Thursday, January 27, 2011

The Distracted Cook thinks she is a Daring Baker

A while back The Distracted Cook found the most interesting site that is all about cooking and baking. It's name is The Daring Kitchen and you can find it here: The Daring Kitchen.  After spending hours reading all over the site The Distracted Cook decided to take up the challenge and become a Daring Baker. Oh my!

This is the very first challenge that The Distracted Cook has answered, and I must say, I am in even more awe than before. The Daring Bakers is a group of excellent bakers with great senses of humor and personal style. You could not imagine the degree of professionalism exhibited by these bakers. I am in fine company and I hereby vow to try my best to keep up. I really do.

The January 2011 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Astheroshe of the blog accro. She chose to challenge everyone to make a Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremets dessert.

You can imagine the dismay of The Distracted Cook when she saw what she was supposed to be baking! These are absolutely beautiful and inspiring desserts - just take a look! Visit accro again and scroll through those lovely examples of what you should be able to do by following the directions provided.

Now take a look at what The Distracted Cook tried to do. Really.


You  can tell from this beginning that I might have some questions. Undaunted, The Distracted Cook forged ahead. And, oh yes, as when I tested my first recipe for Leite's Culinaria which was also a baking escapade, I once again set the oven ON FIRE! Evidently my batters cannot contain themselves and proceed to drip over edges, leak out of bottoms, and generally become totally uncontrollable. But The Distracted Cooks knows what to do in such cases - turn off the smoke detector before she starts to bake! Yep. It works every time.

This was such a fun adventure. I decided to break it up into three days and it is a good thing because by the end of the first step my kitchen looked like it was hurricane season all over again. I am always amazed at how organized and NEAT most cooks are. I don't understand how that works - they must lie awake at night plotting out every move in their neat kitchens. I try really hard, but....

I decided to make a pink and yellow outer layer for my "Biscuit" and that seemed to work fairly well. The first problem that I encountered was this : the half sheet pan would NOT fit into any of my three freezers! Nope, not a chance. I have two side-by-sides so you know what that means. My old chest freezer died a few years ago and I really miss it at times like this. So, I used a smaller pan. That worked. 

I made some other colors to add some kick because I was going to put some of "The Stuff" in the filling. You remember The Stuff don't you? Pineapple and papaya simmered in sugar with some cinnamon for good measure. And it looks really pretty. I made the base and the wrapping and proceeded to cut it and try to fit it into a ring mold. Ha! Or rather HAHAHA! Asthe warned about getting sharp edges and making good matches, but somewhere between reading her advice and doing it The Distracted Cook fell off the turnip wagon. Look at this:



Pretty sad, don't you think? so I went about "fixing it up" for photos. Here is what you could see next:


A bit of improvement, but a long way to go to catch up with the other Daring Bakers! If you came over this afternoon, I would give you a taste. This is what you would get:


 It looks better if you look at what's left and not what I have already started eating!!


Now, don't YOU want to be a Daring Baker too?? You can, you know. Just go sign up. And I will see you here  again on the 27th of February when the next Daring Baker Challenge is revealed. 




4 comments:

  1. Your kitchen is so bright and cheery! That cake is really neat. Love the layers. Thanks for sharing the process.

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  2. Thank you for your comment. That was quite an undertaking and I learned something new. I want to try again, but this time I will know what to expect! You should try some of these Daring challenges - just go to The Daring Kitchen and join us!
    Karen

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  3. loved this post! especially the comment about bakers / cooks who plan every move... YEP! that's not me!
    your final product would have garnered "rave reviews" from my brick mason dad... he would have loved your "patch job" --- kinda of like using cement to create a finished product.
    so - is this similar to a trifle? sort of a spongy cake?

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  4. Hi Christine! I think I love your Dad- maybe he could give us some more tips. It isn't really spongy. Well, at least MINE wasn't spongy. When you first start working with it, it is spongy. After it sits out it gets to be sort of like a brick. Hmmm....masons, bricks? Maybe I need to seek professional relocation efforts.
    Karen

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