June Baker's Challenge

I've been in the woods for about a month and a half now. It is so peaceful and I've never seen so many stars in my life. However, one does miss some of the creature comforts civilization has to offer, like internet, air conditioning, and a mosquito free kitchen. Enough about that, let's get to the challenge.

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.


I enjoyed this challenge immensely and so did everyone that ate it. I had to make some substitutions. I couldn't find Mascarpone cheese anywhere. (Although, I recently found out there is a dairy co-op about 40 miles away from me. I'm very excited to visit.) I used ricotta cheese instead. Also, I used semi-sweet chocolate. I would definitely have preferred a darker chocolate.


My dessert consisted of a chocolate pavlova base, a ricotta chocolate mousse, and a ricotta cream. No liquor was used in any of the recipes, but I didn't miss it at all. The results were amazing, definitely a keeper. Pavlovas are yummy! We were even eating the leftover mousse out of the bowl. I hope to try this again with darker chocolate and mascarpone cheese.


Until next time...

March Daring Baker's Challenge

So, one of the main reasons I started this blog was to challenge myself as a baker and pastry chef. As part of this quest I joined the Daring Bakers, an online group that hosts monthly challenges.

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

The dessert consists of a pate sablee base topped with marmalade, whipped cream, orange segments and finished with an orange caramel sauce.















I started with my favorite pate sablee recipe from school substituting graham flour and almond meal. I also decided to use tangerines instead of oranges for a slightly different flavor.
















The marmalade was amazing. I was never a big fan of orange marmalade, but I have been converted. Also, I added some finely chopped chocolate to the whipped cream. So good!!! I think the only issue I had with the dessert was the segmented fruit. It seemed a little disjointed but I have to admit it looked amazing.

an·ar·chy \ˈa-nər-kē, -ˌnär-\noun

Etymology: Medieval Latin anarchia, from Greek, from anarchos having no ruler

1 a : absence of government b : a state of lawlessness or political disorder due to the absence of governmental authority c : a utopian society of individuals who enjoy complete freedom without government

2 a : absence or denial of any authority or established order b : absence of order : disorder

not manicured plots but a wild anarchy of nature — Israel Shenker