Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween

from the Whimsical Bakery ~

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Cookie Carnival ~ Chocolate Citrus Biscotti

October's Cookie Carnival recipe comes from the food network ~ Chocolate Citrus Biscotti

Chocolate Citrus Biscotti

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Prep Time:

15 min

Inactive Prep Time:

10 min

Cook Time:

1 hr 10 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

3 dozen

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup fine yellow cornmeal
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1 3/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Stir the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar in another large bowl until pale yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the orange and lemon zests to the dry ingredients. Add the flour mixture to the eggs and sugar and beat just until blended (the dough will be soft and sticky). Let stand for 5 minutes.

Using a rubber spatula, transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet, forming two mounds spaced evenly apart. Moisten your hands with water and shape the dough into two 11 by 4-inch logs. Bake until lightly brown, about 35 minutes. Cool the logs for 5 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut the logs crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick diagonal slices. Arrange the biscotti cut side down on the same baking sheet. Bake until the biscotti are pale and golden, about 25 minutes. Cool the biscotti on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Using a metal spatula, transfer the biscotti to a rack and cool completely.

Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave, stirring every 20 seconds, about 1 1/2 minutes total. Dip 1 cut side of each biscotti into the melted chocolate. Gently shake off the excess chocolate. Place the biscotti, chocolate side up, on the baking sheet. Refrigerate until the chocolate is firm, about 35 minutes. Dip a pastry brush in the cocoa, then lightly brush the cocoa over the chocolate on each biscotti.

The biscotti can be made ahead. Store them in an airtight container up to 4 days, or wrap them in foil and freeze in resealable plastic bags up to 3 weeks.

Daring Bakers ~ French Macaroon

The October Daring Baker's challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macaroons from Claudia Fleming's The Last Course: the Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

More than a few have suggested that French-style macaroons (called macarons in France) might supplant the cupcake. This may or may not come to pass, but the basic premise of the French macaroon is pretty damned tasty.

In North America, the term “macaroon” generally refers to a cookie made primarily of coconut. But European macaroons are based on either ground almonds or almond paste, combined with sugar and egg whites. The texture can run from chewy, crunchy or a combination of the two. Frequently, two macaroons are sandwiched together with ganache, buttercream or jam, which can cause the cookies to become more chewy. The flavor possibilities and combinations are nigh endless, allowing infinitely customizable permutations.

Preparation time: Not taking into account the amount of time it takes for you to bring your egg whites to room temperature, the whole baking process, including making the batter, piping and baking will probably take you about an hour to an hour and a half. How long it takes to make your filling is dependent on what you choose to make.

Actual baking time: 12 minutes total, plus a few minutes to get your oven from 200°F to 375°F.

Equipment required:
• Electric mixer, preferably a stand mixer with a whisk attachment
• Rubber spatula
• Baking sheets
• Parchment paper or nonstick liners
• Pastry bag (can be disposable)
• Plain half-inch pastry bag tip
• Sifter or sieve
• If you don’t have a pastry bag and/or tips, you can use a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off
• Oven
• Cooling rack
• Thin-bladed spatula for removing the macaroons from the baking sheets
• Food processor or nut grinder, if grinding your own nuts (ouch!)

Ingredients
Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)
Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.)
Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.)
Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.
2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.
4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.
5. Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).
6. Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.
7. Cool on a rack before filling.

Yield: 10 dozen. Ami's note: My yield was much smaller than this. I produced about two dozen filled macaroons.

Fall Wedding

green,black_three_tier
Originally uploaded by whimsicalbakery

Perfect for a fall wedding at the Bellamere Winery, this three tier cake featured a top tier of pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese buttercream, middle tier of old fashion chocolate with chocolate buttercream and a first tier of traditional carrot cake filled with cream cheese buttercream.

Baby Shower Trio

baby_shower_trio
Originally uploaded by whimsicalbakery

Cupcakes of old fashion chocolate with vanilla buttercream frosting along with classic vanilla with a strawberry buttercream frosting, completed with sugar toppers of teddy bears, daisy flower, and "it's a girl" messages.

The perfect addition to the dessert table at this baby shower.