Daring Bakers: Homemade Graham Crackers And Nanaimo Bars

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and http://www.nanaimo.ca/.

Lauren wanted us to make Nanaimo bars because they are actually from a city in Canada (called Nanaimo), and this is the perfect time to feature a Canadian dessert since the 2010 Winter Olympics are starting in Vancouver very soon!

What can I say? This was another great Daring Bakers' challenge. Lauren gave us the option of making the graham wafers (or graham crackers) gluten free or with flour. I originally planned to make them gluten free, but ultimately I used flour just to save myself a trip to the grocery store. Yes, I know. It was slightly lazy of me. But can you really call someone who spends the time to make graham crackers from scratch lazy?

Homemade Graham Crackers (adapted from 101 Cookbooks)

Ingredients

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen
1/3 cup mild-flavored honey, such as clover
5 tablespoons whole milk
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract (I would cut this way back if I made these again. Just a teaspoon would be plenty.)

Preparation

Combine flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt in food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse to incorporate. Add the butter, and pulse until the mixture is the consistency of coarse meal.

In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, milk, and vanilla extract. Add to the flour mixture, and pulse a few times until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, and pat the dough into a rectangle about 1 inch thick.

Divide the rectangle in half using a bench scraper or knife, and wrap each half in plastic and chill until firm, about 2 hours or overnight.

Take out one package of dough and roll the dough into a long rectangle about 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured countertop. The dough will be sticky, so flour as necessary. Cut dough into whatever size crackers you'd like. Gather any scraps together, and set aside.

Place the crackers on one or two parchment-lined baking sheets, and, if desired, sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar (3 tablespoons of sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon). Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes. Repeat with the second batch of dough.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Gather the scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and reroll. Dust the surface with more flour, and roll out the dough to get about two or three more crackers. (You can also freeze the leftover dough if you're all crackered out by this point.)

If desired, mark a vertical line down the middle of each cracker, being careful not to cut through the dough. Using a toothpick or skewer, prick the dough to form two dotted rows about 1/2 inch for each side of the dividing line.

Bake each sheet of crackers in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating the sheets halfway through to ensure even baking.

I thought these had a much better texture than store-bought graham crackers. They were crunchy but also slightly chewy. I also think they look much more appetizing. What do you think?

It made me a little sad to know I had to crush up my newly made graham crackers, but the Nanaimo bars came out so good that I didn't miss the grahams all that much in the end!

Below is the recipe Lauren provided with a few modifications I made to simplify the process (such as skipping the double boiler). I also opted to toast the almonds and coconut, which you don't have to do, but I prefer the stronger, nuttier flavor that comes with the toasting, not to mention the added crunch.

Nanaimo Bars

Ingredients

Bottom Layer
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 large egg, beaten
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (from homemade graham crackers)
1/2 cup almonds (toasted and finely chopped)
1 cup shredded coconut (toasted)

Middle Layer
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons vanilla pudding mix (or vanilla custard powder, if you can find it)
2 cups confectioners' sugar

Top Layer
4 ounces semisweet chocolate
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions

Bottom Layer: Melt unsalted butter, sugar, and cocoa in a small pot over low heat. Add egg, and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, nuts, and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8- by 8-inch pan.

Middle Layer: In bowl of electric stand mixer, cream butter, heavy cream, pudding mix, and confectioners' sugar together. Continue beating until light in color. Spread over bottom layer.

Top Layer: Melt chocolate and unsalted butter in microwave. Cool, pour over middle layer, and chill.

It's best to take the bars out of the fridge about 15 minutes before you plan to cut them, otherwise they will be too hard to cut and the top chocolate layer will shatter.

Note: You can freeze the bars... and you may want to so you don't eat them all in one sitting. Another option is to bring them to the office and share them with coworkers.

I loved these! The bottom layer is rich and crunchy. The middle is supposed to be a custard, but mine came out more like frosting -- no complaints there. And who doesn't love a nice layer of chocolate to top the whole thing off? If you're planning to watch the 2010 Olympics, you might want to make these to snack on during the Opening Ceremonies!

Thank you, Lauren!

Daring Bakers: Cannoli

I think I got more excited about this challenge than any others I've done so far with the Daring Bakers! The macarons were frustrating and the puff pastry was fun, but cannoli are one of my favorite desserts, I don't have them very often, and I've never made them before. I couldn't wait to give it a try and see if mine could come anywhere close to ones from the wildly popular Mike's Pastry or Modern Pastry in Boston's North End.

To be honest, I never even thought about making my own cannoli. I've always envisioned making a cake with cannoli filling but never the actual shells. I just figured that making cannoli shells was something that only happened at Italian bakeries.

The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.

I'm so glad Lisa Michele chose cannoli for this challenge. It pushed me to make something I might not have otherwise.

We were required to make the shells but could do whatever we wanted for the filling. I chose to make mini cannoli (how shocking that I might make something mini) filled with chocolate mousse, white chocolate cinnamon mousse, and regular cannoli filling.


I ordered mini cannoli forms and regular-size forms, but I never even opened the regular ones. The minis were just too adorable, and there wasn't so much dough that I felt overwhelmed by using it all to make minis, which I thought might happen. I'm sure I'll find a use for the regular-size forms eventually. I found four forms to be the perfect number: You can have two ready to go while you work with the other two in the oil.


There's nothing really tricky or unusual about making cannoli if you've worked with dough and you're comfortable with frying. To make sure they would work out okay, I fried one batch of dough one night and fried the rest the following night. The unfilled shells held up perfectly overnight. I stored them in a Ziploc bag with a paper towel to collect any remaining oil.

You can find the recipe below, or if you want a more complete version with total cooking time and necessary equipment, head to the Daring Kitchen.

Lidisiano's Cannoli Shells

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon unsweetened baking cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon white vinegar
Approximately 1/2 cup Riesling (or Marsala or other sweet red or white wine)
1 large egg white
Vegetable oil for frying

Preparation

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer or food processor, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the oil, vinegar, and enough of the wine to make a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and well blended, about 2 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge from 2 hours to overnight (I left mine for two days).


Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Starting at the middle setting, run one of the pieces of dough through the rollers of a pasta machine.


Lightly dust the dough with flour as needed to keep it from sticking. Pass the dough through the machine repeatedly, until you reach the highest or second highest setting. The dough should be about 4 inches wide and thin enough to see your hand through.


Continue rolling out the remaining dough. If you do not have enough cannoli tubes for all of the dough, lay the pieces of dough on sheets of plastic wrap and keep them covered until you are ready to use them. Cut out 1.5-inch circles. Roll the cut out circles into ovals.


Oil the outside of the cannoli tubes for the first use. Roll a dough oval from the long side around each tube/form and dab a little egg white on the dough where the edges overlap. (Avoid getting egg white on the tube, or the pastry will stick to it.) Press well to seal. Set aside to let the egg white seal dry a little.


In a deep heavy saucepan, pour enough oil to reach a depth of 1 to 1.5 inches. Heat until a small piece of the dough or bread cube placed in the oil sizzles and browns in 1 minute. Have ready a tray or sheet pan lined with paper towels or paper bags.


Carefully lower two of the cannoli tubes into the hot oil. Do not crowd the pan. Fry the shells until golden, about 2 minutes, turning them so that they brown evenly.


Using tongs, lift each cannoli tube out of the oil, making sure to drain the oil out of the tube back into the pan. Place the tube on paper towels or bags to drain. While they are still hot, grasp the tubes with a potholder and pull the cannoli shells off the tubes with a pair of tongs, or with your hand protected by an oven mitt or towel. Repeat with the remaining tubes. Let the shells cool completely on the paper towels. Place shells on cooling rack until ready to fill.


Repeat making and frying the shells with the remaining dough. If you are reusing the cannoli tubes, toss them in the freezer for a couple minutes to cool between uses.


Cannoli Filling

Ingredients

32 ounces ricotta cheese, drained
1 2/3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons grated orange zest

Preparation

Line a strainer with cheesecloth. Place the ricotta in the strainer over a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Weight it down with a heavy can, and let the ricotta drain in the refrigerator for several hours to overnight.

In a bowl with electric mixer, beat ricotta until smooth and creamy. Beat in confectioners' sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla, and blend until smooth. Transfer to another bowl, and stir in zest. Chill until firm. (The filling can be made up to 24 hours prior to filling the shells. Just cover and keep refrigerated.)

The chocolate mousse I used is from Cook's Illustrated, and the white chocolate cinnamon mousse is from Lindt Chocolate Passion.

When my friends came over, we started by dipping some of the cannoli in melted chocolate and then put them in the fridge to harden.



Then I supplied them with piping bags filled with the various fillings, chopped pistachios, chopped walnuts, and mini chocolate chips. We all went to town filling and decorating the mini cannoli.



We had so much fun creating different combinations of fillings and toppings. And we had even more fun eating the mini cannoli, which were more delicious than I imagined possible. The shells came out with just the right amount of crunch, and for the first time I noticed the levels of flavor in the dough from the wine, cinnamon, and cocoa powder.

I would definitely make these again!

Daring Bakers: Macarons

You win some, and you lose some. I lost this one.

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

I was really hoping I'd be able to master this challenge. I'm absolutely fascincated by macarons (which are made with almond flour and are not to be confused with macaroons, which are those coconut cookies). They come in so many different colors and flavors. I figured the possibilites were endless, and I'd be able to make something really spectacular for this challenge.

Then I learned that the color and flavor has to be added in powder form because the macarons cannot contain too much moisture. I did a little research and kept up with the Daring Bakers' forum discussion to try to figure out how I could add color and flavor to my macarons.

It seems that I shouldn't even have bothered, considering that I couldn't get the plain almond-flavored macarons to come out right. In addition to trying to make the plain macarons, the other flavors I attempted were pistachio with a pistachio white chocolate ganache, pumpkin spice latte (which should have had a cinnamon whipped cream filling), and cinnamon mocha (meant to have a chocolate ganache filling). I didn't even make the fillings for the last two flavors because the cookies came out looking like flat wafers.




The plain macarons tasted great, and I filled them with chocolate ganache, but they never grew feet. And macarons are supposed to have feet. Compare my pictures to those of the Daring Bakers who had success with this challenge, and you'll immediately see what I'm talking about. (Oh, and in case you're wondering, I did make mini macarons, just like I make mini everything else. These were a little smaller than a penny.)


The pistachio ones, which I flavored with pistachio pudding powder were pretty tasty as well but a bit on the soft side.

While this challenge didn't go so well, I plan to try out some other macaron recipes in the future to see if I can find a recipe and system that works for me.

I made Francois Payard's chocolate macarons a while ago and loved them, but this was before I knew that macarons were supposed to have feet. Now I realize those didn't come out right either.

So how about you... have you made macarons? Were you successful?

If you want to see my most successful Daring Bakers' Challenge, check out last month's!

Whipped Creams, Ganache, And Fruit

The dessert fillings for my vols-au-vent were just heavenly. Even if you're not planning to make the vols-au-vent or don't even want to do anything with puff pastry, you could still incorporate these fillings and toppings into other desserts, so check them out!


Homemade Whipped Cream

The whipped cream that I use as my go-to whipped cream is actually called chantilly cream. I never measure out my ingredients when I make it. I just pour some heavy whipping cream in my KitchenAid, whip it up a little, add a few spoonfuls of confectioner's sugar and a teaspoon or so of vanilla, and then continue whipping until it's the right consistency for dolloping on a plate or on top of some fruit (between medium and stiff peaks). And of course I taste as I go to see if it's sweet enough.


Caramel Whipped Cream

Around this time last year, I made a birthday cake for my boyfriend with caramel whipped cream. I looked up that cake recipe in The Modern Baker, so I could make another attempt at the caramel whipped cream, which didn't taste too "caramelly" the first time I made it. I thought it would be delicious on top of the vols-au-vent with caramelized apples or warm bananas, as long as I had better luck with the caramelizing this time around.

Combine 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon of water in a heavy saucepan and stir well to mix. Using medium heat, cook undisturbed until the sugar begins to melt and caramelize -- you'll see a few wisps of smoke coming out of the sugar. Reduce the heat to low and stir occasionally so that the sugar melts and caramelizes evenly.

Meanwhile pour 1/4 cup of heavy cream in a second small saucepan and heat gently.

Remove the caramel from the heat when it is still very pale (the sugar will continue to darken off the heat).

As soon as the cream has some bubbles around the edge, add it to the caramel at arm's length, averting your face -- the caramel will boil up and may splatter out of the pan.

Pour the diluted caramel into a medium bowl and cool it to room temperature.

Whip 1 1/4 cups heavy cream and 1 teaspoon vanilla in electric mixer. Add the cooled caramel and continue whipping until medium peaks form. Chill until ready to use.

Verdict: Still a little weak on the caramel taste. I might double the amount of caramel next time.


Caramelized Apples

For these I just peeled and chopped up some apples, threw them in a pan with some butter and cinnamon, and sauteed them until they were soft. They're best served warm.


Warm Bananas

A while ago I mentioned that I love Francois Payard's chocolate granola recipe from Chocolate Epiphany. Technically, the granola is supposed to be served over these warm bananas topped with yogurt. I don't have that much time in the morning, so I usually just toss the granola in some yogurt. But I had a thought that the bananas might be a perfect addition to the vols-au-vent.

Saute 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and 3 tablespoons of butter. Add 2 peeled and sliced bananas and cook just until bananas are warm. I think these bananas over Nutella-filled vols-au-vent were everyone's favorite.


Chocolate Ganache

Ganache is one of the easiest things to make. I made this the night of the party and left it out on the counter so it would thicken a little but not too much. It's basically a mixture of heavy cream and chocolate, and you can dress it up a bit with different flavorings. I just used vanilla extract.

Bring 3/4 cup heavy cream to a boil. Remove from heat and add 8 ounces of chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli bittersweet), and 1 to 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Stir until smooth.

Use right after it cools slightly if you want it pourable. Leave on counter to thicken more for other uses -- frosting, filling, etc.

To go with everything above, I also served raspberries, chopped strawberries, kiwi, and mangoes. And I set out a shaker of basil sugar -- simply divine with the strawberries and whipped cream.

Sometimes the simplest things can be combined to make the most spectacular dishes. What sounds like the best filling or combinations of fillings to you?

Caramelized Onions And Roasted Veggies

As promised, here's a little more detail about some of the fillings I made for the vols-au-vent. My favorites of the savory ingredients were the caramelized onions and roasted veggies. I made these the night before, stored them in the fridge, and then set them out on a platter the night of the party so they could come to room temperature. There was no need to reheat them since we were putting the fillings inside the vols-au-vent and then baking them.


To make the onions, I roughly followed a recipe from Panini Express: 70 Delicious Recipes Hot Off the Press, a beautiful cookbook published by The Taunton Press. If you haven't seen it, you should check it out. I love the layout, font choices, pictures, and, of course, the recipes.

Caramelized Onions (adapted from Panini Express)


Thinly slice two large onions.


Heat 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add onions, 1 garlic clove (minced), and 4 teaspoons brown sugar.


Mix together and saute, stirring occasionally until golden brown. The original recipe says this takes about 40 minutes, but my onions took an hour.



You can let them cool and then store them in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. Use them for your own vols-au-vent or on sandwiches or pizza!

While the onions were cooking, I roasted some other veggies in the oven. I used another recipe from Panini Express for the roasted tomatoes and just threw together the rest of the roasted veggies. The roasted tomato recipe called for the oven to be at 200 degrees and for the tomatoes to be roasted for 4 to 5 hours. I was running short on time after about 3 hours, so I upped the oven to 350 for about half an hour to finish everything off. You can adapt the recipe to your timing needs.

Oven-Roasted Tomatoes And Other Veggies (inspired by Panini Express)

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Set oven racks so there's equal space between them. Line 3 sheet pans with foil, and set a cooling rack inside one of them.

Thinly slice summer squash and zucchini (1 or 2 of each). I used the slicing blade in my food processor to get super-thin slices. Place these on one of the foil-lined sheets, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and drizzle with olive oil.


Peel and dice a small eggplant. Trim ends off a handful or so of green beans. Cut a broccoli crown into small florets. Place all of these on foil-lined baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and drizzle with olive oil.


Take 6 plum tomatoes and cut them in half lenthwise. Line them on cooling rack set in baking sheet, cut side up. Sprinkle them with a little salt.


Place all three trays in the oven. Check veggies every half hour. Mix around all but the tomatoes if and when they seem to be browning unevenly.

When the veggies are roasted to your liking, remove them from the oven. Use right away or let them cool, and store them in the fridge until you are ready to use them.

The squash and the zucchini were done first for me because they were so thin. Next I removed the tray with the eggplant, green beans, and broccoli. As I explained above, I eventually turned up the heat a bit because the tomatoes were taking forever (the other veggies were still in the oven when I did this, and this sped them along too). I took the tomatoes out after about 3 and a half hours, but they probably could have roasted even a little longer. Once your tomatoes are done, drizzle them with a bit of olive oil too.

Everyone loved all of these veggies in the vols-au-vent. I even sent my friends home with the leftovers because they liked them so much and I had more veggies than I knew what to do with. One of my friends made a roasted veggie quesadilla with her leftovers. I mixed mine up with some leftover ravioli. I think a roasted veggie pizza with goat cheese would have been delicious as well!


It's nice to be able to make these and have them on hand for a few days to toss into whatever dishes you might want. There are tons of possibilities. What would you do with a whole bunch of roasted veggies?

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Interesting coincidence: I just learned from Kim at The Ungourmet that today is World Vegetarian Day. I guess this post was well timed. Check out her veggie post too!