Party Time with the Daring Bakers

It's the end of the month, which means it's time for another Daring Baker's challenge, the monthly food blogging event that keeps from completely falling off the face of the blogosphere. This month's host was Morven from Food Art and Random Thoughts. The recipe she chose was the Perfect Party Cake from Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours. This was a great recipe, and probably one of my most successful Daring Bakers Challenges yet. It was not very difficult, and because Morven was kind enough to allow us to play around with flavors and decorating, I was able to just relax and have fun with the baking. And I must admit, the final result was stunning!



With the help of my beloved KitchenAid, I was able to whip the cake up pretty quickly. Dorie's original cake recipe is for a lemon flavored cake with lemon butter cream and coconut. But, since we had a fairly recent lemon-themed DB challenge (and since Psycling won't eat coconut), I decided to go with one of my favorite tried and true flavor combinations: Cherry and Almond. So I replaced the lemon zest and lemon extract with ground almonds and almond extract respectively. Once the batter was whipped up, I divided it between my two cake pans, and was amazed at how white the batter actually was. I could tell it would make a beautiful cake! After the baking, I pulled the cakes out to cool, and it was time to start working on the butter cream.



We were given the option of using a stiff whipped cream for the filling in place of the butter cream. But I've never been one to shy away from rich desserts and decided to go for the butter cream all the way. I'm glad I did :-). Again, I omitted the lemon juice and used almond extract in place of the vanilla. I also made some extra butter cream, just to make sure I'd have enough for some decorative piping when I was done frosting the cake.



It was time to start layering. I used cherry preserves for the cherry part of this cherry almond cake. On top of the preserves, I spread a nice layer of butter cream, then repeated the process with the remaining layers. Then, it was time to frost the cake with the butter cream. I decided to garnish the sides of the cake with sliced almonds in place of the coconut. Psycling doesn't like coconut, and even pregnant, I don't need to eat an entire cake by myself! After the sides were covered with the sliced almonds, I piped some shells along the top edge. The cake was looking good, but it still looked a little naked to me...it needed a little something else to be just right. That's when my dad came to the rescue! He was on his way over to our house anyway to help out with some home repairs (and because I'd promised him some of this cake), so I asked him to pick up a jar a maraschino cherries along the way. When I added the cherries to the top of the cake, it was perfect. It was exactly what it needed!



After working on our nursery for a little while, everyone came upstairs for a slice of cake. It was a hit! The cake had a wonderful almond flavor, the cherry preserves were just right, and the meringue-style butter cream managed to be both light and rich at the same time. There was not a crumb left!! I took the remaining cake to work the next day and it was a big hit with my coworkers. I got a flood of compliments from all over the office, with everyone being impressed by the taste, texture, and presentation of the cake. While I have no doubt that the original lemon cake would have been wonderful as well, I must admit to feeling really good about so successfully putting together this cherry almond flavor combination.



To sum it up, this was an amazing cake that really lived up to it's name. The cake itself is a real crowd pleaser, and the white cake with white butter cream leaves it a blank canvas for any sort of decoration. It truly can fit in with any party!

Below is Dorie's recipe. It's worth making. I've included my modifications in italics, but I have no doubt that making this cake as written would also be delicious!

Perfect Party Cake
Courtesy of Dorie Greenspan’s Baking from My Home to Yours (page 250).

Words from Dorie
Stick a bright-coloured Post-it to this page, so you’ll always know where to turn for a just-right cake for any celebration. The original recipe was given to me by my great dear friend Nick Malgieri, of baking fame, and since getting it, I’ve found endless opportunities to make it – you will too. The cake is snow white, with an elegant tight crumb and an easygoing nature: it always bakes up perfectly; it is delicate on the tongue but sturdy in the kitchen – no fussing when it comes to slicing the layers in half or cutting tall, beautiful wedges for serving; and, it tastes just as you’d want a party cake to taste – special. The base recipe is for a cake flavoured with lemon, layered with a little raspberry jam and filled and frosted with a classic (and so simple) pure white lemony hot-meringue buttercream but, because the elements are so fundamental, they lend themselves to variation (see Playing Around), making the cake not just perfect, but also versatile.

For the Cake

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk (I prefer buttermilk with the lemon)
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (I used 1 Tbs. of ground almonds)
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract (I substituted almond extract)

For the Buttercream
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons) (I omitted the lemon juice)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I used almond extract instead)

For Finishing
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable (I used cherry preserves)
About 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut (I used sliced almonds. I'm not exactly sure of the amount, but enough to cover the side of the cake)

Getting Ready
Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To Make the Cake
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.
Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.
Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.
Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.
Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.
Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.
Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean
Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners.
Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

To Make the Buttercream
Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes.
The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.
Remove the bowl from the heat.
Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.
Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.
Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.
During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.
On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla.
You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

To Assemble the Cake
Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half.
Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.
Spread it with one third of the preserves.
Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream.
Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover).
Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top.
Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.

Serving
The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but I think it’s best to let it sit and set for a couple of hours in a cool room – not the refrigerator. Whether you wait or slice and enjoy it immediately, the cake should be served at room temperature; it loses all its subtlety when it’s cold. Depending on your audience you can serve the cake with just about anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine.

Storing
The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to two days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. If you want to freeze the cake, slide it into the freezer to set, then wrap it really well – it will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer; defrost it, still wrapped overnight in the refrigerator.

Playing Around
Since lemon is such a friendly flavour, feel free to make changes in the preserves: other red preserves – cherry or strawberry – look especially nice, but you can even use plum or blueberry jam.

Fresh Berry Cake
If you will be serving the cake the day it is made, cover each layer of buttercream with fresh berries – use whole raspberries, sliced or halved strawberries or whole blackberries, and match the preserves to the fruit. You can replace the coconut on top of the cake with a crown of berries, or use both coconut and berries. You can also replace the buttercream between the layers with fairly firmly whipped sweetened cream and then either frost the cake with buttercream (the contrast between the lighter whipped cream and the firmer buttercream is nice) or finish it with more whipped cream. If you use whipped cream, you’ll have to store the cake the in the refrigerator – let it sit for about 20 minutes at room temperature before serving.

This cake is definitely worth making. Go give it a shot.

And don't forget to check out the Daring Bakers Blogroll to see how the other DBs interpreted this recipe.

A Real Challenge

It's the end of the month, so that means it's time for another Daring Baker's Challenge. This month, our hostesses were Mary from The Sour Dough and Sara from I Like to Cook. The recipe was Julia Child's French Bread.


This recipe was definitely a challenge for me. I don't bake bread frequently, but this was still quite different than any bread I've made before. That's what made it a challenge...while not technically challenging (though it was time and labor intensive) it was just different. But, with careful reading of the extremely thorough instructions, everything came out wonderfully!


I started out by letting my Kitchen Aid do the mixing for me, but I knew I wanted to the kneading by hand. I'm a learn-by-doing kind of person, and I figured I would get more out of hand-kneading than I would by letting the kitchen aid do it. Just 8-10 minutes of kneading made for quite the transformation in the dough!


Next it was time to let the dough rise. The recipe was very specific about having the right temperature for the dough to rise appropriately. Knowing that we like to keep our house cooler than the 72 -74 degrees specified, I tried the tip suggested in the recipe. A few minutes before the dough needed to rise, I turned the oven on to a low setting for about 45 seconds, then turned it right off. When I put the dough in about five minutes later, I had a warm-but-not-hot place for the dough to rise. It seemed to work well!


I punched the dough down, kneaded it a bit, then back in the warm-but-not-hot oven it went for the second rise. At this point, it was late, so I stuck my dough in the fridge to finish it up the next day.

When I woke up on Sunday, it was time to form the loaves. The recipe gave instructions for forming loves of a variety of sizes and shapes. I decided to make two small round loaves and a batard. Round and "long and skinny" are the two primary shapes for French bread, and have very different methods for shaping. I decided this would give me some experience with both shapes.


I divided the dough into three roughly equal pieces and allowed them to rest for a few minutes to relax the gluten. The recipe explains that since French bread bakes free standing, as opposed to any sort of pan, the dough has to be worked and shaped correctly to develop an outer "gluten cloak" that allows the bread to hold its shape while baking. So, the shaping of the loaves is actually critical in getting a good French Bread. The shaping instructions are quite detailed and lengthy, so rather than repost them, check it out in the recipe at the end of this post. First I shaped the batard followed by the two round loaves. Once the loaves are formed, they are placed on a stiff floured cloth to rise one final time. After the final rise, I transferred them to a baking sheet (another somewhat intricate process), and made the tell-tale slits that make a nice French bread loaf.

Into the oven they went. Another important aspect in baking French bread is steam; it is critical in forming the wonderful crusty outside that is what really makes it French bread. Most home ovens are not equipped for steam so we had to improvise. Right before going in the oven, the loaves were spritzed with a fine mist of water. Then, as soon as they went in, some ice was dropped in a pan of hot water on the bottom of the stove. This created a burst of steam for the oven. Then, every three minutes for the first 12 minutes of baking time, I quickly opened the oven door and spritzed the loaves with water. By the time I opened the oven for the final spritz, it was starting to smell really good!! After about 25 minutes in the oven, out came some nicely browned, very crusty loaves of French bread!!



The loaves came out of the oven around 4:00, giving them the requisite 2 hours of cooling time before dinner. I invited my mom and brother over for a dinner of Black Bean Chili and fresh French bread. The chili was the perfect complement to the bread, and between the four of us, we polished off half the pot of chili and just over 2 loaves of bread.

This is probably not a recipe I will make frequently, mainly due to the time and effort involved. But, given that, the finished product is well worth the effort.

For the recipe, visit Mary's blog post about this challenge. She provides the full thorough, detailed recipe with pictures, something I would have loved to have had in figuring out how to shape my bread.

All in all, this was a great recipe, and I think I learned more during this challenge than I have in any of the other Daring Baker challenges I've done yet. Thanks for a great challenge!

Hot & Spicy

Since I can't seem to find the time and energy to create substantial content for my blog these days, I guess you'll have to do with fluff :-)

I found this little quiz on another foodie blog, and thought it might be fun.

You Are Cayenne Pepper

You are very over the top and a bit overwhelming. You have a fiery personality, and you can give anyone a good jolt. You can easily take things up a couple notches, no matter what crowd you're running with.

What Spice Are You?

Check it out! What spice are you?

Mmmm...Croissants!

Last weekend I made baked stuffed French toast, and I had some filling left over. When pondering what to do with the left-overs, I decided that it would make a great croissant filling. I've been wanting to try my hand at croissants for a while, so this was a great excuse!



A year ago for Christmas, Psycling got me this book. I LOVE it. It is a wonderful source of information on different techniques in pastry making, as well as collection of great recipes. Like most "professional" culinary texts, the recipes are scaled for large scale production, but one thing that I like about this book is that it also provides a "small batch" scale for the recipe. So, when I wanted to make croissants, this was the first place I turned.

If there's one thing I can say about this recipe it's that it's very thorough. It is also very clear that it was written for professionals, kitchens that have things like "proofing boxes" and large working surfaces. But, despite not really having those, I still managed to make this recipe work.

It was a two day process, but the end result was WONDERFUL...nice and flakey with an intense buttery texture and flavor. When you bite into one, you unearth layer after layer of buttery flakiness. Psycling and I found that they made a great afternoon snack, and we definitely couldn't stop at just one! There was only enough filling to make four filled croissants, but they were quite good...just enough filling to add some extra flavor and interest without over-powering the delicate nature of the croissant itself.



I only had one real complaint about this recipe...some of my croissants almost burned. The recipe said to bake at 425 until cooked through or about 25 minutes. When I wennt to check on them at about 20 minutes, they were well past a nice "golden brown" and on their way to black. I know that my oven generally runs pretty true to temperature, so I don't think that was the problem. But fortunately, even though a little dark and crispy, even the burned ones tasted great.

All in all, I really enjoyed making these croissants, and look forward to trying them again sometime. I learned a lot, and while these were quite good, I think I can apply the new lessons and make them even better next time!

Breakfast for Dinner: Stuffed French Toast

I want to apologize in advance for the lack of pictures in this post. I was already done making this by the time I realized that I wanted to blog about it...I guess I should start getting in the habit of taking pictures while I'm cooking on a regular basis.

Last night we had another Tech Chefs dinner. The group is a little smaller now than it was when it was at it's peak last year, and we've changed the format a bit. Someone is in charge of picking a theme, and we are now doing the dinner pot luck style. This month's theme was breakfast for dinner. It was a big hit! We started by toasting the evening with mimosas (don't worry, I had mine with ginger ale instead of champagne), and we made the bacon and sausage. When that was ready, we had our first course: a crab quiche that was AMAZING!! Unfortunately, I didn't make that one, so I don't have a recipe to post, but if I did, I would tell you to forget any dinner plans you might already have and just make this. It was that good!! Next up were the Eggs Benedict. Such a classic hardly needs elaboration! At the end of that course, I was just sopping up the extra hollandaise sauce with an English muffin. With so much butter, you can't go wrong.

Our dessert course was my original Stuffed Baked French Toast. I made 4 different flavors (peach, raspberry, blueberry, and apple), and it seemed like everyone had a different favorite. We pulled the breadmaker out so we could make the French toast with homemade bread. Mmmmmm....I loved having the house smell like fresh bread for 2 days straight!! It made me remember why we used to make homemade bread every week!

Three of the four fillings were cream cheese based. I mixed together softened cream cheese and sugar. If I were making this again (and for less than 8 people), I would use about 8 oz of cream cheese and 3/8 c. of sugar. This is enough to make the cream cheese a little sweeter, but not overly sweet! I divided my cream cheese filling into 3 bowls:

Bowl One: I added just over 1 c. of frozen raspberries, thawed and sprinkled with a little sugar. I mixed it together with a hint of cardamom, some cinnamon, and a sprinkling of nutmeg.

Bowl Two: I added about 1 c. of frozen blueberries, thawed and sprinkled with a little sugar. I mixed it together with about a 3:1 ratio of cinnamon:nutmeg. But I was eyeballing it, so don't quote me on it :-)

Bowl 3: I added about 1 c. of chopped peaches (canned), and sprinkled in some cinnamon, nutmeg, and a hint of ginger.

For the fourth filling I made an apple compote. I diced up an apple (peeled and cored) and sauteed it in about 2 Tbs. of butter, and added 2-3 Tbs. of regular sugar and 2-3 Tbs. brown sugar. I cooked it over medium heat until it was reduced quite a bit and thickened to a nice apple-pie-filling texture. Nice and sweet and sticky and gooey!

Now that you have your bread and filling, you can assemble your French toast. First, generously grease a 9 x 13 baking dish (or two depending on how big your bread is). Thickly slice your loaf of bread (about 1" - 1 1/4" thick). Using a serrated knife, cut a slit in the top of each slice of bread. The slit should be about 1 1/2" deep, or deeper. The bigger the pocket you make, the more filling you can fit in it :-). Spoon your filling into the pocket of your bread, and place it in the baking dish. Repeat for remaining bread slices.

Next, mix up the custard mixture. I used whole milks and eggs in a ratio of about 1 cup of milk to about 3 eggs. For a full 9 x 13 tray, you will probably need about 2 c. of milk and 6 eggs. Add a little bit of vanilla and couple of teaspoons of sugar and whisk until sugar is dissolved. Pour custard over bread slices, and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Flip slices over, and place in refrigerator for another 15-20 minutes, or until bread soaks up all the custard.

Once bread soaks up the liquid, sprinkle with a little bit of sugar (I like to use turbinado sugar for a nice little crunch), and bake at 400 F for about 25 minutes, or until cooked through. I served this with a choice of powdered sugar or maple syrup, though the French toast is sweet enough on it's own that very little of either is needed. Those who aren't pregnant enjoyed this breakfast dessert with some decaf spiked with a little Bailey's Irish cream liquor. It was a rich, filling, yummy end to a wonderful Breakfast-For-Dinner.

A few notes: If I make this again, I will choose only 1 kind of filling, as I have a fair amount of each kind left over (stay tuned for how those left overs will be used up...I have a fun idea!!). Also, this recipe could be simplified by using regular store bought sliced bread. Rather than cutting a slit in the slices, you can "sandwich" the filling a little bit by placing some of the filling on one slice, and then topping it with another. You can then treat the sandwiches just as you would the thick cut slices mentioned above. If you do make your own bread, I discovered by accident that if you use slightly less yeast than called for in the recipe (by about 1/4 tsp.), you get a denser loaf that is easier to slice pockets into. The one loaf I made that had the right amount of yeast tasted great, but since it was a lighter airier bread, it was more difficult to slice good pockets. And finally, the first time I experimented with this recipe, I used a loaf of challah bread, thickly sliced, and it made for WONDERFUL French toast!

If you are looking for a wonderful, over-indulgent breakfast, this is it!

When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Pie!

Another month has come and gone, which means it's time for another Daring Baker's Challenge. This month's challenge was hosted by Jen at The Canadian Baker (who gets big points for picking a recipe that required only ingredients that I already had on hand). This month's recipe was Lemon Meringue Pie from Wanda's Pie in the Sky.

I LOVE baking pies, but I've never made lemon meringue before, so I was really excited about this month's challenge. I started with the crust, which was different from my standard pie crust. It was almost more of a shortbread crust (meaning LOTS of butter). I am a pie crust purist and like to make my pie crusts by hand, so that's how I did this one.

I started with the raw ingredients:


After mixing together the dry ingredients, I added the cold, chilled butter. Then it was time to cut the dough, until it resembled a coarse meal. A few minutes with my pastry cutter, and a transformation occurred!


After adding the water, I chilled the dough before rolling it out. After a few minutes in the oven, I had a nice pre-baked crust cooling as I made the filling:


Next up, the wonderful lemony filling!


I was a little nervous about it. I was worried that it wouldn't quite thicken up enough and I'd end up with a runny pie. However, it thickened up quite nicely, just like the recipe said it would.


I then filled my prebaked crust and allowed it to cool while I went outside to play in the snow with Thea! It was a nice baking interlude!

Finally, it was time to make the meringue. I took these ingredients:


...and let my KitchenAid whip them up like crazy!

Once done, I piped the meringue onto my pie and stuck it in the oven. The result was a perfectly browned Lemon Meringue Pie!


I took the pie to dinner at my dad's house, and served it over a blueberry sauce, and it was a big hit! The pie had a very lemony taste without being overly tart, and it was perfectly complemented by the light sweetness of the meringue. The blueberry sauce was a great addition, and provided a great visual contrast to the bright lemon filling.


And now, the recipe:
Lemon Meringue Pie
Makes one 10-inch (25 cm) pie

For the Crust:
¾ cup (180 mL) cold butter; cut into ½-inch (1.2 cm) pieces
2 cups (475 mL) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (60 mL) granulated sugar
¼ tsp (1.2 mL) salt
⅓ cup (80 mL) ice water

For the Filling:
2 cups (475 mL) water
1 cup (240 mL) granulated sugar
½ cup (120 mL) cornstarch
5 egg yolks, beaten
¼ cup (60 mL) butter
¾ cup (180 mL) fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp (15 mL) lemon zest
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract

For the Meringue:
5 egg whites, room temperature
½ tsp (2.5 mL) cream of tartar
¼ tsp (1.2 mL) salt
½ tsp (2.5 mL) vanilla extract
¾ cup (180 mL) granulated sugar

For the Crust: Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible. Using a food processor or pastry cutter and a large bowl, combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt. Process or cut in until the mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together. Sprinkle with water, let rest 30 seconds and then either process very briefly or cut in with about 15 strokes of the pastry cutter, just until the dough begins to stick together and come away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes.

Allow the dough to warm slightly to room temperature if it is too hard to roll. On a lightly floured board (or countertop) roll the disk to a thickness of ⅛ inch (.3 cm). Cut a circle about 2 inches (5 cm) larger than the pie plate and transfer the pastry into the plate by folding it in half or by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Turn the pastry under, leaving an edge that hangs over the plate about ½ inch (1.2 cm). Flute decoratively. Chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the crust with foil and fill with metal pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before filling.


For the Filling: Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and let rest 5 minutes. Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together. Add the mixture gradually to the hot water, whisking until completely incorporated.

Return to the heat and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. The mixture will be very thick. Add about 1 cup (240 mL) of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolks, whisking until smooth. Whisking vigorously, add the warmed yolks to the pot and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until incorporated. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla, stirring until combined. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the surface, and cool to room temperature.


For the Meringue: Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, salt and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually, beating until it forms stiff, glossy peaks. Pile onto the cooled pie, bringing the meringue all the way over to the edge of the crust to seal it completely. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a rack. Serve within 6 hours to avoid a soggy crust.

Be sure to check out the Daring Bakers Blogroll to see how the other daring bakers conquered this challenge.

Breaking Radio Silence

This will be short and sweet, but after being such a bad blogger for so long, I feel I owe you an explanation. You see, it has been a very exciting time in the Whisks and Needles home. On the day before Thanksgiving, Psycling and I received wonderful news: we're going to be parents! The little one is due on August 2. So, this means for the past couple of months I have been battling the nausea and exhaustion that come with the first trimester of pregnancy. As a result, I haven't had the energy to do much but sleep...which means too tired to cook and too tired to knit. Unfortunately no cooking and no knitting (and no energy) means no blogging. And the nausea has meant that I wouldn't really be able to eat anything that I might cook anyway...for a while I was living on grilled cheese, cereal, bagels and cream cheese, and mac and cheese (notice a theme here?).

I'm now about 12 weeks along, and fortunately, the nausea has tapered off and I'm slowly getting my energy back. Not only am I writing a blog post, but I might even find the energy to knit when I'm done (this a pretty huge given my zombie-ness recently).

I hope that as my energy comes back, I will be able to do some more experimenting in the kitchen, get some more projects going on the needles (maybe from the Baby Knits book Psycling got me for Christmas), and generally maybe be a normal person again. I'll do my best to stick to the basics here, and not turn this into a blog about pregnancy and impending mommy-hood. But with such big changes going on, I imagine some of them will find their way into this blog.

Stay tuned...more on the way eventually!