French Yule log to come...

For the Daring Bakers challenge this month it is a very daring French Yule log, also refered to as an entremet. I haven't completed this task yet. I'm in the middle and will be posting my results as I finish. I just didn't have time with the holidays to get started until now.

Here is some info:

This month's challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux.They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand

THE CHALLENGE RULE is that you MUST MAKE ALL 6 of these elements for the log:1) Dacquoise Biscuit2) Mousse3) Ganache Insert4) Praline (Crisp) Insert5) Creme Brulee Insert6) IcingThe assembly will essentially be a Dacquoise Biscuit at the bottom, and the inserts inter-layered with mousse, with an icing finish. That’s about it for rules. Oh yeah, please have fun!

My results are coming. In the meantime... here are some pretty pictures of other daring bakers results:

http://tinyurl.com/927h5o

i shot the chef

http://bittersweetblog.wordpress.com/2008/12/28/try-it-yule-like-it/

Christmas Treats are coming...

Starting this weeking the Christmas treats are going to flow out of my kitchen to the warm homes of my friends and family. I've decide to make little boxes of treats for presents. I'm also doing a cookie swap so will be distributing all those cookies as well....what else would I do with 8 dozen cookies??

Here is my list right now:

• Chocolate Fudge
• Caramels
• Chocolate covered Marshmallows
• Truffles

I don't want to do too much cause I also wanted to make some pies and quick breads! Here is some of my inspiration:

Caramelooza!!

So the Daring Bakers Challenge for November was a Caramel Cake with Caramel icing and an optional project of making chewy caramels. Caramel is sometimes my Nemesis and sometimes my friend, so I went into this challenge looking to conquer sugar! Here is the recipe provided:

Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting courtesy of Shuna Fish Lydon (http://eggbeater.typepad.com/), as published on Bay Area Bites (http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/).
and
Golden Vanilla Bean Caramels from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich, Artisan Press, Copyright 2007, ISBN: 978-1579652111
Since the caramel syrup was needed for the cake and icing I set off to make this one first.

Once the sugar gets going its just a waiting game until it reaches the right temperature and color. The main problem I had was that my three thermometers all read different temperature and eventually broke. Which makes working with sugar almost impossible.

But here is a sample of my caramel syrup...

Then I set off to make the cake...which I decided to make cupcakes instead so I could take them to work and give away easier. The cake was relatively simple and I didn't have problems with it.

I had to try one before I got the icing ready.

While the caramel syrup was cooling I made the chewy caramels. Which given my thermometer state was a little tricky. Right before starting them I tried to calibrate all my thermometers to no avail....so in turn my caramels turned out a little harder than I would have liked. They are delicious though!!

Here is my finished cupcake after icing:

A fun and yummy challenge....hopefully I will get a new thermometer for Christmas so I can make more candies!!