February Daring Bakers - Tiramisu

This month, the Daring Bakers went with the theme Heaven on a Dessert Plate - Tiramisu.

The challenge:
On top of making/assembling our own tiramisu, we had to also make our own marscarpone cheese, lady fingers, zabaglione & vanilla pastry cream. It was a lot of work, but in the end, it was delicious!

The recipes and rules:
MANDATORY:

You MUST make your own savoiardi / ladyfinger biscuits and mascarpone cheese with the given recipes. You must also make the zabaglione and pastry cream using the given recipes.
If diet or health restrictions do not allow you to use these recipes, please go ahead and use one of the alternatives provided or other suitable recipes to make them, but please include links to the original recipe in your DB post.
Sponge cake may be not be used as a substitute. After all, a large part of this challenge is making those biscuits.


VARIATIONS:
Tiramisu is usually made in square dishes and cut into squares to serve. If you want to be different, please feel free to give full rein to your creativity as to how you want to present, decorate and serve your tiramisu. Make it square, round, as individual servings, or whatever! However, your version of Tiramisu must contain the mascarpone cheese and the savoiardi/ ladyfinger biscuits you made.


PREPARATION TIME:
Tiramisu is made up of several components which can be made separately and ahead of time and put together the day before serving.
Making tiramisu from scratch requires about 2 to 3 days (including refrigeration) from when you start making the mascarpone to the time the tiramisu is served. So this challenge requires some prior planning.
Please read the instructions as you need to begin making the mascarpone at least a day in advance. The zabaglione & pastry cream also need 4 hours to an overnight for chilling, as does the main dessert. The flavours mature after an overnight rest, and the dessert can be kept refrigerated for 2-3 days.
Once assembled, the tiramisu can be frozen till you need to serve it, in case you are not serving it immediately.


EQUIPMENT REQUIRED:
•A double boiler (a stainless steel bowl that fits inside a large saucepan/ pot without touching the bottom will do)
•Two or three large mixing bowls
•Whisk
•A medium sized heavy bottomed pan
•Fine meshed strainer (to remove lumps from pastry cream, if any)
•Electric mixer, hand held
•Serving dish (or dishes) of choice (8" by 8" should be fine)
•Spatula for folding and spoons as required
•Plastic wrap/ clingfilm
•Baking sheets
•Parchment paper or nonstick liners
•Pastry bag (can be disposable)
•Plain 3/4" pastry bag tip or cut the end of pastry bag to this size (If you don’t have a pastry bag and/or tips, you can use a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off)
•Oven
•Cooling rack
•Thin-bladed spatula for removing ladyfinger biscuits from the baking sheets
•Instant-read thermometer (optional)
•Strainer
•Cheesecloth or cotton napkin for draining mascarpone
•Fine-mesh strainer for shaking cocoa powder on tiramisu

TIRAMISU
(Recipe source: Carminantonio's Tiramisu from The Washington Post, July 11 2007 )
This recipe makes 6 servings


Ingredients:
For the zabaglione:
2 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar/50gms
1/4 cup/60ml Marsala wine (or port or coffee)
1/4 teaspoon/ 1.25ml vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest


For the vanilla pastry cream:
1/4 cup/55gms sugar
1 tablespoon/8gms all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon/ 2.5ml vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup/175ml whole milk
For the whipped cream:
1 cup/235ml chilled heavy cream (we used 25%)
1/4 cup/55gms sugar
1/2 teaspoon/ 2.5ml vanilla extract


To assemble the tiramisu:
2 cups/470ml brewed espresso, warmed
1 teaspoon/5ml rum extract (optional)
1/2 cup/110gms sugar
1/3 cup/75gms mascarpone cheese
36 savoiardi/ ladyfinger biscuits (you may use less)
2 tablespoons/30gms unsweetened cocoa powder


Method:
For the zabaglione:
Heat water in a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, place a pot with about an inch of water in it on the stove. Place a heat-proof bowl in the pot making sure the bottom does not touch the water.
In a large mixing bowl (or stainless steel mixing bowl), mix together the egg yolks, sugar, the Marsala (or espresso/ coffee), vanilla extract and lemon zest. Whisk together until the yolks are fully blended and the mixture looks smooth.
Transfer the mixture to the top of a double boiler or place your bowl over the pan/ pot with simmering water. Cook the egg mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 8 minutes or until it resembles thick custard. It may bubble a bit as it reaches that consistency.
Let cool to room temperature and transfer the zabaglione to a bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

For the pastry cream:
Mix together the sugar, flour, lemon zest and vanilla extract in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. To this add the egg yolk and half the milk. Whisk until smooth.
Now place the saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring constantly to prevent the mixture from curdling.
Add the remaining milk a little at a time, still stirring constantly. After about 12 minutes the mixture will be thick, free of lumps and beginning to bubble. (If you have a few lumps, don’t worry. You can push the cream through a fine-mesh strainer.)
Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic film and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

For the whipped cream:
Combine the cream, sugar and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric hand mixer or immersion blender until the mixture holds stiff peaks. Set aside.

To assemble the tiramisu:
Have ready a rectangular serving dish (about 8" by 8" should do) or one of your choice.
Mix together the warm espresso, rum extract and sugar in a shallow dish, whisking to mix well. Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, beat the mascarpone cheese with a spoon to break down the lumps and make it smooth. This will make it easier to fold. Add the prepared and chilled zabaglione and pastry cream, blending until just combined. Gently fold in the whipped cream. Set this cream mixture aside.

Now to start assembling the tiramisu.
Workings quickly, dip 12 of the ladyfingers in the sweetened espresso, about 1 second per side. They should be moist but not soggy. Immediately transfer each ladyfinger to the platter, placing them side by side in a single row. You may break a lady finger into two, if necessary, to ensure the base of your dish is completely covered.
Spoon one-third of the cream mixture on top of the ladyfingers, then use a rubber spatula or spreading knife to cover the top evenly, all the way to the edges.
Repeat to create 2 more layers, using 12 ladyfingers and the cream mixture for each layer. Clean any spilled cream mixture; cover carefully with plastic wrap and refrigerate the tiramisu overnight.
To serve, carefully remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle the tiramisu with cocoa powder using a fine-mesh strainer or decorate as you please. Cut into individual portions and serve.

MASCARPONE CHEESE
(Source: Vera’s Recipe for Homemade Mascarpone Cheese)

This recipe makes 12oz/ 340gm of mascarpone cheese
Ingredients:
474ml (approx. 500ml)/ 2 cups whipping (36 %) pasteurized (not ultra-pasteurized), preferably organic cream (between 25% to 36% cream will do)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice


Method:
Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a wide skillet. Reduce the heat to medium-low so the water is barely simmering. Pour the cream into a medium heat-resistant bowl, then place the bowl into the skillet. Heat the cream, stirring often, to 190 F. If you do not have a thermometer, wait until small bubbles keep trying to push up to the surface.
It will take about 15 minutes of delicate heating. Add the lemon juice and continue heating the mixture, stirring gently, until the cream curdles. Do not expect the same action as you see during ricotta cheese making. All that the whipping cream will do is become thicker, like a well-done crème anglaise. It will cover a back of your wooden spoon thickly. You will see just a few clear whey streaks when you stir. Remove the bowl from the water and let cool for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, line a sieve with four layers of dampened cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Transfer the mixture into the lined sieve. Do not squeeze the cheese in the cheesecloth or press on its surface (be patient, it will firm up after refrigeration time). Once cooled completely, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (in the sieve) overnight or up to 24 hours.
Vera’s notes: The first time I made mascarpone I had all doubts if it’d been cooked enough, because of its custard-like texture. Have no fear, it will firm up beautifully in the fridge, and will yet remain lusciously creamy.
Keep refrigerated and use within 3 to 4 days.






LADYFINGERS/ SAVOIARDI BISCUITS
(Source: Recipe from Cordon Bleu At Home)


This recipe makes approximately 24 big ladyfingers or 45 small (2 1/2" to 3" long) ladyfingers.
Ingredients:
3 eggs, separated
6 tablespoons /75gms granulated sugar
3/4 cup/95gms cake flour, sifted (or 3/4 cup all purpose flour + 2 tbsp corn starch)
6 tablespoons /50gms confectioner's sugar,

Method:
Preheat your oven to 350 F (175 C) degrees, then lightly brush 2 baking sheets with oil or softened butter and line with parchment paper.
Beat the egg whites using a hand held electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gradually add granulate sugar and continue beating until the egg whites become stiff again, glossy and smooth.
In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly with a fork and fold them into the meringue, using a wooden spoon. Sift the flour over this mixture and fold gently until just mixed. It is important to fold very gently and not overdo the folding. Otherwise the batter would deflate and lose volume resulting in ladyfingers which are flat and not spongy.
Fit a pastry bag with a plain tip (or just snip the end off; you could also use a Ziploc bag) and fill with the batter. Pipe the batter into 5" long and 3/4" wide strips leaving about 1" space in between the strips.
Sprinkle half the confectioner's sugar over the ladyfingers and wait for 5 minutes. The sugar will pearl or look wet and glisten. Now sprinkle the remaining sugar. This helps to give the ladyfingers their characteristic crispness.
Hold the parchment paper in place with your thumb and lift one side of the baking sheet and gently tap it on the work surface to remove excess sprinkled sugar.
Bake the ladyfingers for 10 minutes, then rotate the sheets and bake for another 5 minutes or so until the puff up, turn lightly golden brown and are still soft.
Allow them to cool slightly on the sheets for about 5 minutes and then remove the ladyfingers from the baking sheet with a metal spatula while still hot, and cool on a rack.
Store them in an airtight container till required. They should keep for 2 to 3 weeks.

As you can see from all of the notes, ingredients and recipes above, this was quite an undertaking and took a lot of backwards planning. I started by making my marascarpone cheese and lady fingers first.

Unfortuntalely, I don't have many photos of my cheese-making process, but it came out beautifully. I had some trouble getting it up to temperature, and I ended up cooking it nearly twice as long as recommended. I also had to use ultra-pasteurized whipping cream as it was the only kind I could find around here.

The finished product!

The lady fingers process came out very well too. I was worried about the folding, but they baked up light and airy with a crunchy outer shell.

My beautifully beaten egg whites...

Ready to pipe!

Next time, I would be a bit more precise when piping out the batter.

The following day, I made my zabaglione and pastry cream. Both of them came together very well.

The finished zabaglione

The finished pastry cream

I finished both of these and let them cool in the refrigerator overnight. The following day, I beat up my whipping cream to finish the tiramisu. Unfortunately, my whipping cream didn't want to set up right (I think due to the weather) so my finished product was a tad runny.

 

Despite all of the work it took to get to the final product, the flavor was incredible! My husband and I ended up enjoying the tiramisu as part of our Valentine's Dinner. It was well worth all of the hard work!

February Daring Bakers - Nanaimo Bars & Graham Crackers

Personally, I wasn't too crazy about this month's Daring Bakers Challenge. It was nice to have something a bit easier so to speak after last month's very time consuming Gingerbread Houses, but I didn't think the Nanaimo Bars would offer much of a kitchen challenge. I did though think it would be fun to make my own graham crackers.

Since I do not have celiac disease, I decided to stick with the original recipe for graham crackers containing wheat.

Graham Cracker Recipe

2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons unbleached pastry flour or unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
7 tablespoons (3 1/2 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen
1/3 cup mild-flavored honey, such as clover
5 tablespoons whole milk
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract


For the topping:
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon


In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade or in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pulse or mix on low to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse on and off on and off, or mix on low, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal.


In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, milk, and vanilla extract. Add to the flour mixture and pulse on and off a few times or mix on low until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky.


Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and pat the dough into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, about 2 hours or overnight.

To prepare the topping: In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon, and set aside.
(I found the dough to be incredibly dry. Upon rolling it out, I had to knead in a few drops of water to make it pliable.)


Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be sticky, so flour as necessary. Trim the edges of the rectangle to 4 inches wide. Working with the shorter side of the rectangle parallel to the work surface, cut the strip every 4 1/2 inches to make 4 crackers. Gather the scraps together and set aside. Place the crackers on one or two parchment-lined baking sheets and sprinkle with the topping. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes. Repeat with the second batch of dough.


Adjust the oven rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.


Gather the scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and reroll. Dust the surface with more flour and roll out the dough to get about two or three more crackers.


Mark a vertical line down the middle of each cracker, being careful not to cut through the dough. Using a toothpick or skewer, prick the dough to form two dotted rows about 1/2 inch for each side of the dividing line.

Bake for 25 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the tough, rotating the sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. (For my oven, 25 minutes was entirely too long, and I ended up burning the first batch. I had to cut about 3-5 minutes off the baking time.)


Yield: 10 large crackers (I found that I had about double this amount)

I'm not going to lie, I cheated on the second part of the challenge. For the Nanaimo Bars, I used boxed graham crackers. My dad made his bars a week before I did, and he told me the delicious flavor of the homemade graham crackers was lost in the Nanaimo Bars. After all of the work for the graham crackers, I didn't want them to go to waste in the Nanaimo Bars. I decided to keep the graham crackers to eat for snacks and used boxed crackers for the bars.

Nanaimo Bars



Ingredients:

For Nanaimo Bars — Bottom Layer
1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
1/4 cup (50 g) (1.8 ounces) Granulated Sugar
5 tablespoons (75 mL) Unsweetened Cocoa
1 Large Egg, Beaten
1 1/4 cups (300 mL) (160 g) (5.6 ounces) Gluten Free Graham Wafer Crumbs (See previous recipe)
1/2 cup (55 g) (1.9 ounces) Almonds (Any type, Finely chopped)
1 cup (130 g) (4.5 ounces) Coconut (Shredded, sweetened or unsweetened)

For Nanaimo Bars — Middle Layer
1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons (40 mL) Heavy Cream
2 tablespoons (30 mL) Vanilla Custard Powder (Such as Bird’s. Vanilla pudding mix may be substituted.)
2 cups (254g) (8.9 ounces) Icing Sugar

For Nanaimo Bars — Top Layer
4 ounces (115 g) Semi-sweet chocolate
2 tablespoons (28 g) (1 ounce) Unsalted Butter

Directions:


1. For bottom Layer: Melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa in top of a double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, nuts and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8 by 8 inch pan.

2. For Middle Layer: Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light in colour. Spread over bottom layer.

 3. For Top Layer: Melt chocolate and unsalted butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, pour over middle layer and chill.

I thought the bars were delicious and incredibly sweet! My husband devoured them!

Daring Bakers December 2009 - Gingerbread Houses!

This month, the Daring Bakers were tasked with making Gingerbread Houses. When I was very young, my mom used to making very extravagent gingerbread houses with her 5th grade students and then enter them into a local contest. I figured if she did it so well, it must be in the blood! I was really looking forward to this challenge as it offered a creative outlet during this super busy and hectic time of year.

I decided that I would make a fancy gingerbread house here at home with my husband's help, and then we would make a more lighthearted and fun one with my parents back home in Michigan. After reading many of the comments on the DB board, I decided to go with the Good Housekeeping recipe for my dough and the Royal Icing Recipe from the DB:

Royal Icing

1 large egg white
3 cups (330g) powdered sugar
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon almond extract

Beat all ingredients until smooth, adding the powdered sugar gradually to get the desired consistency. Pipe on pieces and allow to dry before assembling. If you aren't using it all at once you can keep it in a small bowl, loosely covered with a damp towel for a few hours until ready to use. You may have to beat it slightly to get it an even consistency if the top sets up a bit. Piped on the house, this will set up hard over time.


Since I wanted to make a traditional house for the first try, we chose the Colonial from Bob Vila's website. The template can be found here: http://www.bobvila.com/Downloads/Gingerbread_Colonial.pdf
 
I made the dough a few days in advance when I had a bit of time, and I found it to be rather dry.

 

Thankfully, when I rolled the dough out several days later, I didn't have many problems once the dough softened slightly.

Unfortunately, my oven does not cook evenly at all, and I had some trouble baking the pieces to the color and doneness I wanted. (Thankfully, Santa brought me an oven thermometer so now I can monitor it better!)

It was rather tedious cutting out all of the windows, but in the end I think it was totally worth it! In hindsight, I now know that I can trim the pieces when they first come out of the oven. This would have saved us some headache when we were putting the pieces together.

I decided that I did not want empty windows so I made some hard candy. I had some trouble with it as I think the butter in the candy may have browned. Instead of clear windows they were more opaque, but in the end I love the way the windows turned out!

I don't have any photos of the frosting before I applied it to the house, but our first batch was more like playdough than frosting. I think it had something to do with the fact that it was a rainy day, but it actually worked very well to put the wall up with. We also decorated the 4 walls before putting them up as it was much easier this way!

We waited 24 hours before putting the roof on, and this is where we ran into a slight problem. My second batch of frosting was much softer and more like it should have been. Our roof was also not perfectly square so we had a tough time getting it to stay on. We were able to rest the corners on the walls, and it worked out just fine in the end.

And the finished product......

When we went back to Michigan for Christmas, we made another 'house' with my parents. My dad used the same recipes as above, but this time we made a gingerbread trailer. We were inspired by the designs here: http://www.theeayc.com/gallery/ginger/index.html. Fabulous!

My husband free handed the template with a pencil and a ruler, but unfortunately, I don't have any photos of his pattern. Overall, I think this came out pretty awesome!

We cut up one of our family's Christmas cards to put in the window, and we also had to put a photo of our 'favorite' person Sarah Palin in the window too! ;)

December Daring Bakers Challenge - Gingerbread House

Just wanted to write a quick note that I will be posting my houses next week. I am traveling Dec 23-27, and I do not have my own computer with me.

Happy Holidays!

November Daring Bakers Challenge - Cannoli!

After semi-mastering the art of macaroons last month, I went into November thinking I could definitely handle whatever the DB's threw at me this month. I greatly enjoyed furthering my baking skills and trying new things so this month I was looking forward to more of the same.

My dad joined the DB's this month, and since he was going to be visiting with the rest of my family for Thanksgiving, we decided to do the cannoli challenge together. We really enjoy cooking and baking together but since we live so far apart, we often don't have time to. My dad and I both love cannoli so we were very excited about attempting to make them together.

I was actually very lucky that we were able to bake together since the Wednesday before Thanksgiving I had to have three stitches in my hand. I wasn't much help in the kitchen at all since I couldn't get it wet or use my thumb much at all!

The directions from the Daring Bakers website are as follows:

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


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 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).


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 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.


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.






We decided to make our own marscarpone cheese for this recipe. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos, but in the end it turned out great. We followed the recipe from Baking Obsession (http://www.bakingobsession.com/2009/05/02/homemade-mascarpone-cheese/). We had trouble getting the cream mixture to the correct heat, but once we did everything came together very well! We stored it in the refrigerator overnight, and it was the perfect consistency when we pulled it out to make the filling the next day.
 
We made the filling for the cannoli, and it ended up very runny. My dad assembled it so I'm not sure what exactly made it so runny. We tried to adjust the ingredients to make it come together, but nothing seemed to work. We even placed it over cheesecloth for the night to try and drain some of the liquid, but even that did not help much. It still tasted delicious, but it was just runny.
 

The dough on the other hand came out perfectly! It was just the right consistency, and was springy just as it was suppose to be. It rolled out very well.

 

My husband likes to do workworking, and he had a left over dowel in the shed. He cut it down to three 7-8 inch pieces, and we oiled it down very well. They worked perfectly for our cannoli forms.

Since we live in on post military housing, we don't have the convenience of having a really good quality oven/stove. It is difficult to keep oil evenly heated, and it often shoots up in temperature without warming. This was my biggest concern when it came to making the cannoli shells. Fortunately, we didn't have too many problems, but I am sure a better stove would have yielded better results when it came to the shells cooking evenly.

For the first batch, I did not secure the flaps well enough with the egg white so several of them puffed apart. I also think in hindsight that our shells could have been thinner.

After all of the cannoli shells were done it was time for filling! YUM!

We decided to stick with the basic filling with mini chocolate chips and pistachio pieces.

Overall, I was once again very happy with this challenge. Considering we're not professional bakers, and we're in this to learn, we had a great time. I would definitely make these again for a special occassion!

My dad and I are both looking forward to the December challenge as we will be together for the holidays and we will complete the challenge together then!

See you again in December! :)

Daring Bakers Challenge October 2009 - French Macarons

This was my first month as a part of the Daring Bakers, and my first time definitely proved to be a challenge! This month's recipe 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.



French macarons are a far cry from what most Americans think of when they picture a gooey, coconut concoction with a slightly browned top. French macarons on the other hand are made with ground almond flour, egg whites, and two types of sugar. That's it! Surprisingly, those five ingredients proved to be far more intense than I realized they could be.
 
Here are the directions as listed on the Daring Bakers website:
 
Note: Macaron making is somewhat labor intensive, yet simultaneously less difficult than you think it will be. One thing you must do is have your egg whites at room temperature. This ensures they beat up properly, as texture is an integral component to macarons. You will be piping the batter onto parchment paper or nonstick liners, and some home bakers use stencils to make sure their macarons are uniform in size. It’s your choice.


Be aware that you are beating your egg whites first to soft peaks. Soft peaks means that the peaks of the meringue curl over when you lift up the beaters. After you add the granulated sugar to the soft peak meringue, you will beat the mixture to stiff peaks, which, true to their name, stand straight up. Be careful not to overbeat your eggs.

You will also be folding the nut flour into the meringue. As with most recipes when you combine something with beaten egg whites, be gentle in your mixing to keep the egg whites light.


Some recipes call for drying the piped macarons on the counter prior to baking for 30 minutes to an hour. This recipe stipulates that you bake the macarons at a low temperature for 5 minutes, then take them out of the oven, raising the temperature, and baking them for an additional 7 to 8 minutes. Drying is necessary to get the trademark “feet” on your macarons. Experiment to find the best technique for you.

If you plan on using parchment paper rather than nonstick pan liners, be careful when removing the macarons from the paper, as they can stick and are very delicate. Some recipes suggest lifting up a corner of the paper and letting a drop of water fall onto the hot baking sheet, thus producing steam, which helps the macarons release.


Preparation time: Not taking into account the amount of time it takes for you to bring your egg whites to room temperature, the whole baking process, including making the batter, piping and baking will probably take you about an hour to an hour and a half. How long it takes to make your filling is dependent on what you choose to make.


Actual baking time: 12 minutes total, plus a few minutes to get your oven from 200°F to 375°F.

Equipment required:
• Electric mixer, preferably a stand mixer with a whisk attachment
• Rubber spatula
• Baking sheets
• Parchment paper or nonstick liners
• Pastry bag (can be disposable)
• Plain half-inch pastry bag tip
• Sifter or sieve
• If you don’t have a pastry bag and/or tips, you can use a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off
• Oven
• Cooling rack
• Thin-bladed spatula for removing the macaroons from the baking sheets
• Food processor or nut grinder, if grinding your own nuts (ouch!)


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 macaron 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.

Before I started baking, I read page, after page, after page of comments, photos, and tips from other Daring Bakers. I was determined to fully understand the challenges others faced and know how to correct problems before I dove in. (I have a terrible habit of just diving into a recipe without reading it carefully!)

I made sure to have all of my ingredients and kitchen items at the ready so I wouldn't waste any time. I aged my egg whites overnight, and let them come to room temperature for almost a full day. At last, I had the house to myself, the pup was napping, and it was time to get baking!

I carefully watched as my egg whites came to what I thought was a near perfect consistency. I then carefully folded my ingredients together until I thought they were ready to pipe onto the baking sheets. It was now time for the true test, would the feet form?!?!

After reading others' posts, I knew getting 'feet' on my macarons was going to be the biggest challenge. Many of the bakers who were far more experienced than me, did not have any feet at all on the macarons. I did pick up a few pointers from other bakers in my reading so I made sure to lay out parchment paper to bake the macarons on, and I also stacked two baking sheets to help the feet form and cook evenly.

At last, they were ready for the oven:

For the first batch, I followed the directions exactly. Several minutes before the end, I was literally jumping up and down because....

THEY HAD FEET!!!!!!!

In nothing else went right, I was thrilled my macarons had feet! I knew this was a huge challenge for other which I overcame without any problem. When they first batch was done, they came out like this:

All in all, I was pretty happy with how they turned out. They didn't puff up as much as I would have liked, but I couldn't complain because at least they looked like macarons!

I baked another batch in which I upped the oven temperatures to see how it would change my results. Many of the other bakers thought the temps were too low so I wanted to see what my results would be. I also left them in a touch longer. The results:

I thought baking them at a higher temp for a bit longer really did make a difference. They weren't as chewy as the first batch and the shell was a bit crunchy.

I wanted to do a bit more experimenting, but time did not allow with this recipe! I chose to just bake plain macarons and fill them with chocolate ganache.

Overall , I was quite pleased with how my macarons turned out. I would like to try them again because my husband and I thought they were delicious. I was shoked how many variations there are of macarons when I began searching online. So many macarons, so little time....