April 30th I made a cake. I spent a good portion of my day on said cake. A GOOD portion. I made an Opera cake. It was rather a pain in the butt, I will not lie to you. So imagine my delight when I read that we were making Opera cakes as the Daring Bakers challenge. I thought yes, for once I will be ahead of the game, oh happy day. I didn’t read the rest of the post and went on with my happiness, not worrying about it.
Checking our website(the DB one) I started noticing that everyone’s Opera cakes all had white glaze on top. Odd, I thought. I went back and read the recipe/instructions. You want to hear somebody swear? I out rivaled ANY swearing I do for hockey, I was that pissed. “I don’t to make this f#%king thing again!!!” I professed loudly(you see it could not be dark in color…and mine was chocolate). And I really didn’t want to. I considered not doing the challenge at all or just being a rebel and submitting the chocolate one.
Suddenly I had an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. The angel was telling me to be a good Daring Baker. I have never missed a challenge and I have been a Daring Baker since the beginning, well not the pretzels, but right after that. So not doing it was out of the question. Then the devil spoke up. It was telling me just to submit the chocolate one. I spent so much time on it why not? Other people have been bad and not followed the rules, why not you? That is what I decided. I will submit the chocolate one. Be the rebel…without a cause.
Only problem was, there was a cause. A pretty good one. Barb. Barbara of Winos and Foodies is a cancer survivor who hosts LiveSTRONG with a Taste of Yellow event. That is why the Opera cake was to be light in color. In honour of Barb. Nope, I thought. I am still being a rebel.
Then came the guilt. Oh how it ate away at me. And so swearing up a storm at 3 am a couple nights ago when I could not sleep I got up and baked that cake. I actually made it without flour for my friend that is wheat intolerant. It turned out just fine since there was little flour to begin with in this recipe. My syrup was lemon flavored as was my buttercream. My mousse was my only rebellion since it was pink(strawberry)…but I did that in honour of my mom, the breast cancer survivor so I figured it was still in the theme.
Sadly I wish I would not made the first Opera cake. I would have so enjoyed making this more than I admittedly did. But I am not all that sad, as the first Opera cake I made was tasty. This one was too but I love me some chocolate a little more than lemon and strawberry.
Sorry to Ivonne, Lis, Fran and Shea for thinking of being a bad girl.

The Daring Bakers¢â¬â„¢ Opƒ©ra Cake
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan¢â¬â„¢s Paris Sweets and Tish Boyle¢â¬â„¢s and Timothy Moriarty¢â¬â„¢s Chocolate Passion.

For the joconde:

6 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 tbsp. (30 grams) granulated sugar
2 cups (225 grams) ground blanched almonds
2 cups icing sugar, sifted
6 large eggs
½ cup (70 grams) all-purpose flour
3 tbsp. (1½ ounces; 45 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Divide the oven into thirds by positioning a rack in the upper third of the oven and the lower third of the oven.

Preheat the oven to 425¢â€”¦F. (220¢â€”¦C).

Line two 12½ x 15½- inch (31 x 39-cm) jelly-roll pans with parchment paper and brush with melted butter.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or using a handheld mixer), beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add the granulated sugar and beat until the peaks are stiff and glossy. If you do not have another mixer bowl, gently scrape the meringue into another bowl and set aside.

If you only have one bowl, wash it after removing the egg whites or if you have a second bowl, use that one. Attach the paddle attachment to the stand mixer (or using a handheld mixer again) and beat the almonds, icing sugar and eggs on medium speed until light and voluminous, about 3 minutes.

Add the flour and beat on low speed until the flour is just combined (be very careful not to overmix here!!!).

Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the meringue into the almond mixture and then fold in the melted butter. Divide the batter between the pans and spread it evenly to cover the entire surface of each pan.

Bake the cake layers until they are lightly browned and just springy to the touch. This could take anywhere from 5 to 9 minutes depending on your oven. Place one jelly-roll pan in the middle of the oven and the second jelly-roll pan in the bottom third of the oven.

Put the pans on a heatproof counter and run a sharp knife along the edges of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Cover each with a sheet of parchment or wax paper, turn the pans over, and unmold.

Carefully peel away the parchment, then turn the parchment over and use it to cover the cakes. Let the cakes cool to room temperature.

For the soaking syrup:

½ cup (125 grams) water
¢â€¦â€œ cup (65 grams) granulated sugar
1 to 2 tbsp. of the flavouring of your choice (i.e., vanilla extract, almond extract, cognac, limoncello, coconut cream, honey etc.)

Stir all the syrup ingredients together in the saucepan and bring to a boil.

Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

For the buttercream (The recipe for the buttercream that is listed here is based on the original. When testing the buttercream, we tested a slightly modified version that had 2 cups sugar, ½ cup water and 1¾ cups butter. The eggs remained the same. We ended up with a very creamy buttercream. But we don¢â¬â„¢t want anyone to be afraid of our modified version so you have the option of using the original above or the quantities we¢â¬â„¢ve listed here in this note):

1 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar (Used to say 2 cups but should be 1 cup)
¼ cup (60 grams) water (Used to say ½ cup but should say ¼ cup)
seeds of one vanilla bean (split a vanilla bean down the middle and scrape out the seeds) or 1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1¾ sticks (7 ounces; 200 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature (Used to say 1¾ cups of butter but it should be 1¾ sticks).
flavouring of your choice (a tablespoon of an extract, a few tablespoons of melted white chocolate, citrus zest, etc.)

Combine the sugar, water and vanilla bean seeds or extract in a small saucepan and warm over medium heat just until the sugar dissolves.

Continue to cook, without stirring, until the syrup reaches 225¢â€”¦F (107¢â€”¦C) (Note: The original recipe instructs to heat the syrup to 255¢â€”¦F (124¢â€”¦C). We heated it to 225¢â€”¦F and it worked just fine. However, if you are concerned, then by all means heat your syrup to 255¢â€”¦F.) on a candy or instant-read thermometer. Once it reaches that temperature, remove the syrup from the heat.

While the syrup is heating, begin whisking the egg and egg yolk at high speed in the bowl of your mixer using the whisk attachment. Whisk them until they are pale and foamy.

When the sugar syrup reaches the correct temperature and you remove it from the heat, reduce the mixer speed to low speed and begin slowly (very slowly) pouring the syrup down the side of the bowl being very careful not to splatter the syrup into the path of the whisk attachment. Some of the syrup will spin onto the sides of the bowl but don¢â¬â„¢t worry about this and don¢â¬â„¢t try to stir it into the mixture as it will harden!

Raise the speed to medium-high and continue beating until the eggs are thick and satiny and the mixture is cool to the touch (about 5 minutes or so).

While the egg mixture is beating, place the softened butter in a bowl and mash it with a spatula until you have a soft creamy mass.

With the mixer on medium speed, begin adding in two-tablespoon chunks. When all the butter has been incorporated, raise the mixer speed to high and beat until the buttercream is thick and shiny.

At this point add in your flavouring and beat for an additional minute or so.

Refrigerate the buttercream, stirring it often, until it¢â¬â„¢s set enough (firm enough) to spread when topped with a layer of cake (about 20 minutes).

For the ganache/mousse:

7 ounces white chocolate
1 cup plus 3 tbsp. heavy cream (35% cream)
1 tbsp. liquer of your choice (Bailey¢â¬â„¢s, Amaretto, etc.)

Melt the white chocolate and the 3 tbsp. of heavy cream in a small saucepan.

Stir to ensure that it¢â¬â„¢s smooth and that the chocolate is melted. Add the tablespoon of liqueur to the chocolate and stir. Set aside to cool completely.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream until soft peaks form.

Gently fold the whipped cream into the cooled chocolate to form a mousse.

If it¢â¬â„¢s too thin, refrigerate it for a bit until it¢â¬â„¢s spreadable.

If you¢â¬â„¢re not going to use it right away, refrigerate until you¢â¬â„¢re ready to use.

For the glaze:

14 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
½ cup heavy cream (35% cream)

Melt the white chocolate with the heavy cream. Whisk the mixture gently until smooth.

Let cool for 10 minutes and then pour over the chilled cake. Using a long metal cake spatula, smooth out into an even layer.

Place the cake into the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set.

And just to be slighty rebellious…here is my contraband Opera cake with all the colors we were not suppose to have. It was Chocolate, Coffee and Toffee!

Having already made this weeks Tuesday’s with Dorie pick(about a year and a half ago) I was originally going to pass. Give myself a break. However, this was one of my favorite recipes out of the book and so I wanted to make it again. I just didn’t want to make the same way. That seems to be happening a lot to me lately.
Since I am a bread pudding loving fool, I figured why not take the 3 sticks of butter brioche and make it even worse for you by adding eggs and heavy cream? Yes, lets.
So that is what I did. I made Sticky Bun Bread Pudding. And it was good. And what is even better is the sauce is already there…right on the bottom. To make the bread pudding you have instead of making buns, make the two loaves of bread. Just put the filling in the bread before you roll it up. The rest is just like making regular bread pudding, well, except for the fact that you have the sticky pecan glaze at the bottom.
If you haven’t made the regular sticky buns yet, then definitely do that first. But if you have made it already and want a slight twist with still the same flavors and even more calories(I’m so skilled at that), then this here bread pudding is for you!
Thanks to Madam Chow of Madam Chow’s Kitchen for picking on of my favorites from the book.

Sticky Bun Bread Pudding

1-1 ½ loaves Golden Cinnamon Brioche Bread(recipe follows)
Sticky Bun Glaze(recipe follows)
Bread Pudding Custard(recipe follows)

Golden Cinnamon Brioche Bread
make dough one day ahead then shape and bake the next

2 packets active dry yeast (4 teaspoons)
1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch water
1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch while milk (I used skim)
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature but still slightly firm

For the Filling
½ cup sugar
6 TBSP packed light brown sugar
2 TBSP ground cinnamon
6 TBSP unsalted butter, at room temperature

Put the yeast, water, and milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and, using a wooden spoon, stir until the yeast is dissolved. Add the flour and salt, and fit the mixer with the dough hook, if you have one. Toss a kitchen towel over the mixer, covering the bowl as completely as you can to keep you from being covered in flour! Turn the mixer on and off in a few short pulses, just to dampen the flour (you can peek), then remove the towel, increase mixer speed to medium-low and mix for a minute or two. At this point you will have a dry, shaggy mess (it¢â¬â„¢s true).

Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula, set the mixer to low and add the eggs, followed by the sugar. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes, until the dough forms a ball. Reduce speed to low and add the butter in 2 Tablespoon size chunks, beating until each piece is almost incorporated before adding the next. You¢â¬â„¢ll have a dough that is very soft, almost like a batter. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 10 minutes (This made my heavy kitchen aid mixer “dance” across the counter, so you may want to listen and be available to steady the mixer).

Transfer the dough to a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, 40-60 minutes. Deflate the dough by lifting it up around the edges and letting it fall with a slap into the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. Slap the dough down in the bowl every 30 minutes until it stops rising, about 2 hours, then leave the covered dough in the refrigerator overnight.

If making Brioche loaves: Butter and flour 2 8.5 X 4.5 inch loaf pans. Pull dough from the fridge and divide into two equal pieces. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll out dough as thin as you can while still keeping it in one piece. Spread half of the filling evenly on top the dough. Roll up tightly and place into prepared pan with ends tucked under. Repeat with second loaf.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake until loaves are well risen and deeply golden, about 30-35 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the pans and turn the loaves out onto cooling racks. Cool at least one hour.

Source: Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Sticky Bun Glaze:

1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 cup pecans

To Make the Glaze: In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the brown sugar, butter and honey to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar. Pour the glaze into the buttered pan(9 -x-13), evening it out as best you can by tilting the pan or spreading the glaze with a heatproof spatula. Sprinkle over the pecans.

Custard:

3 extra large eggs
2 extra large egg yolks
2 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup granulated sugar

Whisk all the above ingredients together.

To make the bread pudding slice pieces of the cinnamon bread, removing the crust. Start stacking bread on top of Sticky Bun Glaze. Stop when you reach the top of the pan. It took me about 1 and ¼ loaves of bread. Pour half the custard mixture over the bread and press down to help the bread soak up the liquid. Keep adding liquid until the bread has soaked it in. You may have some custard left.
Place pan into another pan that will hold a water bath. Bake the bread pudding(in a 350F oven) for1 hour or until golden on top. Cool 10 minutes and serve warm. Spoon sauce from bottom of pan over the bread pudding.

Sadly I can not remember the last time I participated in Sugar High Fridays. It seems I barely participate in anything anymore as it is(DMBLGIT). It just slips my mind(what’s left of it these days ). But when my lesser evil twin Helen(Tartelette) announced that she was hosting, I of course had to participate…how could I not?
Helen picked a citrus theme, which is so versatile and so Summer. Good choice Helen. I really thought of doing something elaborate but I was sitting around looking through my blog and realized that I haven’t made any cookies in a really long time. Ironically these cookies ended up being pretty elaborate for a cookie.
Coconut Lemon-Lime Tassies were a little more work than I was wanting. I don’t know what I was thinking. I don’t like making pie, and this was pretty much like making pie….just really small ones. The cream cheese pastry is easy but you have to wait around for 4 hours for it to chill. I’m not good at smashing them into the mini muffins as I have long nails and when I would press down on them, those suckers would just stick to my nail. Many, many bad words were used. Then you have the filling and then a glaze. These are a good cookie but I probably wont make them again until my mom comes out as she is a pecan tassie lover and I think she would really enjoy these.
So there you have it, my leap back into SHF. I’m hoping to be better about keeping on top of SHF, along with a few other events I used to participate in.

Coconut Lemon-Lime Tassie

1 recipe Cream Cheese Pastry(recipe follow), formed into 2 4×6-inch rectangles

Filling:
3 TBSP all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
4 large egg yolks
1 ¼ cups sugar
3 TBSP fresh lime juice
3 TBSP fresh lemon juice
2 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
2 tsp freshly grated lime zest
1 cup chopped sweetened, flaked coconut, divided

1 recipe Vanilla Glaze(recipe to follow)

Divide each rectangle of pastry into 24 1-inch squares. Roll each into a ball and place into mini-muffin tins. Mold the dough into each hole, pressing it up the sides. Chill while preparing the filling.
Position the shelves in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Heat the oven to 350F.
Strain together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl of and electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment, beat the egg yolks on medium speed until lightened in color. Add the sugar in a steady stream, beating until thickened. On low speed blend in the juice and the zests. Remove the bowl from the machine and fold in the dry ingredients and ½ cup of the coconut.
Sprinkle the remaining coconut into the pastry-lined muffing cups. Empty the filling into a measuring cup with a spout and pour the mixture into the tins, filling them no more than two-thirds full.
Bake for 30 to 32 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown around the edges. Toward the end of baking time, rotate the pans top to bottom and front to back. Let stand 5 minutes. Using the tip of a paring knife, run the blade carefully around the edges of the muffin cups to loosen the Tassies. When cups are cooled enough to handle, remove them form the pa and set on a cooling rack. While they are slightly warm, apply a small amount of the Vanilla Glaze to the top of each Tassie, spreading it with the bottom of a teaspoon.
Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container, layered between strips of wax paper for up to 5 days.

Cream Cheese Pastry

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, spooned in and leveled, divided
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup powdered sugar

In a large bowl, using a wooden spoon, mix together the butter and cream cheese until smooth and thoroughly blended.
Mix in 1 cup of the flour and salt, working until almost incorporated. Cut in another ½ cup flour with the spoon, again working it until the flour is almost incorporated. Complete the process by kneading in another ½ cup flour. Do not overwork.(Note: The remaining flour is used for rolling).
With lightly floured hands, shape dough into a mound., then divide in half and form two 5-inch disks. Dust disks lightly with the flour and warp with plastic. Chill for at least 4 hours or up to 3 days.

Vanilla Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 TBSP hot milk
1 TBSP corn syrup
½ tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Place the powdered sugar in a large bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Stir with a small whisk or spoon until very smooth. The glaze should pour from a spoon in a steady stream. Use additional liquid sparingly. A little bit goes a long way.

Source: Adapted from Great Cookies by Carole Walter

The first time I saw someone picking blackberries it was along the side of the road in Oak Creek Canyon, Arizona(just outside of Sedona). It was a man, standing there, facing bushes along the road beside his car. I assumed he was peeing. Ew, I thought…and said.
“Ew? You don’t like blackberries?” said J, our neighbor across the street from us, who’s kids I spent almost everyday with.
“I don’t think I have ever had blackberries…and what does that have to do with the man peeing?”
Boy they had a good laugh at me and then pointed out that the man was not peeing but picking blackberries from the blackberry bushes along the road. The sheltered Suburban girl in me was shining through at that moment(I was only like 10 or 11). But still, I never stop to think up to that point how food even got to my table. I mean, didn’t it just magically show up in those plastic containers, eh? Apparently not. Apparently, people pick and gather all types of fruit and vegetables. Who knew…obviously not the girl who mistakes someone picking blackberries for peeing.
I never did pick blackberries, well not until I moved here. The dense bushes are blanketed across many parts of Western Washington and when I saw them I knew I would be dragging myself out there to experience blackberry picking. The good news is, it’s nothing like peeing. The bad news is, you have purple fingers for the next three to four days. It is the price one pays to have the bounty that is fresh blackberries.
Having been in the Northwest cuisine mindset as of late I was drawn to the blackberries(the ones in the magic plastic containers) that I saw at the store. A little steep in the price range with todays evil grocery prices, I knew I would need to mix them with something…I went with the other Northwest staple…apples. And since I am too lazy to be a pie maker, I went with the ever easy but equally satisfying crisp. If I had hazelnuts, I would have used those, but I did not so walnuts won the nut lottery for this recipe.
Since crisps are a little on the boring side, I found an ice cream recipe for Blackberry Ice Cream(on My Husband Cooks) that screamed make me…so I did. It just takes the homey crisp to a whole new level of happiness.
If you have never been blackberry picking or any fruit picking I encourage you to do so. Just make sure to keep your hands where everyone can see them and no one can mistake you for peeing.

Apple Blackberry Crisp

Filling:
6 Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
2 cups blackberries
¾ cup sugar
2 TBSP flour

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 9 by 13-inch pan or individual ramekins.
Cut apples into thin slices. Place apples and blackberries in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle with flour and sugar. Gently fold to coat the fruit pieces. Pour fruit into prepared pan.

Topping:

½ cup rolled oats
½ cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 tsp brown sugar

Combine all ingredients together in a bowl until everything in moist from the butter and has a crumbly appearance. Sprinkle topping over fruit. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until fruit is soft and topping is browned.
Serve warm and top with Blackberry Ice Cream or vanilla.

Blackberry Ice Cream

1 quart blackberries
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup half and half
1 tsp lime juice
1- 1 ½ cups sugar(depending on how sweet your berries are)
3 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt

Directions:
Add the yolks and sugar to a medium-size bowl. Whisk together and then set aside.
Using a double boiler over medium-low heat, add the half and half, cream, blackberries and salt. Regularly whisk the mixture, heating until the temperature reaches approximately 145F. The mixture should begin to turn purple.
Once the cream mixture has reached the desired temperature, slowly add about half of the mixture to the eggs and sugar while whisking vigorously. This will prevent the eggs from curdling. Once the eggs and cream have been thoroughly integrated, pour back the egg mix into the remaining cream.
Whisk constantly and slowly as the mix rises in temperature. Once the temperature has reached 165-170F ¢â¬â€ or when the mix evenly coats the back of a spoon ¢â¬â€ remove from heat and add the lime juice and vanilla. Whisk them in completely and run through a sieve to remove blackberry seeds. Move to a new container to cool. The mix can be placed in the freezer for 2 to 3 hours or, preferably, into the refrigerator overnight.
Churn according to your ice cream maker¢â¬â„¢s instructions. After churning, place in freezer to firm up. I recommend placing a seal of plastic wrap tight against the ice cream after making it to prevent a skin from forming on the ice cream¢â¬â„¢s surface. Serve once firm enough. Enjoy!

Source: Adapted from My Husband Cooks