suef wrote:In response to Justjoan's St Louis gooey cake last month, I am bringing my version of the St Louis gooey butter cake a la Meet Me In St Louis.

damn, i can't believe i didn't even think of that! i made a long list of movies and forgot meet me in st. louis. not that i'd make the same cake two months in a row..... i made a passionfruit and cranberry curd cheesecake before i read that cathy was making a cheesecake.

justjoan wrote: i made a passionfruit and cranberry curd cheesecake before i read that cathy was making a cheesecake.

One can never have enough cheesecake I always say! Too bad I won't be there.

Good thing you say that. Next year I begin my year of cheesecake.

Thanks all for coming! That was a fine time. I am now overloaded with yummy! The cat has returned to ball form and is grateful for your attention.

All was good Jenny. Your cat is cute.

as usual, i had a great time and really enjoyed the food and the company. i was surprised how much i liked the moon pie since i don't care for marshmallows. pie lady; would you share the recipe? thanks, joan

Surely.
http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2011/03/0 ... es-recipe/
I replaced the oil with butter in the chocolate coating and decreased it to 1/8 cup, which I think was a mistake. I should have used cream or the full 1/4 of butter.
I don't know which pie you took. The three-level ones had chocolate malt filling. I learned that no matter how thick the filling is, you should not add milk. I added cocoa and malt powder to try and thicken it up again; although it was still a failure, it was a delicious failure.

By the way, I can't remember the verdict on keeping this filling for one week. I have quite a bit left over, so I was thinking of making more moon pies for Chocolate Sunday this weekend. Will it be okay until then? I seem to recall doing that before for myself, but I may just have an iron stomach.

This is where I got the idea for the butter cookies. I blew up the single shot, cut it out, and cut out the cookies. I feel I have to post this because I completely stole the idea. I tried last year to mount them on bases but they refused to stay upright, so I skipped it.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/91442405/os ... _faveitems

pielady: i think your chocolate coating was excellent. did you think it was too firm? is that why you regret using less butter? also, i think your filling will probably hold up through the week. thanks for the link. these were terrific cookies- just a thin layer of marshmallow, which is just how i like it. joan

I do think the coating was too firm. I wanted a little flexibility but not enough so I couldn't stack 'em. I'll try another one tomorrow to see how soon I should start making the next batch.

I had a very nice time at the exchange. I'm sorry it took me so long to participate!
Pie Lady - thanks so much for hosting.

Pictures.

I believe the pictures will be posted soon. For anyone wondering about the prune cake, this is the same as my old recipe.

I would say be careful to not cook the topping too long as it does turn to caramel quickly. I think mine might have gone a minute or so too long because I had the darnest time cutting the cake. It should slightly thicken but not turn quite as thick as mine.


http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008 ... -trust-me/

Hi,

Another entertaining evening sharing thoughts and desserts. Of course, we began with a delightful meal by Pie Lady:


A light meal by Pie Lady, on Flickr
Going clockwise from noon, there was iced tea, Neptune Salad, Artichoke-and-Tomater Crostini, Ham, Manchego and Fig Tartines and Neptune salad's chickeny counterpart.

Kate's Cheesecake by Cathy2 and Amour di Polenta cake by Pie Lady - I appear to have forgotten to take pictures. (I may have a slice of this cake available to photograph)


Chocolate-Cherry Crumb Bars by lazygal09, on Flickr


Passion fruit and cranberry curd cheesecake by justjoan, on Flickr


Alexander Valley Prune Cake by toria, on Flickr


St. Louis Gooey Cake with mini chocolate chips by suef, on Flickr


handcut Oscar cookies by Pie Lady, on Flickr


Moon pies by Pie Lady, on Flickr


Chocolate Mousse made with molecular gastronomy techniquea by JustJoan, on Flickr

Thanks to everyone for all the treats!

Regards,

lazygal09 wrote:I had a very nice time at the exchange. I'm sorry it took me so long to participate!
Pie Lady - thanks so much for hosting.

You bet! Hopefully we'll see you at more of them!

toria wrote:All was good Jenny. Your cat is cute.

Thanks! Kitty thinks you're pretty cute too.

Here is the Amour di Polenta cake.

did nobody take a pic of my cheesecake?

I must confess I did not take any pictures....could have taken some back up I phone pics but did not. The cheesecakes were both delicious. I ate them yesterday for dinner after my green juices....

Pie Lady would it be possible to get the recipe for the Amour di Polenta and the Oscar cookies? Thanks.

P.S. I see a lot of recipes for the cake on line but do not know which is best. Love the almond taste and wonderful texture. More and more I am loving the plainer less sweet desserts.

Well, you're in luck, sort of. I have the cake recipe right here. I can't remember the butter cookie recipe but I'll type that in later.

Amour di Polenta Cake

2 ounces cake flour*
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tsp baking powder
2 ounces almond paste
4 egg yolks, divided
5-1/2 ounces butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar**
2 eggs
1/2 tsp almond extract
Sliced almonds (optional)

Grease loaf pan. Preheat oven to 350.
Combine flour, cornmeal and baking powder in medium bowl. Beat almond paste and 2 egg yolks in large bowl with electric mixer at medium-high speed until smooth. Add butter; beat until creamy. Add powdered sugar; beat on low speed until well blended. Beat in remaining 2 egg yolks, 2 eggs and almond extract until smooth. Stir in dry inrgedients until well blended.
Spread in prepared loaf pan. Garnish with sliced almonds. Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.

*The original recipe suggests sifting these ingredients but I am lazy and did not.
**The original recipe requested 1-1/4 cups powdered sugar, but since the almond paste has sugar, I took out 1/4 cup. I still thought it was too sweet.

I have a few pictures - will get them up this evening.

justjoan wrote:did nobody take a pic of my cheesecake?

I did, and now it will go up.

Regards,

thanks cathy, i did express dissatisfaction with the cracks on top of the cheesecake and said not to take a picture of it...but thanks for posting it. joan

Here we go:


Kate's Cheesecake by Cathy2, on Flickr



Amour di Polenta cake by Pie Lady, on Flickr



Passion fruit-cranberry curd cheesecake by justjoan, on Flickr

I like the cracks on the cheesecake - gives it personality.

Until next time - Liz!

More storage questions:
Joan: how long will your mousse last in the fridge?

And can I freeze leftover flat icing? It's just powdered sugar, yellow food coloring, and milk.

Thanks!

Oscar Cookies:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar*
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 ounces butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350. Grease cookie sheets.
Combine flour and sugar in medium bowl until well blended. Stir in vanilla. Smoosh in butter with your hands until mixture is the texture of coarse meal. Press dough together; if too crumbly, add a splash of milk. Roll or press to 1" thickness on lightly floured surface; cut out shapes. Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown.

*Recipe called for superfine sugar, but I used regular granulated.
The icing I used was just flat icing with a little twist: place powdered sugar in a bowl and add yellow food coloring. Stir; add milk to thin to desired consistency. Then you get that vibrant shade.

thanks for the pictures, lazygal09, and i'm so glad you came, it was a pleasure meeting you.

pielady, since the god-awful mousse is just chocolate and water, i imagine it'll keep a really long time. i'd let it sit out and soften before trying to eat it or use it as frosting. on the other: i don't think freezing the milk based icing will do it any favors; i expect it'll not be smooth. you can always try though, rather than tossing it, and then try to whisk it smooth..... let me know what happens, i'm curious. i do freeze milk, but it needs to be shaken before using as it'll separate.