an electric deep-fryer, follow the manufacturer’s directions. Heat the oil to 375°F (190 °C) on a deep fry thermometer, or until a small piece of the dough or bread cube placed in the oil sizzles and browns in 1 minute. Have ready a tray or sheet pan lined with paper towels or paper bags.
5. Carefully lower a few of the cannoli tubes into the hot oil. Do not crowd the pan. Fry the shells until golden, about 2 minutes, turning them so that they brown evenly.
6. Lift a cannoli tube with a wire skimmer or large slotted spoon, out of the oil. Using tongs, grasp the cannoli tube at one end. Very carefully remove the cannoli tube with the open sides straight up and down so that the oil flows back into the pan. Place the tube on paper towels or bags to drain. Repeat with the remaining tubes. While they are still hot, grasp the tubes with a potholder and pull the cannoli shells off the tubes with a pair of tongs, or with your hand protected by an oven mitt or towel. Let the shells cool completely on the paper towels. Place shells on cooling rack until ready to fill.
7. Repeat making and frying the shells with the remaining dough. If you are reusing the cannoli tubes, let them cool before wrapping them in the dough.
8. I then chose to garnish the ends of my cannoli shells. Looking at pictures of beautiful cannoli, I decided I liked this look better rather than the look one gets by dipping the ends of the finished cannoli (with the filling).

CANNOLI FILLING

2 lbs (approx. 3.5 cups/approx. 1 kg/32 ounces) ricotta cheese, drained

1 2/3 cups cup (160 grams/6 ounces) confectioner’s sugar, (more or less, depending on how sweet you want it), sifted

1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon (4 grams/0.15 ounces) pure vanilla extract or the beans from one vanilla bean

3 tablespoons (approx. 28 grams/approx. 1 ounce) finely chopped good quality chocolate of your choice

2 tablespoons (12 grams/0.42 ounces) of finely chopped, candied orange peel, or the grated zest of one small to medium orange

3 tablespoons (23 grams/0.81 ounce) toasted, finely chopped pistachios

Note – If you want chocolate ricotta filling, add a few tablespoons of dark, unsweetened cocoa powder to the above recipe, and thin it out with a few drops of warm water if too thick to pipe.

DIRECTIONS FOR FILLING:

1. Line a strainer with cheesecloth. Place the ricotta in the strainer over a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Weight it down with a heavy can, and let the ricotta drain in the refrigerator for several hours to overnight.
2. In a bowl with electric mixer, beat ricotta until smooth and creamy. Beat in confectioner’s sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and blend until smooth. Transfer to another bowl and stir in chocolate, zest and nuts. Chill until firm.(The filling can be made up to 24 hours prior to filling the shells. Just cover and keep refrigerated).

ASSEMBLE THE CANNOLI:

1. When ready to serve..fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain or star tip, or a ziplock bag, with the ricotta cream. If using a ziplock bag, cut about 1/2 inch off one corner. Insert the tip in the cannoli shell and squeeze gently until the shell is half filled. Turn the shell and fill the other side. You can also use a teaspoon to do this, although it’s messier and will take longer.
2. Press or dip cannoli in chopped pistachios, grated chocolate/mini chocolate chips, candied fruit or zest into the cream (I will not be doing this as I chose to garnish the ends of the actual cannoli shells.)

This is a picture of the empty shells. I choes to dip the ends in chocolate and then dip them into chopped nuts. I think they’ll look really nice once I fill them with a nice white ricotta cream! I’ll try to post a pic if I get a chance!

UPDATE: Pictures of filled cannoli below!

I should note that I also made squash pasta this weekend that turned out really delish! I didn’t take a picture of it but I will post the recipe (and whatever picture I can find of the dish from someone else) soon!

I fail at blogging, but I bring cookies!

playswellwithfood — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:24:31 +0000

In my attempt to keep blogging more often, I joined up with the Daring Bakers/Daring Cooks challenges.

And promptly, failed to blog in Oct with having participated in both challenges. Go team me! So, going with the better late than never theory, I made goodies in Oct, and I want to share them. Because they were tasty.

For the bakers challenge, we were to make French macaroons. I’d only had these a few times before, and never tried to make them, but luckily, I had everything I needed in the house already. Yes, I keep almond flour on hand. I’m weird like that. I debated for a while, what kind did I want to make… chocolate seemed like a good idea, but I was (yes, I’m about to say this) bored with chocolate. I wanted something different. Since it was Oct, and thus fall, I was starting to get more into that mood, and some rifling through my spice rack provided the answer:

Ginger macaroons, with pumpkin buttercream filling. Oh. My. God.

I finally buckled down to attempt these tasty little treats one night around 3am, and on the first try, I had feet! I rejoiced, there were FEET! ON MY COOKIES!! Lots of people said feet were hard to achieve on the first shot, but I managed, I was very happy about it too. I may have danced around the kitchen a little, 4:00 in the morning, in my pajamas. No one ever said I wasn’t a dork.

I did a lot of reading and research on making these cookies, to be honest, because there were some serious variations on how people’s were turning out, and even a bit on recipe itself. My recipe was a simple one, that I borrowed from Tartelette, who seems to really know her macaroons. Plus, I like weighing things in recipes like this:

Shells
90 gr egg whites (about 3)
30 gr granulated sugar
200 gr powdered sugar
110 gr almond flour
1/2 Tbs ground ginger

The egg whites: I did let them sit out on the counter overnight, covered, which I think helped. When I was ready to go with them, into my KitchenAid with the whisk attachment, and beaten until foamy, gradually added the granulated sugar, until I had a lovely meringue.

I ran the powdered sugar and almond flour through a sifter, got the little chunks of almond out of the flour, which probably also helped, as to not weigh down my batter. Combining these with the meringue, I hand-folded them as quickly as I could to incorporate (47 strokes was my magic number). Into a piping bag — ok, a ziplock bag with the tip cut off — and piped onto baking sheets lined with parchment. I left my cookies sitting on the counter for half an hour, then slipped them into the oven (at 280f) for 20 min. I didn’t have much trouble removing them from the parchment, luckily, when they were done, and most importantly, they had feet! Yes, I found this exciting at that hour.

My filling was pretty simple, a lovely pumpkin buttercream:

1 stick butter, room temp
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp each cinnamon and nutmeg
1/4 tsp vanilla
1+ lb powdered sugar

Cream butter, pumpkin, spices and vanilla, then slowly add sugar until it forms the consistency you want, and no longer separates. I ended up with a bit of this left over (half or more of what I’d made), so keep that in mind. Filled the cookies with it, and then there was happy nommage. Very happy.

Daring Cooks challenge post to follow shortly, I need to actually eat some dinner here, I’m making myself hungry.

November Daring Bakers Challenge!

Tara — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:19:06 +0000

Have I fully explained what the Daring Bakers are? Hmmm….

Well, there are Daring Bakers and then there are Daring Cooks and then there are some extremely talented (and ambitious!) people who are both. All these crazies can be found at the The Daring Kitchen. Every month Bakers and Cooks are given the same recipe and invited to make it and post online about it. Its great to see how everyone tweaks the recipe. And the only real rule is that every Daring Baker/Cook must complete 8 of the 12 challenges presented each year in order to retain their Daring status.

And November 2009’s Challenge Recipe is…………………

Cannoli….oh dear. I’m going to order some cannoli forms off amazon right now.

Not gonna lie. I’m a bit scared of deep frying……I always seem to have a stinky oily mess on my hands. I’m guessing it may take a couple of attempts to get this one right but I should have a full weekend for proper baking around the middle of the month. I will certainly post when I make my first attempt at this lovely Italian pastry!!

cocoa macarons, vegan.

madcap cupcake — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:40:30 +0000

Happy World Vegan Day! It is also time to reveal the most recent Daring Bakers’ challenge: Macarons. Well, truth be told, it was actually time to reveal the Daring Bakers challenge last Wednesday. Better late than never I say. There was no way I was going to miss out on trying my hand at making vegan macarons, and what better way to celebrate World Vegan Day, the kick off to World Vegan Month.

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

Macarons were made famous in France, although they may have originally been brought there from Italy. According to Serious Eats, ‘the English word macaroon is derived from the French macaron, which in turn comes from the Italian maccherone, or “fine dough.”‘ These delicate cookies are traditionally made with almond flour (finely ground almonds), confectioners’ sugar, and egg whites. To veganise them, I would have to replace five egg whites. After following the early feedback of my fellow vegan Daring Bakers, I decided to use Ener-G egg replacer to do this. For those unfamiliar with this product, Ener-G is basically a mix of starches and chemical leavening to which water is added – it is particularly well suited to cookies.

I have to say, I was a bit trepidatious upon embarking on this culinary adventure. Whenever the replacement of a mountain of egg whites is in order, things can get dicey fast. I was, however, pleasantly surprised with the results. I achieved a delicate thin crust and a deliciously chewy centre. I had some difficulty piping the dough initially – mine was far too stiff to yield the desired shape. I somewhat rectified this by adding four teaspoons of water to thin the dough a bit. Still, the visual result is not the perfectly smooth dome you might have seen in the pages of Gourmet or the window of a Parisian patisserie – or indeed, the heights of biscuit beauty achieved by many of my fellow Daring Bakers. Nonetheless, I was fairly pleased, considering.

I flavoured the dough with vanilla bean and cocoa and whipped up a batch of the delightful Chocolate Mousse from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, to use as my filling. If you would like vanilla macarons, omit the cocoa. I thought Matcha green tea powder would make a great alternative addition.

This is my veganised version of Fleming’s original recipe.

Vegan Macarons

2 ¼ cups Confectioners’ sugar
2 cups Almond flour
2 Tbsp Granulated sugar
3 Tbsp + 1 tsp tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer
6 Tbsp water + 1 tsp
1 Tbsp Cocoa powder (omit for vanilla macarons or try Matcha powder instead)
1 Vanilla bean (seeds only)
Filling of your choice, prepared.

1. Preheat the oven to 200F. Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl.
2. Beat the Ener-G and water with an electric mixer (or stand mixer) until it holds soft peaks. Add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the Ener-G mixture and stir gently to combine. Add vanilla bean seeds, and Cocoa (or Matcha) if using. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Don’t overmix.
4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip or a Ziploc bag with the corner cut off. It’s easy to fill your bag if you stand it up in a glass and fold the tops of the bag down over the edges before filling with batter.
5. Pipe one-inch-sized mounds of batter onto parchment lined baking sheets.
6. Bake the macaron for 5 minutes at 200F. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375F. Once the oven has reached this temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or until lightly colored.
7. Cool on a rack before filling. I think any soft filling would work nicely – the cookies are delicate so you don’t want to be pressing them together too roughly. I chose to use the Chocolate Mousse recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World for my filling. You could also try your favourite ganache recipe.

Enjoy.

Let there be vegan macarons a plenty.

The Epicke Tragedye of the Macarons

Lisa — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:19:18 +0000

This month’s Daring Bakers challenge was so so so lovely. I was delighted. I had plans. To do several batches. Why? Because. They were French macarons. sighhhhhhhhhh.

Even if you’re not a foodie, a baking blogger or a follower of menu trends, you still probably haven’t missed the phenomenonal Rise of the Macaron. It’s like… Stieg Larson to the publishing industry; Brad and Angelina to the gossip mag trade; wide belts to fashion; Susan Boyle to TV. Such is the French macaron to baking in 2009. Little multi-coloured arrays of them adorn every patisserie from Paris to Cape Town. Lemon, chocolate, rose water … even green tea has become pretty standard as a flavour. There seems to be a worldwide trend to break into ever-unheard-of flavour combinations. I’ve seen recipes for purple ones crusted with sugared violets, for pumpkin and spice macarons, for blue cheese, pear and walnut macarons. It’s big, man. And a bit crazy.

But I was so up for it. And confident. ‘Cos I’ve made them before, and they were just gorgeous. It was around Christmas last year, and I packaged them up in gorgeous tins and purple tissue paper. They were lovely.

So this time, I couldn’t decide amongst all the adventurous flavour combinations that were making the rounds on the Daring Bakers forum. I figured I’d go relatively simple: one batch of lemon macarons, and one batch of chocolate. (In fact, I realised later that this was one of my mistakes: do plain macarons first. Master plain ones. Then try the flavours, which introduce a myriad of new problems. Ha.)

First problem: I didn’t trust all the seasoned macaron bakers that advised to age the egg whites for three days on a counter top. It just sounded… a bit gross. And more to the point, I live in a household where four other adults regularly poke around in the kitchen and throw away anything that looks difficult to identify (a reasonable strategy, but not one conducive to successful egg-white-ageing processes). Anyway, so I figured one-day-old eggs would be okay. No no no.

Then there was the glitch in egg white beating. For some reason, I lost faith in my egg whites. They were getting to a stiff-but-still-fluffy-looking stage. Not thick, glossy and meringue-like. Why I thought they looked done enough, I do not know, but when it came to piping out my little lovelies, they were less than lovely. They seemed to lack… something. Surface tension. Solidity. I don’t know.
Worst problem was the lemon batch. The addition of the lemon zest seemed to cause the mixture to … weep. Little droplets of water (or, to be precise, an unctuous watery liquid that resembled protoplasm) seemed to seep out of the piping bag, and all over each piped item.

I could go on. They didn’t rise so much as spread. They didn’t crisp up so much as turn into a sticky mess on the wax paper. I couldn’t bring myself to photograph them. My book club girls quite liked the sticky almondy cookies that emerged, but we agreed that they were about as epic a macaron failure as you can get, without burning down the kitchen. I couldn’t even bring myself to take out another 5 eggs and start over. Maybe this month.

So. That’s my Daring Bakers tragedy of the month. Perhaps of the year.

Mess of a Macaron

conniex721 — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:14:11 +0000

Macarons huh? I’ve seen these little guys plenty of times while putting off my homework and b

stoked.........

Tara — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:14:38 +0000

i’m quite excited for my first Daring Bakers Challenge. The challenge forum will open up tomorrow and I’ll let you know what the recipe for November is!

October 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge: French Macarons

newcookontheblock — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:42:05 +0000

Oy.

I was excited to try this month’s Daring Bakers Challenge, French Macarons. But to make a long story short, mine turned out terrible (say that in a French accent!)

I know I did a bunch of things wrong: I didn’t grind my almonds fine enough, I didn’t carefully measure my proportions when I split everything by half (by eye) in order to make two flavors, I used a too-high setting to aerate the egg whites, and I overmixed the batter. You can see the many symptoms of my mistakes in this one picture–huge bubbles, chunks of flour, and spread-out dough that required some manual separation:

The final product LOOKED terrible:

But it turned out well–the chocolate-flavored cookies and the cinnamon-flavored cookies both turned out TASTING great and with a quick little dark chocolate ganache they were not bad at all!

I think I’ll try another version of these sometime, probably from Audax, whose detailed baking instructions are great and I’d imagine very helpful. It’s through his posts about other people’s problems with this challenge that I figured out what went wrong for me.

Aw, shucks. Here’s the recipe in case you want to try it yourself!

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

Ingredients
Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)
Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.)
Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.)
Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.
2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.
4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.
5. Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).
6. Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.
7. Cool on a rack before filling.

Yield: 10 dozen.

Since when did cookies need FEET? Oh, and I'm back, bitches!

abbeyth — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:27:04 +0000

Sammiches!

Okay, I know. Go ahead and say it. I’ve been a BAD BLOGGER. Bad bad bad. When was my last update? MONTHS ago? Um… yeah… so… like… I moved, and then my new kitchen wasn’t done, and then…. um, yeah, I suck. But I’m back now and ready to rumble. Srsly. Ya rly. Gonna do it this time.

Once again, it’s time for the Daring Bakers Challenge. Your blurb of the month: The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

Okay, so if you look at any other food blogs than this one (and why would you, really? I mean, this one is so awesome and stuff…) you may have noticed a strange cookie trend sweeping the intarnets. A wave of cookies sweeping the nation, crispy bottomed, brightly colored, flipped “foot” to “foot” and joined together in a holy matrimony of sweet fillings and buttercreams and curds… oh my! These funny, footsy little cookies are called Macarons (if you’re french, or suitably pretentious, which I am). Not to be confused with the humble american Macaroon (oh, how that extra O just goes and changes everything), which I also dearly lurve, the macaron is a frothy mix of egg whites, sugars, and finely ground nutmeats (hehehe… I just love saying the word “nutmeats” – it just sounds so dirty!), baked into little crispy-puffy dollops and eaten slathered-together with just about anything under the sun.

I call this one "vanilla bean meets grisly death at the hands of fluffy meringue"

I’ve been watching these little buggers for months now, taking over the food blogs, yet never quite having the excuse to give them a try. “Gosh darnit they’re PURTY,” I’d say, and then forget all about them until the next bit of macaron food-porn launched itself across my computer screen. Well here was my excuse! Daring Bakers picks a winner yet again! Woot!

Little did I know just how tricky these darn things are to get just right. Every one of those pictures I see of perfect, poofy macarons, now that I’ve tried to make them myself, I definitely think should have a bit fat warning label stating “YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY”. Not that my results weren’t delicious, scrumptious even. But not so pretty. And we all know how much I like to make my food pretty. Apparently there are fanatics out there that have dissected the concept of macaron-making nearly to death, spouting all sorts of arcane knowledge about “aging” one’s egg whites, resting pre-baked cookies, not cooking on a dry/humid/cloudy/sunny/rainy/insert-weather-here day. There are pages and pages dedicated to the magical incantations required to create the perfect “foot” on the bottom of the cookie (look at a proper picture and you’ll see what I mean). It’s nutty, I tell ya.

Whatever, I just wanna bake some cookies. So I threw myself into the recipe with enthusiasm, putting my own flavor twist to the buttercream center (caramelized pears with port!). Were they pretty to look at? Not so much. Were they yummy? Yes. Will I make them again? Maybe… who knows. Only time will tell. I packed up half of this batch and brought them over to the house of a couple of sick friends (for the sake of anonymity, let’s call them Joe and Jen). I am firmly convinced that my cookies completely cured them of all their ills. Seriously.

Care package is caring. And packagey. AND DELICIOUS!

Anyway, you can expect to hear from me again soon because I have some cool posts saved up, and in the next year will also be tackling baking my first and second wedding cakes! Always wanted to do that… Meanwhile, please accept this post as my humble offering back to the world of food-blogging. Forgive me for my absence. I promise to be better from now on. Pinkie swear and everything!

Macarons

2 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 cups almond flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
5 egg whites, room temperature

1. Preheat the oven to 200°F. Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.
2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time [I added the guts of a vanilla bean - save the husk, we'll use it later]. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.
4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.
5. Pipe one-inch-sized mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).
6. Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F. Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.
7. Cool on a rack before filling.

Theoretically, this yields 10 dozen macarons.

Little blorps of "cookie dough"

Alas, my macarons are "foot"less (and fancy free?)

Abbey’s Caramelized Pears with Port Buttercream

(based on Swiss Buttercream from Smitten Kitchen – this was the perfect amount for my half-batch of macarons, but YMMV)

2 pears, peeled and chopped into chunks
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 empty vanilla bean pod
cinnamon
freshly grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons Port

1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg white
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Melt the 2 tbsp. of butter and brown sugar over medium heat. Add the vanilla bean pod to the butter and sugar so it can flavor the caramel. Once the sugar & butter are bubbly, add in the chopped pears. Sprinkle in the cinnamon and nutmet to taste, then saute in the caramel for 10-20 minutes, depending on the ripeness of your pears. Once the pears are good and soft, add the Port and let cook for 2-3 minutes more. Take off the heat and let cool thoroughly. Once cooled, prepare the buttercream:

Whisk egg whites and sugar together in a big metal bowl over a pot of simmering water. Whisk occasionally until you can’t feel the sugar granules when you rub the mixture between your fingers.

Transfer mixture into the mixer and whip until it turns white and about doubles in size. Add the vanilla, then add the 6 tbsp. of butter a bit at a time and whip until smooth and luscious. Set aside.

Get your cooled pear mixture and drain off as much of the syrupy moisture as possible, then mash the pears until you get a nice chunky texture. fold into the buttercream, then do with it what you will.

How can you go wrong when you start with butter, brown sugar, and a vanilla bean?

Pears enter stage left. And I swear, the "A" made out of vanilla bean parts was entirely accidental!

My buttercreams, let me show you them

What beautiful little feet you have, Miss Macaron!

lisamichele — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:00:48 +0000

The spring and summer of ‘08 was when it all started. I was a newbie feeling my way around the blogosphere and I kept encountering these colorful, little rounds of sandwich cookies with feet. OK, I knew what they were, but I was fascinated by the popularity of these sweeties, and also quite fascinated with the myriad of discussions pertaining to these babies and the challenges that came with executing them perfectly. Smooth, even shells and FEET were apparently crucial to achieving the ultimate beauty of a French macaroon aka macaron, and people seemed to tear their hair out over it. Soon, I was to become one of those people.

Now, I know summer isn’t the best time to tackle macarons, because I spent two months or more, on and off, trying to execute these darling, little cookies, and come summer, the humidity left me with flat-chested bitches with lopsided feet (One thing I must admit, I always got feet, no matter how ugly they were). My kitchen was strewn with baking sheet after baking sheet, different colored little mounds of drying macaron batter, along with failed attempt after attempt, containers of aging egg whites lined up like soldiers, and streaks of tant pour tant (the finely ground amalgamation of almond meal/flour and confectioner’s sugar) across the floor, marred by perfect kitty paw prints. I had egg white in my hair, my fingers were every color of the rainbow, and disposable pastry bags were the main component of my garbage can. After that fiasco, I thought to myself, “NEVER AGAIN..these are a major pain in the ass!! I’ll just buy them, and kudos to those bloggers who mastered them, because dammmn, they are mega-bitchy cookies – cookies in a permanent state of PMS!” You can see some of my VERY mediocre results (and bad photos) starting HERE. I’m only sending you there because of the cool flavors. ;D

Well, well, well..wouldn’t you know it, this month’s Daring Baker’s Challenge just so happened to be macarons. Now I had no choice, I had to do lunch with the bitch…and dinner, and breakfast and..umm, well, she had to live wth me for a while..even though she left one hell of a mess the last time she stayed over. ARGH!

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S of Baking without Fear. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe. Thanks, Ami!

I decided to start with Pierre Hermes’ famous Ispahan macaron. Am I freakin’ crazy? After all I went through that fateful summer, was I really going to attempt to construct the Grand Dame of macarons when there was a good chance my shells wouldn’t turn out? Yep, because as most of you know or have realized by now..I can never keep things simple. Well, in the case of Mizzz Ispahan, I was going to actually make it simple – hard to believe, huh? I decided to ditch the raspberry gelee center and use raspberry jelly instead – as in the stuff in the jar. Why not? Does it really have to be a perfect cube of perfectly set raspberry gelee? It tastes the same for chrissake..so that’s Lisa’s attempt at simplifying her life via taking shortcuts, STEP ONE. STEP TWO, I do not want any rose essence, rose oil, rose water, rose anything in my baked goods. Why, you ask? Because rose tastes likes a baby smells. So does lavender (scented grandma), violet and all other flower essences that many love to add to baked goods, to me anyway. Leave the flowers for looking at, smelling, and guilty husbands, thank you – just keep them out of my mouth. Alright, now we’re getting somewhere.

The Ispahan in front was made using Claudia’s recipe/method. The small ones in back, Helen’s. Notice the difference? Flat with bad feet, to puffed with nice feet.

Thing is, I’ve seen so many different versions of the lovely, but mighty Ispahan, that I wasn’t sure which road to take. I decided to go with Trissa’s (of Trissalicious) Ispahan, and well, it’s written as Pierre Hermes’ recipe, so, why not? Plus, her Ispahan looked so gorgeous, I couldn’t resist, even though I knew mine wouldn’t come close.

Trissa’s filling is a lychee-white chocolate -rose ganache. Others I have seen call for a rose-lychee buttercream..and yet another, a raspberry-rose buttercream. Well, WHICH IS IT? I didn’t think deep thought was appropriate here, considering I needed to just focus on how I wanted to make this beeeotch of a cookie. I love white chocolate..love lychee – subtract the damn rose scented whatever, and I’m all set. I treated some fresh raspberries with pectin, then dried them in my oven for about 10 hours, grinding them into a powder when they were completely dry. Perfect topping for my soon to be imperfect Ispahan.

Remember when I said I was going to make things simple for once? Scratch that. I ended up making several flavors, leaving most everything to the last minute. Fooled you all, didn’t I? Actually, I fooled myself too. Here are the macarons I decided to make..

Ispahan, as mentioned above
Lemon-thyme shells with a Swiss meringue filling
Pumpkin
Chocolate shells with vanilla swirls, dots, stripes and squiggles on top (wasn’t quite sure if it would work, but it did!) – filled with white chocolate ganache.
Vanilla shells with chocolate swirls, dots, stripes and squiggles on top, some filled with chocolate ganache, some filled with Nutella.
Chocolate shells with cocoa nibs, filled with cocoa nib spiked buttercream
100% Vanilla. Vanilla sugar and beans in the shells, vanilla bean buttercream filling – topped with vanilla sugar. I’m definitely a vanilla gal to the highest degree.

Why does it seem like this entry is missing something..OH, that’s right, I haven’t whined about a problem yet. Here was the problem….the recipe Ami provided, by Claudia Fleming, did not result in an aesthetically pleasing macaron for me. I used her recipe for most of my Ispahans – which was a mistake, since those were the ones I really wanted to turn out lovely (Hey, what did I know? However, I wasn’t going to make another batch of large pink shells, so that was that). The method she uses requires oven drying, then baking in lieu of air drying then baking. I really tried..tried everything, but I kept pulling out sheet after sheet of uneven feet, and shells that flattened in certain areas once cooled. No idea what I did wrong, but I truly believe it’s the recipe or method, because I chose to use Helen’s (of Tartelette) recipe for all the other macaron flavors, and they turned out gorgeous!! Smooth, silky shells, beautiful, perfect feet..chewy on the inside, delicately crispy on the outside etc. Why didn’t I use Helen’s recipe in the Summer of ‘08? Well, factoring in the humidity, those probably wouldn’t have turned out either, so I won’t bash myself in the head over it.

Even though I went overboard as usual and once again ended up with egg white and tant pour tant in my hair, colorful fingers, sheets of piped macarons drying all over my kitchen, this time it was well worth it. Miss Macaron, you have an open invitation to stay at my place any time you’d like, and you can thank Helen for that. I’m even considering doing Macaron a Month entries at this rate. So many cool flavor combos to explore!

Macarons – Claudia Fleming
Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)
Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.)
Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.)
Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.

2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.

3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.

4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.

5. Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).

6. Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.

7. Cool on a rack before filling.

Yield: 10 dozen. Ami’s note: My yield was much smaller than this. I produced about two dozen filled macaroons.

Pumpkin Filling
2 oz room temperature cream cheese
2 oz mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup canned or fresh cooked and pureed pumpkin
2/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a bowl, beat together both cheeses. Add pumpkin, the sugar and spice. Mix until smooth and uniform. Chill for about an hour or so.

2. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip, then pipe onto every other macaron shell (tinted with powdered or gel orange food color) and sandwich with another macaron shell.

Major Lisa Tip: I found I ended up with much smoother shells and more even feet when I let the tant pour tants sit out, uncovered overnight to dry, as opposed to folding it into the beaten egg whites right after grinding. It definitely has to do with the oils in the almonds, and the moisture content. I HIGHLY recommend preparing your tant pour tants the night before macaron making, colored or not.

Check out the Daring Bakers Blogroll for some more amazing macarons by my fellow Daring Bakers!

Desserted puff pastry

Casey — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:00:22 +0000

Tastespotting: Not sharp; Foodgawker: Lighting exposure issues

Daring Bakers ... my first challenge ... and lemon curd!

moozie — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:42:12 +0000

first of all, my first experience with the DB,

FAILURE!

ok, now that i’ve got that out of my system – let’s talk macaroon, and Daring Bakers:

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S.

She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

THE PLAN:

Directions:

THE TRUTH:

getting ready for the macarooning

things are looking good – eggs separated, nuts and flour awaiting addition…things are on the move toward macaroons.

whisking those egg whites

fun with slow shutter speed, no? good ‘ol Kitchenaid!

victory! that looks stiff to me!

whoo! still lookin’ on track!

hmmm....things start to go askew?

looks a little chunky, no? this is where i start to worry a little…

all piped out

i forged ahead though and here we have little dallops…fingers were crossed!

hmmm....underdone and overdone bottoms! now that's talent!

so after the initial bake and then the second bake – both as scheduled in the recipe – the ones on the right came out first. what happened? well, the ones on the right were, well chewy and underdone. the ones on the left spent a bit more time in the oven – and they look oddly like pancakes – no? they came out CRISP. drat. drat indeed.

neither the done or underdone were puffy or airy.

too heavy flour/nuts?

not beaten enough eggwhites?

crappy oven?

baker gene-less?

im still baffled.

….

then…

i had an epiphany – (not only on how to spell the word epiphany after a weird series of text messages this morning with an ex boyfriend) but also on what to do for the filling.

what does one do with five egg yolks one wonders?

yeah there were five, i broke one, oops, i know!

well, that my friends, i certainly know what to do with that:

MAKE LEMON CURD!

i don’t know about you, but i LOVE lemon curd. with deep abiding passion i love lemon curd.

like it was fate, five egg yolks is exactly the number needed for my tried and true lemon curd recipe permantly mounted to my fridge after a renegade lemon heist from a stranger’s ignored and “fruitful” lemon tree last spring.

ladies and gentlemen, i give you the gospel.

the gospel that is, in my own slightly skewed way of writing recipes.

Also, i dont know if you know, but i write for a newspaper for a living and spend a lot of time writing so when it comes to recipes – im lazy and just want to remember the highlights and highpoints of the task at hand (note the constant leaving out of letters, combining words and symbols and flurry of abbreviations throughout the written recipe)

i will decipher for you though the method as the ingredients are rather legible:

“2x boiler” =double boiler.

“yoks+sug – add juiezest” = combine yolks and sugar in top of double boiler, whisk over low heat, add juice and zest …

whisking away

… whisk until thick and coats the back of a wooden spoon (reaches nappe).”

ahh...nappe!

“buttr 1x” = once thickened, add small pieces of butter one at a time until incorporated taking bowl on and off heat as necessary.

so beautiful!

ok, one more beauty shot

ok – SO – i waited for the curd to cool a bit, but it never gets super jello-like with this recipe anyway, (a fact i appreciate!) and so i went to fill the done-er macaroons and, well, it wasnt quite as i’d hoped.

hmm...filled, but not quite puffy

it looks like a drooling clamshell, no? i know that wasnt the challenge point, but i cant help but giggle at it...?

so, after biting though my model, i just ended up with the following as my method of eating thereafter:

it was just as good

ahh well, maybe next month’ll be lemon curd, eh? hey, a girl can dream, cant she?

ok, one final lemon curd love photo, even better in the cute little red pot, no??

Daring Bakers - Macarons

withflours — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:06:19 +0000

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

I have been delighted by photos of macarons for a long time, but I had a secret suspicion that I wouldn’t much like them. I’m a picky eater, and I’m actually not much of a cookie person. I like to bake them, I like to give them away, but for the most part I’d rather just have chocolate chip cookies all the time. I thought, like most cookies, these would be tolerable but not something I’d opt to eat on a regular basis.

My first batch was a dud. Having never made meringue before, I feared destroying it when I folded in the dry ingredients, so I didn’t fold enough and they came out sticky and flat.

Seeing that many bakers had better luck with Tartelette’s recipe but not having a kitchen scale, I sought aid at the DB forums and Audax was kind enough to translate the recipe into usable measurements.

I was thrilled when this second batch had feet. “Feet!” I gasped aloud. I really didn’t expect them to turn out, because I had a hard time getting the final macronage to flow the way it was supposed to. Mine are a bit speckled because I used almond meal from Trader Joe’s. The only place I found almond flour was at Whole Foods, where it was $13 for a pound. This seemed unreasonable to me, particularly since I knew I might have to make several batches and because I didn’t know if I’d like them.

Much to my dismay, I found these overwhelmingly sweet. I’ve never been fond of things that taste like pure sugar, as these did. I only filled a couple for photos and ended up throwing them away. Alas! My filling was Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream, which is dangerously delicious. I would have liked to make a second, cocoa-flavoured batch, as I thought that likely to cut down the sweetness, but in the end, I didn’t have the time.

The DB recipe:
Ingredients
Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)
Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.)
Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.)
Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)

Directions:

Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream, adapted from Martha Stewart:

1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, rinsed, hulled and chopped coarsely
4 large egg whites
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter cut into tablespoons at room temperature

Puree strawberries in a food processor. Combine egg whites and sugar in the heatproof bowl of a standing electric mixer set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly by hand until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar has dissolved. (The mixture will feel completely smooth when rubbed between your fingertips.)

Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low and gradually increasing to medium-high speed, mix unti lstiff peaks form. Continue mixing until fluffy, glossy, and completely cool, about 10 minutes.

With mixer on medium-low, add the butter a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and switch to the paddle attachment. Beat on low speed until all air bubbles are eliminated. Add strawberries and beat until combined. Stir with a flexible spatula until frosting is smooth.

Note: this is not the same Strawberry Meringue Buttercream that appears on Martha’s website–that recipe calls for strawberry jam. I personally liked the actual strawberries, particularly because they left small chunks of strawberry in the frosting, but if this is unappealing you may want to use a recipe with jam.