100th Post: Daring Bakers' Lemon Tiramisu

Before i go onto my Daring Bakers' challenge, I thought I'd let you know... that this is my 100th blog post!!! Wooohoo! For a blog sprung out of pure boredom and procrastination, I'm very VERY surprised that I made it this this far. Thank-you everyone for all the lovely comments, emails, and encouragements left along the way. I wish i had something cool like a recipe round-up or a 100th post giveaway to reciprocate but unfortunately with all the exams recently, a big huge THANK-YOU and an big tight e-HUG is all i can give for now. I promise I'll make it up on my 200th post ;)

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The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

Ever since I saw one my friends' MSN status change to "best Lemon Tiramisu ever!" last November, I knew I HAD to make it myself. I was so excited that I went to the grocery store the next day and bought myself a bottle of vodka and a bag of lemons-- yes, i was going make my own Limoncello! Limoncello takes about 3 months to make so counting from November-->December--> January, February was going to be my Tiramisu due-date. Imagine my surprise when the Daring Bakers' announced their challenge, it was like a sign from God-- I was born to do this! Aparna and Deeba made it mandatory to make our own Mascarpone cheese + Ladyfingers and I was more than happy to oblige. Both were very easy to make and, like most of the DB recipes, turned out better than the ones store-bought. The fact that EVERYTHING in this recipe is homemade makes it taste better than the other Tiramisus I made before. Thank-you, Aparna and Deeba, for hosting and sharing this wonderful challenge with us!

I've included the original Daring Bakers' recipe below but here are the changes I made for Lemon Tiramisu:

• For the Zabaglione (egg custard): replace Marsala wine with Limoncello.
• For the Pastry Cream: add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to the finished pastry cream, then heat it some more.
• For the Tiramisu: Dip the ladyfingers in 1 cup of Limoncello + 1 tablespoon of lemon juice (instead of the esspresso, rum, and sugar). Assemble the Tiramisu and sprinkle the top with graham cracker crumbs (or with almonds, lemon zest, chocolate, coconut...etc. It's up to you!).

Homemade Mascarpone Cheese

(Source: Vera’s Recipe for Homemade Mascarpone Cheese)

This recipe makes 12oz/ 340gm of mascarpone cheese

INGREDIENTS:

• 474ml (approx. 500ml)/ 2 cups whipping cream (between 25% to 36% cream will do)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:

1. Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a wide skillet. Reduce the heat to medium-low so the water is barely simmering. Pour the cream into a medium heat-resistant bowl, then place the bowl into the skillet. Heat the cream, stirring often, to 190 F (90 C) [picture 1]. If you do not have a thermometer, wait until small bubbles keep trying to push up to the surface.
2. It will take about 15 minutes of delicate heating. Add the lemon juice and continue heating the mixture, stirring gently, until the cream curdles [picture 2]. All that the whipping cream will do is become thicker, like a well-done crème anglaise. It will cover a back of your wooden spoon thickly [picture 3]. You will see just a few clear whey streaks when you stir. Remove the bowl from the water and let cool for about 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, line a sieve with four layers of dampened cheesecloth and set it over a bowl [picture 4]. Transfer the mixture into the lined sieve [picture 5]. Do not squeeze the cheese in the cheesecloth or press on its surface (be patient, it will firm up after refrigeration time). Once cooled completely, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (in the sieve) overnight or up to 24 hours.
4. Vera’s notes: The first time I made mascarpone I had all doubts if it’d been cooked enough, because of its custard-like texture. Have no fear, it will firm up beautifully in the fridge, and will yet remain lusciously creamy [picture 6].
5. Keep refrigerated and use within 3 to 4 days.

Ladyfingers / Savoidari Biscuits

(Source: Recipe from Cordon Bleu At Home)

This recipe makes approximately 24 big ladyfingers or 45 small (2 1/2" to 3" long) ladyfingers.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 eggs, separated
• 6 tablespoons /75gms granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup/95gms cake flour, sifted
  (or 3/4 cup all purpose flour + 2 tbsp corn starch)
• 6 tablespoons /50gms confectioner's sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F (175 C) degrees, then lightly brush 2 baking sheets with oil or softened butter and line with parchment paper.
2. Beat the egg whites using a hand held electric mixer until stiff peaks form [picture 1]. Gradually add granulate sugar and continue beating until the egg whites become stiff again, glossy and smooth.
3. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly with a fork and fold them into the meringue, using a wooden spoon [picture 2]. Sift the flour over this mixture and fold gently until just mixed [picture 3]. It is important to fold very gently and not overdo the folding [picture 4]. Otherwise the batter would deflate and lose volume resulting in ladyfingers which are flat and not spongy.
4. Fit a pastry bag with a plain tip (or just snip the end off; you could also use a Ziploc bag) and fill with the batter. Pipe the batter into 5" long and 3/4" wide strips leaving about 1" space in between the strips. Sprinkle half the confectioner's sugar over the ladyfingers and wait for 5 minutes. The sugar will pearl or look wet and glisten. Now sprinkle the remaining sugar [picture 5]. This helps to give the ladyfingers their characteristic crispness.
5. Hold the parchment paper in place with your thumb and lift one side of the baking sheet and gently tap it on the work surface to remove excess sprinkled sugar.
6. Bake the ladyfingers for 10 minutes, then rotate the sheets and bake for another 5 minutes or so until the puff up, turn lightly golden brown and are still soft [picture 6].
7. Allow them to cool slightly on the sheets for about 5 minutes and then remove the ladyfingers from the baking sheet with a metal spatula while still hot, and cool on a rack.
8. Store them in an airtight container till required. They should keep for 2 to 3 weeks.

Tiramisu

(Recipe source: Carminantonio's Tiramisu from The Washington Post, July 11 2007 )

This recipe makes 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:

• For the zabaglione:
• 2 large egg yolks
• 3 tablespoons sugar/50gms
• 1/4 cup/60ml Marsala wine (or port or coffee)
• 1/4 teaspoon/ 1.25ml vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
  
  
• For the pastry cream:
• 1/4 cup/55gms sugar
• 1 tablespoon/8gms all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon/ 2.5ml vanilla extract
• 1 large egg yolk
• 3/4 cup/175ml whole milk
• 
  
• For the whipped cream:
• 1 cup/235ml chilled heavy cream (we used 25%)
• 1/4 cup/55gms sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon/ 2.5ml vanilla extract
  
  
• To assemble the Tiramisu:
• 2 cups/470ml brewed espresso, warmed
• 1 teaspoon/5ml rum extract (optional)
• 1/2 cup/110gms sugar
• 1/3 cup/75gms mascarpone cheese
• 36 savoiardi/ ladyfinger biscuits (you may use less)
• 2 tablespoons/30gms unsweetened cocoa powder

DIRECTIONS:

For the zabaglione:

1. Heat water in a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, place a pot with about an inch of water in it on the stove. Place a heat-proof bowl in the pot making sure the bottom does not touch the water.
2. In a large mixing bowl (or stainless steel mixing bowl), mix together the egg yolks, sugar, the Marsala (or espresso/ coffee), vanilla extract and lemon zest. Whisk together until the yolks are fully blended and the mixture looks smooth.
3. Transfer the mixture to the top of a double boiler or place your bowl over the pan/ pot with simmering water. Cook the egg mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 8 minutes or until it resembles thick custard. It may bubble a bit as it reaches that consistency.
4. Let cool to room temperature and transfer the zabaglione to a bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

For the pastry cream:

1. Mix together the sugar, flour, lemon zest and vanilla extract in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. To this add the egg yolk and half the milk. Whisk until smooth.
2. Now place the saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring constantly to prevent the mixture from curdling.
3. Add the remaining milk a little at a time, still stirring constantly. After about 12 minutes the mixture will be thick, free of lumps and beginning to bubble. (If you have a few lumps, don’t worry. You can push the cream through a fine-mesh strainer.)
4. Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic film and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

For the whipped cream:

1. Combine the cream, sugar and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric hand mixer or immersion blender until the mixture holds stiff peaks. Set aside.

To assemble the tiramisu:

1. Have ready a rectangular serving dish (about 8" by 8" should do) or one of your choice.
2. Mix together the warm espresso, rum extract and sugar in a shallow dish, whisking to mix well. Set aside to cool.
3. In a large bowl, beat the mascarpone cheese with a spoon to break down the lumps and make it smooth. This will make it easier to fold. Add the prepared and chilled zabaglione and pastry cream, blending until just combined [picture 1]. Gently fold in the whipped cream [picture 2]. Set this cream mixture aside.
4. Working quickly, dip 12 of the ladyfingers in the sweetened espresso, about 1 second per side [picture 3]. They should be moist but not soggy.
5. Immediately transfer each ladyfinger to the platter, placing them side by side in a single row [picture 4]. You may break a lady finger into two, if necessary, to ensure the base of your dish is completely covered.
6. Spoon one-third of the cream mixture on top of the ladyfingers, then use a rubber spatula or spreading knife to cover the top evenly, all the way to the edges [picture 5].
7. Repeat to create 2 more layers, using 12 ladyfingers and the cream mixture for each layer. Clean any spilled cream mixture; cover carefully with plastic wrap and refrigerate the tiramisu overnight.
8. To serve, carefully remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle the tiramisu with cocoa powder using a fine-mesh strainer or decorate as you please [picture 6]. Cut into individual portions and serve.

Lemon Tiramisu

Daring Bakers' Gluten Free Graham Wafers & Nanaimo Bars

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks andwww.nanaimo.ca.

With the Winter Olympics in Canada next month, Lauren challenged us to make a popular Canadian dessert: Nanaimo Bars. In the words of Lauren, "Nanaimo Bars are a classic Canadian dessert created in none other than Nanaimo, British Colombia. In case you were wondering, it’s pronounced Nah-nye-Moh. These bars have 3 layers: a base containing graham crackers, cocoa, coconut and nuts, a middle custard layer, and a topping of chocolate". The difficult part for me wasn't these bars itself, it was the gluten-free graham crackers that are used for the bottom base layer. Of course, we could've gone wheat for them crackers if we'd like, but hey, it wouldn't be a challenge if we all chose the easy way out, right?

So for the graham wafers, I used a 1:1 ratio on the glutinous rice flour and tapioca starch since that's all i had in hand. As for the honey, i replaced it with sweetened condensed milk. I used normal white sugar instead of dark brown, which explains the my pale-looking dough. But despite the little changes i had to make, these graham crackers still turned out amazing! The whole kitchen and dorm hallway smelled of sweet goodness and i was so happy to see that the crackers have baked properly despite some trouble I had with the gluten-free dough which was almost impossible to handle. As for the Nanaimo bars, ehhhhh... let's just say I'm glad they freeze well because it's been sitting in my freezer for about 3 days now... and the only slice JLo and I had was for the initial taste test. It was just too sugary, sweet, and buttery for our liking :( You're thinking: Is that even possible?? But yea, unfortunately JLo and I just don't have that strong of a sweet tooth. The graham wafer recipe, though, is definitely a keeper. So thank-you Lauren for sharing it with us and for hosting the January challenge!

Gluten-Free Graham Wafers

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup (138 g) (4.9 ounces) sweet rice flour (also known as glutinous rice flour)
• 3/4 cup (100 g) (3.5 ounces) tapioca starch/flour
• 1/2 cup (65 g) (2.3 ounces) sorghum flour
• 1 cup (200 g) (7.1 ounces) dark brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 teaspoon (5 mL) baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon (4 mL) salt
• 7 tablespoons (100 g) (3 ½ ounces) unsalted butter (cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen)
• 1/3 cup (80 mL) Honey, mild-flavoured
• 5 tablespoons (75 mL) whole milk
• 2 tablespoons (30 mL) pure vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine the flours, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pulse on low to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse on and off, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal [picture 1]. If making by hand, combine aforementioned dry ingredients with a whisk, then cut in butter until you have a coarse meal. No chunks of butter should be visible.
2. In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the honey, milk and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture until the dough barely comes together [picture 2]. It will be very soft and sticky [picture 3].
3. Turn the dough onto a surface well-floured with sweet rice flour and pat the dough into a rectangle about 1 inch thick [picture 4]. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, about 2 hours, or overnight.
4. Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of sweet rice flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be quite sticky, so flour as necessary. Cut into 4 by 4 inch squares. Gather the scraps together and set aside. Place wafers on one or two parchment-lined baking sheets. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes. Repeat with the second batch of dough.
5. Adjust the rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).
6. Gather the scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and reroll. Dust the surface with more sweet rice flour and roll out the dough to get a couple more wafers.
7. Prick the wafers with toothpick or fork, not all the way through, in two or more rows.
8. Bake for 25 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. Might take less, and the starting location of each sheet may determine its required time. The ones that started on the bottom browned faster.
9. When cooled completely, place enough wafers in food processor to make 1 ¼ cups (300 mL) of crumbs. Another way to do this is to place in a large ziplock bag, force all air out and smash with a rolling pin until wafers are crumbs.
10. If making the graham crackers with wheat, replace the gluten-free flours (tapioca starch, sweet rice flour, and sorghum flour) with 2 ½ cups plus 2 tbsp of all-purpose wheat flour, or wheat pastry flour. Watch the wheat-based graham wafers very closely in the oven, as they bake faster than the gluten-free ones, sometimes only 12 minutes.
11. The graham wafers may be kept in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
    
    

Nanaimo Bars

INGREDIENTS:

• BOTTOM LAYER:
• 1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
• 1/4 cup (50 g) (1.8 ounces) Granulated Sugar
• 5 tablespoons (75 mL) Unsweetened Cocoa
• 1 Large Egg, Beaten
• 1 1/4 cups (300 mL) (160 g) (5.6 ounces) Gluten Free Graham Wafer Crumbs (See previous recipe)
• 1/2 cup (55 g) (1.9 ounces) Almonds (Any type, Finely chopped)
• 1 cup (130 g) (4.5 ounces) Coconut (Shredded, sweetened or unsweetened)
  
  
• MIDDLE LAYER:
• 1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
• 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons (40 mL) Heavy Cream
• 2 tablespoons (30 mL) Vanilla Custard Powder (Such as Bird’s. Vanilla pudding mix may be substituted.)
• 2 cups (254 g) (8.9 ounces) Icing Sugar
  
  
• TOP LAYER:
• 4 ounces (115 g) Semi-sweet chocolate
• 2 tablespoons (28 g) (1 ounce) Unsalted Butter

DIRECTIONS:

1. For bottom Layer: Melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa in top of a double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, nuts and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8 by 8 inch pan [picture 2].
2. For Middle Layer: Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light in colour. Spread over bottom layer [picture 3].
3. For Top Layer: Melt chocolate and unsalted butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, pour over middle layer and chill [picture 4].

Gluten Free Graham Wafers

Nanaimo Bars

Daring Bakers' Gingerbread House

The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, everyone! I was so excited when i found out that this months' challenge was to make gingerbread houses from scratch-- this meant that JLo and I still get to participate in some festive activities even though there's no pseudo-Christmas dinner for us this year (too busy with tests and preparing for vacations!). The good thing is, to accommodate for the holiday season, Daring Bakers' is letting us post our entries anytime between December 23rd - 27th instead of after Christmas. So here I am, typing out a scheduled post a week beforehand just for the sake of reminding myself that I did, in a way, do something on Christmas Eve this year (they don't celebrate Christmas in Egypt, unfortunately... and that's where i am right now!). So back to the gingerbread, when i first found out about the challenge, I knew immediately that JLo was going to be in charge of the decorating-- he is, after all, the one with the dextrous dentist hands. However, the decorating process just looked so fun that we both ended up fighting for the piping bag. While one person piped, the other would make bossy comments and suggestions that would aggravate the piper even more. And with so many ideas flying around, we just ended up piling everything we had on there and call it a house, LOL. The whole process was pretty fun and we had quite a good laugh out of our finished product. I showed JLo some of the super professional-looking gingerbread houses other Daring Bakers' have posted on the forum and he went, "... are you sure you still want to post ours up?... Please dont." Hahaha, it's okay, I give ourselves a big E for effort! So i guess the Christmas lesson learned this year was: Too many cooks spoil the soup! Next time each of us are getting our own houses to decorate :P

Y's Recipe: Scandinavian Gingerbread (Pepparkakstuga)

from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book by Beatrice Ojakangas

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup butter, room temperature [226g]
• 1 cup brown sugar, well packed [220g]
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 3 teaspoons ground cloves
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• ½ cup boiling water
• 5 cups all-purpose flour [875g]

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until blended [picture 1].
2. Add the cinnamon, ginger and cloves [picture 2].
3. Mix the baking soda with the boiling water and add to the dough along with the flour [picture 3, 4].
4. Mix to make a stiff dough. If necessary add more water, a tablespoon at a time. Chill 2 hours or overnight [picture 5, 6]. (TIP: doughs are prone to a little shrinkage. Make sure you don't overmix the dough initially as you'll overdevelop the gluten and make your dough tough and shrinky).
5. Cut patterns for the house, making patterns for the roof, front walls, gabled walls, chimney and door out of cardboard (got my pattern from halloween.savvy-cafe.com) .
6. Roll the dough out on a large, ungreased baking sheet and place the patterns on the dough. Mark off the various pieces with a knife, but leave the pieces in place [picture 7].
7. [I rolled out the dough on a floured bench, roughly 1/8 inch thick (which allows for fact that the dough puffs a little when baked), cut required shapes and transferred these to the baking sheet. Any scraps I saved and rerolled at the end.]
8. Preheat the oven to 375'F (190'C). Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the cookie dough feels firm.
9. After baking, again place the pattern on top of the gingerbread and trim the shapes, cutting the edges with a straight-edged knife. Leave to cool on the baking sheet [picture 8].

Royal Icing:

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 egg white
• 2 cups powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1. Put the powdered sugar in a mixing bowl and beat in half of the egg white [picture 1]. Slowly add the remaining egg white while mixing, making sure the icing doesn't get too wet.
2. If 1 egg white is not enough, add water a little bit at a time until your icing reaches a glue-like consistency [picture 2].
3. If you aren't using it all at once you can keep it in a small bowl, loosely covered with a damp towel for a few hours until ready to use. You may have to beat it slightly to get it an even consistency if the top sets up a bit. Piped on the house, this will set up hard over time.

Kindergarteners could've done a better job than this-- FAIL!

But it's so ugly to the point that... it's actually kinda cute XD

Gingerbread House

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ever since school started, i cant seem to remember the last time where i could relax and have any afternoons to myself without any exams or quizzes lurking behind my back. But with psych out of way and pharm quizzes on a halt, these few days of chill was more than i could wish for :) However, next week we'll be starting disaster medicine and spending the entire day (8am - 5pm) in a hospital, that's 40 (bus-ride) minutes away from home, in the (predicted) snow..... it's gonna S-U-C-K, big time. So with only a weekend left before hell begins, i baked a big batch of cookies so that i could live my weekend to its fullest by eat my stress away. Oh gosh, just thinking about my next 2 weeks is getting me all antsy and super freakin' FAHNNNN........*chomps on a cookie*.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
from allrecipes.com
INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 165 degrees C (325 F).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth.
   
3. Beat in eggs on at a time, then stir in vanilla.
4. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir into the creamed mixture until just blended.
5. Mix in the quick oats, walnuts, and chocolate chips.
6. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.
7. Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven.
   
8. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies