Coconut Tapioca

I don't recall ever having eaten tapioca pudding before, so I was curious about this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, Coconut Tapioca from Dorie Greenspan's Baking Chez Moi.

The recipe calls for large-pearl tapioca, which I was unable to find in the supermarket.  The pearls I bought were pea sized.  Based on other cook's comments about the gelatinous nature of their finished puddings I increased the milk by one half cup.  I substituted almond milk for whole milk for the comfort of the other eaters in the household.  I didn't notice until later that the almond milk had added sugar.  One taster thought the pudding was too sweet.

To me the finished product was much like rice pudding, and I wished later that I had sprinkled the top with cinnamon.

Now I will have to investigate other recipes to use up the rest of the tapioca pearls.

Limoncello Cupcakes

This week the Tuesdays with Dorie online baking group made Limoncello Cupcakes from Dorie Greenspan's latest cookbook Baking Chez Moi.

I made an alcohol free version, substituting lemon juice for the limoncello.  The cupcake batter can include cardamom or cracked black pepper.  I used cardamom, but cannot taste it in the finished cupcake.  There is an option to put marmalade in the centre of the cupcakes.  I used an orange, grapefruit, lemon marmalade.

My cupcakes were done in 22 minutes.  I spooned a sugar/water/lemon juice syrup over the warm cupcakes and frosted then as soon as they were cool.

The recipe worked out very well, but didn't top the wonderful taste experience of the lemon madeleines we made last month.

Crispy-Topped Brown Sugar Bars

A brown sugar/butter/flour base topped with melted bittersweet chocolate and walnuts.  Dorie's recipe suggests topping with caramelized rice krispies, but I wanted to freeze most of these and chose walnuts instead.  Based on other baker's comments I lowered the oven temperature to 350 and baked for only 15 minutes, leaving me with a crust that was very easy to cut, and so sweet.  These bars are more like candy.  So easy to make.  I hope to try them again with the caramelized rice krispies soon.

Lemon Madeleines

Never having eaten a madeleine before I ventured out to Bed, Bath and Beyond to buy a madeleine pan.  The Tuesdays with Dorie online baking group was making lemon madeleines from the cookbook Baking Chez Moi.

The batter was easy to put together.  There are two chilling times - one for the batter and then one for the batter in the madeleine pan.  This meant that the little cakes weren`t finished baking until late in the evening.  I ate one right out of the oven - oh so delicious.  I look forward to more experimenting with madeleines.

Pink Grapefruit Tart

Pink grapefruit tart from Dorie Greenspan's Baking Chez Moi is the chosen recipe for the online baking group Tuesdays With Dorie this week.

This recipe has four components.  I used a couple of shortcuts because I was pressed for time.  First you need a tart crust.  I substituted a store bought pie crust.  Next there is the lemon - almond cream.  This is a simple mixture of butter, brown sugar, almond flour, lemon zest, and egg.  Then there is the grapefruit cremeux, a wonderful cooked custard.  I left out the Campari and wasn't able to think of a good non alcoholic substitute in the short time I devoted to this project.  Finally you top the tart with grapefruit segments.  I used jarred fruit brought to me by the family's shopper.

The lemon - almond cream and the grapefruit cremeux both require chilling, as does the completely assembled tart.  If I make this again I will map out the time needed for all the parts before I start, working backwards from the time I want to serve the tart.

It tastes pretty good, and would be even better with a home made crust and an additional flavoring in the cremeux.

Marquise au Chocolat

This week the Tuesdays with Dorie online baking group made Marquise au Chocolat from Baking Chez Moi.

This rich, frozen chocolate mousse was fun to make.

The recipe calls for raw egg yolks.  There was an outbreak here of Salmonella linked to eggs, so to be safe I researched how to cook the egg yolks.

After melting butter and chocolate in a metal bowl over hot water I used the same set up to cook the egg yolks and sugar.  It was a bit tricky to stir continuously so the eggs wouldn't turn scrambled and check the temperature with the thermometer at the same time.

I may have beaten the egg/sugar mixture too long after removing it from the heat.   It got thick and sticky like melted marshmallows that have cooled a bit.  I was still able to mix it in with the chocolate and butter.

Heavy cream is not sold here.  I whipped up some whipping cream (33% mf) and folded it into the other ingredients.  Then I froze it in a loaf pan as written in the recipe.

It tastes divine.

Brown-Butter-and-Vanilla-Bean Weekend Cake

The Tuesdays with Dorie online baking group made a vanilla loaf cake from Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan.

I baked this cake in early January during a snow storm.  I didn't have the heavy cream called for in the recipe and didn't want to venture out to buy it.  I substituted canned full fat coconut milk with very good results.

For me it was the first time making brown butter.  I followed the recipe directions and it worked out fine.

This is a lovely, plain cake, very good toasted.  I wonder if  the cake would have been more flavorful if my vanilla bean had been bigger?