Daring Bakers Copycat Cookies

As an avid reader, I am always wary of film adaptations of my favorite books. Here you are with a strong attachment to a story and a vivid picture in your minds eye of what the character look and sound like and then the movie comes out and completely destroys the world you've created. If this has never happened to you consider yourself lucky- oh and avoid Under The Tuscan Sun at all costs. So when I saw that this month's Daring Bakers Challenge I was filled with a familiar mixture of excitement and dread. Would I really be able to create a Mallow and a Milan Cookie to rival those mass market versions of my childhood?
Well, yes and no. Copying my favorite cookies was fun. Figuring out how to get that special hourglass shape, piping dollops of marshmallow fluff and swirling them in chocolate, I tried to channel my inner Keebler Elf.

When the floured dust settled my cookies did look the part but how would they taste? I was disappointed in the Milan Cookies. They were too tuile-like in texture and lacked the buttery dense crumb of the Pepperidge Farm brand but the Mallows rocked my world. The texture and taste of the cookie was spot on and I thought the chocolate coating was perfect.

Interested in a little cookie copycatting of your own? Check out our sponsors:
The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

Bakewell Tart- The Name Says It Best

June's Daring Bakers challenge, the Bakewell Tart, is a classic English dessert with a bit of an identity crisis. Some call it a tart, other a pudding. Admittedly, I had low expectations for this little pastry. Shortbread crust with jam and frangipane, topped with slivered almonds, it was easy to throw together but not much to look at.


Until you take a bite.


Soft gooey frangipane giving way to sweet tart raspberry jam, it knocked my socks of people! So whatever you want to name it, I just call it delicious.

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

Raspberry Bakewell Tartlets

For the Pastry

225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

For the Frangipane
125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.

Assembling the tart
Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. I used raspberry pan jam based on Jasmine's recipe found here. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.

Dreamy Cherry Vanilla Cheesecakes

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

I have made cheesecake twice before and all I can say about this month's Daring Bakers Challenge is...this recipe is THE BOMB!
Seriously rich and creamy but not at all heavy, thank goodness I made mini cakelettes because I would be at the gym for the rest of the week! I stuck with Abby's Infamous Recipe original style, only substituting vanilla bean for vanilla resulting in the cutest little speckles all over these fabulous cheesecakes. Keeping it old school, I made a Dark Cherry coulis to go on top. It is all I can do not to go to fridge right now and make quick work of the five remaining cakelettes.
All in good time...


Dark Cherry Coulis
2 1/2 cups frozen, pitted dark cherries
3/4 cup sugar
Juice from 1/2 a meyer lemon

For Slurry
Dissolve 1 tbsp corn starch in 1 tbsp water

Combine cherries, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan and simmer over medium heat until sugar dissolves, approx. 10 minutes. Strain the coulis through a fine mesh sieve, reserving the whole cherries. To thicken the coulis, pour liquid back into saucepan and bring to a boil. Whisk in slurry and bring to a boil again. Once thickened, turn off the heat and let cool before using.
Top chilled cheesecakes with a spoonful of coulis and additional reserved cherries to garnish.

Layers Are In

Growing up, special occasions meant one thing, lasagna. And if that occasion was your birthday, Carvel Ice Cream Cake. How I miss those crunchies! But I digress. I've made lasagna many times since then but never from scratch- ricotta, prego & boxed noodles, poof... lasagna. Well this month's Daring Bakers Challenge was a bit more complicated. Bechamel I could handle, homemade ragu, ok sure, but spinach noodles from scratch without a pasta maker? Mamma mia!

Not only was this lasagna absolutely delicious, but not as difficult as I thought. I made the pasta two days in advance, drying it out overnight on my clothes rack, and I made both sauces the day before. All that prep made baking day a breeze.

I will absolutely make this again, and look forward to experimenting with different types of pasta dough and sauces. Head on over to the the Daring Kitchen and learn how to make your next occasional really special. And don't forget Fudgy The Whale.

Now a word from our sponsor:

The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.

Daring Bakers A La Mode

Three little words... a la mode. This month's Daring Bakers Challenge brings us both cake and ice cream- and its practically recession proof. With a few pantry/refrigerator staples and a bar of emergency chocolate, (hey, you never know when a craving will strike) I was able to create 2 4inch mini cakes and a huge bowl of ice cream that gives Breyers Vanilla a run for its money.

For the cake I used Ghirardelli Semi Sweet Chocolate because I love the taste and it works really well for baking. The ice cream was Wendy's recipe, slightly tweaked by first infusing the half and half with vanilla bean. Since I do not have an ice cream maker I have never made ice cream before but David Lebovitz's low tech instructions worked so well now I know I don't need one!

The February 2009 challenge has been brought to you by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. They chose Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

Carmelized Banana and Mascarpone Cream Tuiles

After being crippled with fear over last month's Yule Log, I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I saw January's Daring Bakers Challenge- sweet or savory tuiles. Then I promptly forgot about them...until this morning. A quick kitchen inventory yielded enough ingredients for one batch of tuiles and, well, not much else. There were some bananas on their way out, leftover toasted coconut, and an unopened container of mascarpone. With this bounty I give you Tuiles with Caramelized Banana and Mascarpone Cream.

The basic tuile recipe came together very easily. The hearts were made with a stencil cut from a cracker box and the basket were formed wit the back of a tablespoon. I mixed cocoa powder in with a bit of the batter and piped the lines with a zip lock bag. Very high tech, no?

For the filling I whipped together mascarpone, powdered sugar, creme de cacao and a bit of heavy cream which I then piped into each tuile. Bananas caramelized with a bit of butter, brown sugar and more creme de cacao. My fridge isn't well stocked but the bar? Well, we all have our priorities.

This month's challenge was brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

The Madness That Is... Caramel Cake

Seriously, this month's Daring Bakers challenge Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting should really come with a warning label. A decadent, crazy moist, dense cake infused with caramel syrup- one could easily stop there and have a lovely rich dessert. But no, those envelope pushing Daring Bakers had to take it one step further with not just any butter cream, but one made from copious amounts of browned butter, a pound of powdered sugar, and more caramel syrup! Oh the humanity!


This cake was so rich, even my husband could only handle one slice. It was definitely way sweeter than the desserts I normally make, but the cake itself was outstanding in texture and moistness and truly I could not stop eating it.

Many thanks to Dolores, Alex, Jenny and Natalie for hosting this month. Feeling daring yourself? Try Shuna Fish Lydon's signature caramel cake recipe for yourself. You can find it here. But don't say I didn't warn you.

What's A Filbert?

I admit I was a little concerned when I first decided to join the Daring Bakers. Opera cake, danish braids...wayyy over my head. Could I really hang with these crafty culinary ninjas? Throwing caution to the wind I gave myself a pep talk (you can bake, yes you can), signed up and held my breath in anticipation of my first challenge. And then knock, knock...who's there?...Filbert Gateau...who? What's a filbert? Better yet, what's a genoise? Help me wikipedia! Thanks in part to my fellow DB's, and google I pulled myself up by my apron strings and faced this cake head on. 2 days, and many dirty dishes later, my cake was finally done. All in all I was happy with the end result.





The flavors were great and look at how much I learned:
1) Don't try to substitute hazelnut flour for real hazelnuts if you stink at math. I was a wee bit off in my calculations resulting in a much drier cake than I had hoped for.
2) Swiss butter cream is possible, even for a novice like me. That being said, if you're going to make it ahead of time, you need to re-blend it before piping, otherwise it separates (duh).
3) I will never use store bought whipped cream again. There is great satisfaction in making it yourself.
4) Ganache, while delicious, is not lunch.
5) Daring Bakers Rock!!!