His results - St Joseph's Fig Cookies

This recipe was a little frustrating at times but ultimately deeply satisfying.

The filling was very easy to make. I didn’t have a lemon around so I used orange zest and squeezed the juice out to mix in with the sherry. The pastry was pretty simple too but even though I put in less than half of the milk it called for was pretty sticky. I had to put it in the fridge for an hour or so to harden up a little and flour everything well. Even then it wasn’t the easiest to work with and rolling it out was a little annoying.

As soon as they were onto the baking sheets it was back to being a very straight forward and easy recipe.

They took a pretty long time in the oven. I’m starting to think the thermostat might be wrong. I should get an oven thermometer and check it out I think. The slightly over damp dough wouldn’t have helped.

It was pretty pleasing to dip them into the icing and sprinkle on the glittery rainbow sugar. I’m happy to report they’re delicious! The orange zest is really, really good in them. The pastry has a little bite to it and the filling is sweet, slightly bitter from the zest and texturally interesting from the fig seeds. The sugar is both beautiful and adds an extra bite. I’d really, really recommend these. They’re easy and great to eat. Just go very, very slow when adding the liquid to the dough.

Recipe 15 - St Joseph's Fig Cookies

I had a hard time choosing what recipe I wanted this week beyond narrowing it down to a final three. In the end I rang Her and asked her what type of treat she fancied. She said a biscuit was what she wanted so here we go!

I really like the idea of these, a nice, slightly crispy crust and yummy, figgy centre. I cut the nuts out of the recipe from Serious Eats (originally from My New Orleans by John Besh) since I'm not a fan. You can find the recipe, with comments and a bit of background here. There's a total of around 2800 calories in this recipe, working out to just over 100 calories per biscuit.

St. Joseph's Fig Cookies

- makes about 2 dozen cookies -

Ingredients

For the filling:
3 tablespoons sherry
2 teaspoons fresh orange juice
200g dried figs, stems removed
45g raisins
1/4 cup honey (3T plus 1t)
1 dash ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

For the dough:
155g all-purpose flour
50g granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
60g cold butter, diced
1 egg, beaten
3 tablespoons milk

For the icing:
150g powdered sugar, sifted
3 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Colored sprinkles

Procedure

1. For the filling: Bring the sherry and the orange juice just to a boil in a small saucepan. Meanwhile, put the figs, raisins, honey, cinnamon, and lemon zest into the work bowl of a food processor and pulse until the nuts are very finely chopped.

2. Pour the sherry mixture through the feed tube of the food processor and continue processing the fig mixture to a finely chopped paste.
Using a rubber spatula, scrape the filling into a pastry bag fitted with a medium round tip, or, instead of using a pastry bag, put the filling into a bowl, cover, and set aside.

3. For the dough: Sift together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Using a pastry cutter or 2 knives, cut the butter into the flour until it resembles cornmeal. Stir in the eggs and milk, mixing until the dough is well combined.

4. Divide the dough in half. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface into 2 long strips 1⁄8 inch thick and about 4 inches wide. Cut the strips in half lengthwise.

5. To fill the dough: Use the pastry bag or a spoon to pipe or spoon a quarter of the filling down the middle of each strip of dough. Using a pastry brush, moisten the dough with water on either side of the filling. Roll the dough over the filling, completely enclosing the filling, then gently press on the seam to seal the dough.

6. Preheat the oven to 350°f, gas mark 4. Place the pastry logs seam side down and slice them on the bias into cookies about an inch long. Place the cookies at least ½ inch apart on nonstick cookie sheets and bake until pale golden brown, 15-20 minutes. Set the cookies on a rack to let cool.

7. For the icing: Whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla in a wide bowl.

8. Dip the top of each cookie into the icing, then scatter sprinkles over the tops.

Her results - Chocolate Rum 'n' Raisin Cake

I've fully enjoyed this baking and blogging project (I think this is our 44th post this year, which I find hard to believe!), but sometimes I feel like Job when I pull these desserts out of the oven. More on that later.

This cake was pretty fun and easy to make. There was nothing exceptional about the process. I failed to make it to the liquor store on time but I'm housesitting for friends so I crossed my fingers and hoped they had some rum. It turned out that cognac was the best that my friends' liquor cabinet had to offer, so I went with it. Seeing that the recipe only called for 2 tablespoons of it, I'm surprised that I can clearly taste the cognac in the finished cake. In a pinch it's a pretty good substitution for rum, but I don't think I'll ever intentionally use it again.

I have never seen such greasy cake batter! I had to take the pan outside to take a photo so you could see it in all its glory.

I only have 9" round cake pans, and that's a bit too big for this cake. I think it would have turned out nicer if it was thicker. This is not the first cake that I've said this about, so I think I'm going to have to hunt for some smaller pans. They shouldn't be hard to find for cheap.

As he mentioned, we baked our cakes for 60 minutes since the recipe called for 60-90, and the cakes were already overdone. If you cook this recipe (I don't really suggest it), check the cake after 35 minutes or so.

There's just nothing special about this cake. I'm not one to say that desserts are too rich, but this one is honestly too rich. I find it nearly overpoweringly chocolately, and the richness of the raisins, liquor and butter definitely don't help tone it down. I tried complementing it with some whipped cream, and that did nothing for it. If you want to make a rum cake, try this one instead: Bacardi Rum Cake. Yum yum! An acquaintance of mine has brought one to our Thanksgiving dinner for the past two years and I love it.

I've never mentioned this on here before, but I take all of my pictures with my iPhone. I apologize for the shortcomings of it, and I will eventually buy a new digital camera.

I'm looking forward to a new baking challenge this weekend! I hope it's something delicious. Can we bake some more Japanese cheesecake?

His - Chocolate Rum 'n' Raisin Cake

A while ago I sorted through some cupboards and came across this boxed cake pan. I'd guess it's 70s or 80s but it had never been used. Look how beautiful and shiny it is! I decided to give it a whirl this week.


I got a good deal on this chocolate. It's pretty good and I got two bars for £1.10. I decided to melt the stuff together in a double boiler rather than straight in a saucepan.

It all came together very easily.

The batter tasted very rich and delicious.

The recipe says to bake it for 60 to 90 minutes. I'm always wary of opening the oven early because it makes cakes sink so we left it until the hour mark and both had a peek. It was overdone! This recipe is clearly screwy. It should probably have come out 20 minutes earlier and nobody could ever need it to be in for 90 minutes.

It's a real shame it ended up overdone and dry because otherwise it's tasty. I had a slice with some fromage frais when it was still a little warm from the oven and enjoyed it. To be honest though I think it would have been at least as good with no chocolate. The rum and raisin flavour is lost as it is. Next time I'd either reduce the chocolate or cut it out entirely, add a pinch of salt and check the cake after 35 or 40 minutes. It's definately a tasty cake though. The cake pan's a total winner by the way. Hopefully it shall continue to serve me well!

Recipe 14 - Chocolate Rum 'n' Raisin Cake

This week I'm choosing a recipe from a book I bought on a clearance rack at the Rice University bookstore. The book, Kitchen Library Desserts by Jane Price, seems to be everything I'd want in a recipe book, as long as the recipes turn out to be good! The pages are large and each recipe is accompanied by a full page color photograph.

I have a bad habit of hemming and hawing over what to bake. So this time I decided I would open the book and roll with the first recipe I saw. I got Chocolate Rum 'n' Raisin Cake. Why not try it? I'm excited and I hope it's tasty.

The recipe has about 3700 calories total.

Chocolate Rum 'n' Raisin Cake

Serves 8 (more for us)

Preparation Time: 20 minutes +

Cooking Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

2 T dark rum

50g raisins, finely chopped

160g self-rising flour

40g all-purpose flour

35g unsweetened cocoa powder, plus extra, to dust

65g superfine sugar

45g demerara sugar

210g unsalted butter

1 T golden syrup or dark corn syrup

125g chopped dark chocolate

2 eggs, lightly beaten

confectioners' sugar, to dust

whipped cream, to serve

Method

Preheat oven to 325 Fahrenheit, gas mark 3. Grease a deep 8 inch round cake pan. Line the base and sides of the pan with parchment paper.

Combine the rum, raisins, and 60ml hot water in a small bowl and set aside. Sift the flours and cocoa powder into a large bowl and make a well in the center.

Combine the superfine sugar, demerara sugar, butter, golden syrup, and chocolate in a saucepan. Stir over low heat until the butter and chocolate have melted and all the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat. Stir in the rum and raisins.

Using a metal spoon, stir the butter mixture into the dry ingredients until combined. Add the eggs and mix well until smooth. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth out the surface.

Bake for 60 - 90 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake. Let the cake cool in the pan for 1 hour before turning out onto a wire rack. Dust the cake with cocoa powder and confectioners' sugar before serving. Serve warm with whipped cream.

Her results - Dandelion Bread

My friend Courtney and I scoured the neighborhood for dandelions. Strangely, we don't seem to have them here. I know that they grow in other areas of Texas and perhaps even in other areas of Houston, but they don't grow in my neighborhood. I wonder if intensive lawn care practices or the heat and humidity keeps them away? He and I decided that I might as well buy some edible flowers. The ones I bought at Whole Foods were pretty and I liked that their packaging wasn't corporately labeled.

The batter was easy to put together, and I poured it into a loaf pan.

The loaf baked up to be pretty. It needed about 15 extra minutes in the oven.

I think it tasted nicest on the first day. It had a nice crust and soft interior and I personally thought that it had an unusual taste. It wasn't bad, but I don't think I'll ever make it again. A few of my co-workers tried it and enjoyed the experience. One said it tasted like a bread her grandmother made, and the other said, "this tastes like soda bread." So maybe it's less unusual tasting than I think it is. It wasn't particularly pretty sliced, but not bad looking either.