events

Warmth and Light, Daring Baker Style

December is a month for lists, so here we go:

What this is:

A Yule Log, or Bûche de Noël.
The December Daring Bakers challenge, hosted by Lis (La Mia Cucina) and Ivonne (Cream Puffs in Venice), who are also the illustrious founders of the DBs.
My interpretation of the recipe Lis and Ivonne adapted from Perfect Cakes by Nick Malgieri and The Williams-Sonoma Collection: Dessert. (The recipe should be up on their blogs soon.)
A genoise cake rolled with coffee buttercream filling and frosted with mocha buttercream, garnished with meringue mushrooms and other embellishments.

Menu for Hope: Time to Stop Procrastinating

I don’t like to nag, but if you haven’t gotten your donation and raffle bids in for Menu for Hope, it’s time to get your little beehive in gear, because today is the last day.

There are still quite a few prizes with terrific odds of winning, including mine (UW16, a set of three autographed books by Tom Douglas: Tom Douglas’ Seattle Kitchen, I Love Crab Cakes!, and Tom’s Big Dinners).

Pim has compiled a list of other prizes with as-yet low numbers of bidders, so take a look. But remember, it’s ultimately not about your chances of winning, but about your chances that you will contribute to a fantastic cause, and those odds are absolutely 100%.

The (Obvious) Pudding

Sugar High Fridays. If you have a sweet tooth (and I admit it, yes, I do), it’s hard to ignore this incredibly sumptuous and well-attended monthly sweet fest founded by Jennifer, The Domestic Goddess. But I bake bread, not desserts (Daring Baker challenges notwithstanding).

Even so , when I opened my inbox to discover an invitation from Zorra to participate in this month’s event, Pudding, I really wanted to, because, well, it was an invitation from Zorra.

So I thought, let’s see, pudding… There’s chocolate, although last time I made it, the texture was, shall we say, suboptimal … I love rice pudding and I might not screw that up… or I could probably handle plum pudding for Christmas, but I don’t really like it… [Fret, fret] what pudding can I make?

Duh.

[Read more…]

Hope (and Tom Douglas’ Seattle Style) on the Menu

I am proud and excited to join the international food blogging community in Menu for Hope. Led by Pim Techamuanvivit of Chez Pim, this fundraising event to benefit the United Nations World Food Programme is a wonderful opportunity to donate to a most worthy cause, and have a chance at scores of fantastic food-related prizes while you’re at it.

Last year’s Menu for Hope raised over $60,000 (!) and this year’s event can surpass that huge success, with your participation. Proceeds from this campaign will go to the WFP’s school lunch program in Lesotho, in southern Africa.

Each $10 you donate to Menu for Hope between now and December 21 entitles you to one chance on your choice of item(s) from a dazzling array of prizes offered by food bloggers around the world. The more you donate, the more virtual raffle tickets you earn and the greater your chances of winning, so don’t hold back!

You may bid on any prize(s) you like, but I hope you’ll consider my offering, generously donated by Tom Douglas Restaurants in Seattle.

Item #UW16: A set of three signed cookbooks by Chef Douglas: Tom Douglas’ Seattle Kitchen, Tom’s Big Dinners, and I Love Crab Cakes!

Bread bakers will love the Fig Brioches and Smoky Eggplant with Seed Bread. And what about Red Beet Ravioli with Fresh Corn Relish, Pesto Risotto Crab Cakes, and Cornmeal-Rosemary Cake With Lemon Glaze? These gorgeous autographed books will help you bring these and other elegant yet down-to-earth dishes to your own table. Yes, you want these books!

Now here’s what you do:
[Read more…]

Saffron Challah for BreadBakingDay #04

Manuela of Baking History is our gracious host for BreadBakingDay #04. When she announced that the theme for this month would be “Bread with Spice(s),” I immediately thought of a bread that I’ve had in mind to try for a while now: saffron challah.

I love saffron, I love challah, and I love to shape dough, so I was in my own little heaven with this one. Challah is the most amazing dough –– it starts out so stiff you think the only thing you’re going to be able to produce with it is some sort of weapon… but then darned if it doesn’t ferment its beautiful golden self into the most supple, silky, workable stuff you’ve ever had the pleasure of holding in your hands.

Challah lends itself spectacularly well to a multitude of braided and other shapes. I decided to go with three braids that look intricate but are simple to do. One has two strands, the other two have six strands each. Notes on the shaping follow the recipe.

[Read more…]

Tender Potato Bread: A Conversation In Three Acts

Tender potato bread - two boules

Cast of characters:

Act I, Scene 1

Hey, this month’s Daring Bakers challenge is bread, woohoo! Tanna has chosen Tender Potato Bread from Home Baking by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. And she’s authorized us to make the recipe our own by seasoning and/or shaping it as we please. I’ve always wanted to make a fougasse. Now’s the perfect time! Let’s get started.

Hold on! Look, you’re used to working with ingredients by weight, and these measurements are given by volume. And, you’re used to using water to adjust the dough consistency, and the directions here say to do it with flour. You know you’re morally obligated as a Daring Baker to follow the directions, except where the host explicitly says you can use your creativity. Plus, you’ve never made bread with potatoes before, sweet potatoes don’t count. You don’t know how this dough will behave. Maybe the first time through you should just follow the original recipe and bake it in loaf pans, or as focaccia. Wasn’t it you who said you don’t tweak a recipe the first time you make it?

I changed my mind. I want to be creative! I want to be daring! How hard can it be? Bring it on!

[Read more…]