{BwJ} Alsatian Onion Tart

I know I haven’t been with the group much, the Baking with Julia group, but somehow life got crazy and I wasn’t baking as much. And then I actually did make this tart and then forgot to post it. So better late than never!

I made just one small tart. Just for me. I ate it. It was WONDERFUL! Is there anything better than caramelized onions? Why, yes, there is. Caramelized onions with bacon!!

This was super simple. A small disk of puff pastry covered in “melted” onions mixed with cream and bacon. Done!!

You can see the rest of the tarts by clicking over to Baking With Julia. And you should try this. Really!!

Recipe is on page page 426 of Baking with Julia and was contributed by Michel Richard.

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{BwJ} Mocha Brownie CAKE!

Somehow when the words BROWNIE and CAKE are used in the same sentence it is enough to make one’s heart beat fast and entice one to make a recipe more than just one or the other. After sitting down and calming one’s heart!! And while I really wanted to make the whole cake I knew we didn’t need it, so I made 1/2 in a 5″ springform pan.

Now, picture a moist, fudgy cake layered and topped with dark chocolate ganache.

PERFECTION!! I only made one change in the recipe, contributed by Marcel Desaulniers, I used DARK chocolate (63%cacoa) rather than the semisweet chocolate called for. I think I liked it better! AND — it’s healthier!!!! {YEAH, RIGHT!!} Oh, and did I mention it has COFFEE in the filling? It is a subtle flavor enhancing the chocolate. Cannot beat that!!

You can find the recipe in Dorie’s Baking with Julia on page 282.

Check with the other DORISTAS for their chocolate goodness.

 

{BwJ} Tea Time with SCONES

I make a lot of scones. Some I post about (20 anyway). Some I don’t. I have to tell you, these are definitely in my top two recipes. Thank you, Marion Cunningham! I made the whole batch because I had been invited to a friend’s house for tea. She is from Scotland so she is my taste tester when it comes to scones. She agreed, these were very, very good ones.

They rose beautifully due to the Buttermilk AND baking powder AND baking soda! They were sweet but only a little. They were delicious with just some Irish butter or with jam and butter. I was wishing I had some clotted cream, but…alas…it is all gone.

I went to her house with 12 scones. I came home with 4 and just barely had a chance to photograph them before they disappeared. Guess I will just have to make more!! Twist my arm!!!!

I did make a couple of changes – minor. I didn’t have any zest so I left it out. I made the dough in the food processor. I also patted the dough out into circles and used sugar instead of flour on the board, so both sides got sugared. They turned out just fine.

The recipe is on page 210 of Dorie Greenspan’s Baking with Julia but you can also find it on line – Buttermilk Scones

This was our ‘assignment’ this week for the Baking with Julia group so drop on the other BAKERS and share their scones.

 

{BwJ} Chocolate-Mascarpone Cheesecake

I know I have said it before. Cheesecake is my favorite dessert. Ever! The creamy concoction of cream cheese, flour, eggs with various and sundry other ingredients depending on whose recipe you use. I have my faves – Junior’s is always good. AB has a good one. And I have one I found EONS ago that has become my go to. Dorie’s is also good. I haven’t found a cheesecake yet I don’t care for. This weeks Tuesday with Dorie/Baking With Julia recipe was a cheesecake with an ingredient I have not used before – Mascarpone Cheese. It is not something I buy very often. Not unless I have a recipe that actually calls for it. I had a potato recipe that called for 2TBL so when I bought it I knew eventually I would use the rest. So thank you BwJ for this weeks cheesecake.

I usually make 1/2 or 1/4 of baking recipes these days because with just the two of us we don’t need a lot of sweets. But we were going to friend’s for dinner so I made the full recipe. Instead of one cake I made 12 bite-sized and a 4″. Perfect!

While good, it wasn’t my fave. And it rose so much it just about overflowed all my pans.

You can see it cracked. A lot! So no party for this cake.

The recipe called for all the chocolate to completely mixed into the batter until no white showed, but I like a swirled cheesecake so I only mixed it some. It didn’t affect the taste, just how it looked.

I don’t think I will make this one again. But visit with the other Doristas and see how they liked it.

The recipe is on page 256 of Dorie’s Baking with Julia and was contributed to the book by David Ogonowski

 

{BwJ} Kinda Bialys…

Let’s just call these…….Bialy Towers.
See the small picture behind them? They are SUPPOSED to look like those!!

They tasted like Bialys. There was a nice subtle onion flavor IN the bread. Unfortunately the similarities end there. They rose, and rose, and rose in the oven even though I depressed them and pricked them – more than once.

The onions fell off, after they burned, but the bread was delicious.

Once the sponge is made and risen, sautéed onions {I couldn’t find my Poppy Seeds even tho I KNOW I have some!!} are added into the mix just before the flour is added to make a nice soft dough. With just the right amount of crispy crust.

I KNOW the other Bialys baked around the world for today’s Baking with Julia came out beautifully. So go check them out.

The rceipe was contributed by Lauren Groveman and is on page 90 of Baking with Julia in Dorie Greenspans compilation of the recipes from Julia’s television series.

 

{BWJ} country bread

I don’t make all of the ‘assignments’ for Baking with Julia. I tend to bake the items I haven’t made before (Thanks to TWD) or something I use a lot of. We use a lot of bread. Sandwiches every day for B. Or I make rolls from the recipe. This time the choice was bread and we always can use THAT!!

Country Bread

.The use of a sponge adds to the depth of the flavor and adds a little tartness since it sits 6 – 8 hours and bubbles softly. Rye flour, AP flour, whole wheat flour add lots of flavor and texture to the bread. AND I got to use my Banneton which is a plus. Most of the bread I make is loaf style so making a nice round bread is a treat.

This isn’t a quick bread to make. Two rises – up to 3.5 hours in addition to the 6 – 8 hour sponge. I left mine to rise and got delayed in my errands so it rose, eh…maybe a little too much?

Which means it collapsed when I put it on the peel. But it rose some in the oven, so it turned out okay.

I love a bread with lots of texture and this one was spot on. It has a lot of ‘chew’ in the crust. It will be great for sandwiches, or maybe just toasted.

This bread was contributed by Joe Ortiz, The Village Baker, and is on pages 136/137 of Dorie Greenspan’s Baking with Julia

If you click on over to Baking With Julia – you can read about everybody’s Country Bread.

 

{BwJ} Madeleines

In May of last year I was just finishing up catching up with all the TWD recipes I missed. Three of them were Madeleines. I had not made them before because I did not have the pan. Now I am always looking for reasons to make them just so I can use my single-purpose pan!! How perfect is it that this week’s Baking With Julia pick is Madeleines

I Love the shape of these little cakes/cookies. These are made with a Génoise batter which was new to me. Others I have made were more of a cake batter.

These were rather plain so I decided to dress them up a smidge. I dipped some in chocolate

And some I sprinkled with Cinnamon Sugar

AS much as I like love chocolate I liked the cinnamon sugar ones better.

And while I tried to like these madeleines they aren’t my favorites. They seemed dry and awfully dense. Ah, well.

The batter (page 41) and the madeleines (page 334) were contributed to Baking with Julia by Flo Braker. Hosting this week are Katie and Amy Thisdell of CounterDog and you can find the recipe on her blog.And stop by and visit the bakers of Baking with Julia for their Madeleines, too.

 

{BwJ} Rustic Potato Loaf

The fragrance of fresh bread wafting through the house is one of the most comforting things ever! That means that baking bread is always a plus since you have something tasty to enjoy and a comforting feeling as well. And so it was this morning as I was making Leslie Mackie’s Rustic Potato Loaf (supposed to be Loaves but I only made one)

Mackie’s loaf is beautifully rustic. By baking this bread with the seam up rather than down you get the nice rough top, or as she put it, “…with a jagged, flour-encrusted crease…”. Love it!!

The loaf is made with mashed russet potatoes, complete with skins, and AP flour with a little EVOO and potato water thrown in for good measure. You end up with a nice crusty bread perfect with a little dipping oil. And little pieces of skin showing up through the bread.

You can find the recipe for these lovely loaves on Dawn’s Site – Simply Sweet. Or, if you want to join the Baking With Julia fun the loaves are on page 138 of Child’s Baking with Julia

And please stop by and visit the other Members of Baking with Julia and see their gorgeous breads.

 

{BwJ} Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies. I am always on a quest to find just the right recipe. And I have tried one or two or three. There was even a cookie with Espresso in it but I didn’t make those. Now that I am So Much More Sophistocated (Yeah, Right!) I have learned to use Espresso and like it. Especially in these!!

Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies

Using Cadbury’s Dark Chocolate and regular Semi-Sweet chips I added just one 1 Tbl to half the recipe and ended up with 3 dozen cookies. I wish I had added just a tad more espresso. The chocolate seemed to drown out the taste and one was left with just a hint of a coffee aftertaste. But for me, that was okay because I really don’t care for coffee much. I made them more for the Hubs. I would make these again, however.

Peggy of Galettistais this week’s host and the recipe will be on her page.

And please visit the other members of Baking with Julia for their cookies. Maybe they will share!

 

{BwJ} Croissants

I started baking, real baking, 4 1/2 years ago when I joined Tuesdays with Dorie. In all that time I have made lots of different things. Lots! But I have never made…

…Croissants

Nope! Never. Which is why I was excited to see this week’s pick for Baking with Julia. Now I am wondering why it took me so long. While they did take two days of prep and baking they were well, well worth it. They were flakey, buttery, crispy, soft. The dough called for compressed or fresh yeast but I didn’t have any so I used regular KAF yeast. I had no trouble with it rising well. Mixed with the dough is a HUGE oval of butter (1 lb 2 oz) which is why the croissant was SOOOO buttery!!! And delicious. Contributed by Esther McManus, {page 53} it was a nice dough to work with.

I used only 1/2 of the total recipe and then used only 1/2 of the dough made. With the 1/4 of the total recipe I ended up with 9 croissants. They weren’t big but they were perfect for breakfast. No fillings, no butter, no jam needed.

It does take some practice to get the croissants shaped. Not all of mine came out in the regular cressant shape

but that is okay.

They all tasted the same.

The instructions for making the flakey delights is on page 185. On the following pages are instructions for Almond Croissants, Pate Croissants and Chocolate. Two of those are in my real near future since I still have dough in the fridge.

This weeks hostess was Amanda of Girl+Food=Love. So the recipe is on her page and so are some absolutely incredible looking croissants.

The other BwJ member’s croissants are on the Baking with Julia website.

And if you want to join in all you need is the book, Baking with Julia. We’d love to have you!