I'm looking forward to the dessert exchange. My dessert will be chocolate valentine scone/cookies. My fall back, if those don't turn out, will be chocolate cherry cookies.

mrsm

Hi,

I accidentally deleted Ms. Ingie's PM with address and instructions. Could someone forward it to me?

Thanks!

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

I accidentally deleted Ms. Ingie's PM with address and instructions. Could someone forward it to me?

Thanks!

Regards,

Sending it your way now.

i made an earl grey/chocolate bundt cake. joan

justjoan wrote:i made an earl grey/chocolate bundt cake. joan

I've got a recipe for that. It's distinctly scented with bergamot. It's one of the few chocolate desserts that I enjoy.

Looking forward to it, although I don't think I will make it to the gym before getting there today, so we are going to have to double up on fruits & vegetables for a bit after today.

Tell me what you guys exchanged!

Thanks everyone for a great evening and for the wonderful hostess gifts. I didn't take photos, but I know that they'll be posted soon. Great fun!

Ms. Ingie
Thank you for your warm hospitality. What an array of desserts we had today - a feast for the eyes and the palate. Looking forward to eating them for a few days.
as always, everything was enhanced by the delightful company of my fellow LTHers.
Thanks everyone.

thanks ingrid for being such a great host. a wonderful collections of desserts, thanks to all. ( and i believe i left a pair of green crocs at your place, yes?). joan

Thanks a bunch to everyone for returning my sanity - it's been almost three whole days without dessert.

Thanks again for a wonderful evening! All of the goodies were delicious, and I'm looking forward to having them for breakfast.


Several people asked me for the Marshmallow recipe I used. It's taken from here:

http://notsohumblepie.blogspot.com/2011 ... llows.html

The only changes I made were: to use strawberries instead of raspberries (and that's just because the store had no frozen raspberries), I used a half sheet pan instead of a 9x13 pan (makes for flatter marshmallows), I prepared the sheet pan by spraying with Pam followed by dusting with confectioner's sugar then knocking off any excess, and I used straight confectioner's sugar to dredge the cut marshmallows through.

Also, here is my notes for making the kouign aman:

=====

This recipe is based on David Lebovitz's recipe, using milk instead of water, and with the butter incorporation method taken from the Pie & Pastry Bible's approach to croissant/puff pastry/danish dough. (This method of keeping the butter/sugar separate is actually a lot less messy than other recipes I've tried, too, which was nice.)

1 tbsp active dry yeast
3/4 cup (175 ml) milk, microwaved to warm it up (~110F)
260 g unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt
200 g sugar
1/2 a brick of Salted (yes, salted) Plugra (4 oz), plus 2 tbsp salted butter

1. Proof the yeast for ~10 min in a small bowl by mixing with 4 tbps warm milk and a pinch of the sugar.

2. Reserve 1 tbsp flour, putting the rest of the flour and the salt in your stand mixer. Then add the yeast mixture and the rest of the milk.

3. Mix on low speed until the ingredients are wet, then raise speed to medium (#4 on my Kitchenaid) and mix for four to five minutes. The dough should be silky smooth and have cleaned the bowl, but will cling to your fingers.

4. Use a spatula to lightly butter a small bowl. Scrape the dough into the bowl, cover, and allow it to ferment at room temp for 30 minutes. Then let it rest in the fridge for 1 hour.

5. Place half the reserved tbsp flour on a piece of plastic wrap, set the Plugra on it, and then top with the remaining flour. Use the plastic wrap to knead the flour into the butter with your knuckles. Shape the butter into a square, about 5" square and 1/4" thick. It should be firm but malleable.

6. Flour the counter and rub a little flour into the dough. Roll the dough out to a square, then roll the corners out into flaps. Place the butter packet in the center (unlike the Lebovitz recipe, do NOT add sugar to the butter), then fold over the flaps to make the butter packet. Wrap in plastic and let it rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.

7. Gently roll the dough out on a floured counter to about 7" x 14". Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of the sugar, press lightly to adhere the sugar to the surface, and give it a business letter fold with the sugar trapped inside. Brush off excess flour, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 20 minutes. (This is the first 'turn'.)

8. Do step 7 two more times, for a total of 3 turns.

9. Butter a 9" round cake pan. After the 20 minute rest from the last turn is done, gently roll it out to a 9" circle and transfer to the cake pan.

10. Preheat the oven to 425 with a rack on the bottom shelf. While the oven heats up, let the cake proof in a warm place (I only gave it 30 min to proof, it could probably have used a full hour).

11. Melt the remaining 2 tbsp salted butter. Sprinkle the top of the cake with the remaining sugar, then drizzle on the melted butter.

12. Bake until the top is caramelized. (I lost track of time, it was about 30 minutes. I also lowered the temp to 400 after about 20 minutes, but after seeing the final result I think this wasn't necessary.) Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack.

=====

Enjoy,
Chouxfly

There was so much food. It felt like Thanksgiving with really, really good dessert & no pumpkin pie. Giving tons of thanks to our delightful host & the sweet doggie kisses from Maggie.


I'm missing pictures.

Here's a link. I don't have the time, right now to put up pictures the way I normally do. At least you can see what you missed.

Hi,

A lovely evening with lots and lots of dessert.


2-13-11-034table by cal222, on Flickr

Apple Cream Pie, a family secret recipe, brought by pairs4life's friend.

2-13-11-006AppleCreamPie by cal222, on Flickr

Julia Child's Apple Tart made by our hostess Ms. Ingie.

2-13-11-008JuliaChilds'Appl by cal222, on Flickr

Black and White and Red All Over by pairs4life.

2-13-11-037blackandwhite by cal222, on Flickr

Chocolate Scones made by mrm

2-13-11-009ChocolateScone by cal222, on Flickr

Chocolate Earl Grey Tea made by justjoan.

2-13-11-040cake by cal222, on Flickr

Guiness Gingerbread by jygach

2-13-11-002GuinessGingerbre by cal222, on Flickr

Kouign Aman by Chouxfly

2-13-11-004KouignAman by cal222, on Flickr

Monkey Bread by eli

2-13-11-020MonkeyBread by cal222, on Flickr

Raspberry Mousse by Cookie Monster

2-13-11-026RaspberryMousse by cal222, on Flickr

Red Velvet Cake by Cathy2

2-13-11-016redvelvetcake by cal222, on Flickr

Strawberry Marshmellows by Chouxfly - light as a feather.

2-13-11-013StrawberryMarshm by cal222, on Flickr

Victoria Sandwich Cake by Pie Lady.

2-13-11-025VictoriaSandwich by cal222, on Flickr

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie by Pie Lady

2-13-11-039WholeWheatSkilletCookie by cal222, on Flickr

- I need justjoan's dessert name.
- I have a feeling either I don't have Izzy's dessert pictured above or I confused it with the Apple Cream Pie.
- Any errors, please advise by PM, then I will correct them.

A very nice evening with great food, interesting conversation, gracious hostess, nice family and a well behaved dog.

Thanks!

Regards,

justjoan's is a chocolate earl grey cake.

I don't have a picture of izzy's nutlicious nut cake either. I hope eli has a picture.

justjoan wrote:thanks ingrid for being such a great host. a wonderful collections of desserts, thanks to all. ( and i believe i left a pair of green crocs at your place, yes?). joan

Haven't seen them, even checked the closet. Anyone?

I did find a springform bottom. Anyone?

I'm told my links didn't work, and I fixed them now. The recipe to the Sandwich Cake is on page 1 and the skillet cookie on page 2.

The scone and monkey bread made a great breakfast this morning! Thanks!

izzy(nancie)'s cake was a nutmeg cake. and if my crocs aren't at ms. ingie's then hopefully they're in nancie's car, which makes them easier to retrieve. joan

Thanks Ms Ingie for hosting another great dessert exchange. It seems like somehow each one is better than the last. I do have pictures (including nancie's nutmeg cake) that I'll post later.

Hi,

I switched recipes from the one I linked to earlier: Grandma Deen's Red Velvet Cake.

This recipe has an old fashioned leavening: 1/2 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 1 tablespoon vinegar, then mixed into the batter at the last moment. This is a method where you have the pans prepared in advance. You don't delay getting this batter into pans and into the oven once the baking soda and vinegar is mixed in. Fast action is needed when using this leavening.

A super evening, thanks!

Regards,

Allow me to add to the chorus of thanks to Ms. Ingie and all who contributed their wonderful desserts. Special thanks to Ms. Ingie for first feeding us a healthy meal of butternut squash soup, orzo pasta salad, and stone ground corn bread, before we ate all those lovely desserts. As a first-time attendee of a dessert exchange, let me just say that the array of desserts was overwhelming. While the task of baking for such an accomplished group of dessert makers and bakers was intimidating, the warm welcome shown by the group was much appreciated.

Thanks to all,
mrsm

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

I switched recipes from the one I linked to earlier: Grandma Deen's Red Velvet Cake.

This recipe has an old fashioned leavening: 1/2 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 1 tablespoon vinegar, then mixed into the batter at the last moment. This is a method where you have the pans prepared in advance. You don't delay getting this batter into pans and into the oven once the baking soda and vinegar is mixed in. Fast action is needed when using this leavening.

A super evening, thanks!

Regards,

Same as my recipe + buttermilk.

mrsm wrote:Allow me to add to the chorus of thanks to Ms. Ingie and all who contributed their wonderful desserts. Special thanks to Ms. Ingie for first feeding us a healthy meal of butternut squash soup, orzo pasta salad, and stone ground corn bread, before we ate all those lovely desserts. As a first-time attendee of a dessert exchange, let me just say that the array of desserts was overwhelming. While the task of baking for such an accomplished group of dessert makers and bakers was intimidating, the warm welcome shown by the group was much appreciated.

Thanks to all,
mrsm

Well, thank you for your contributions. You were a huge help in set-up and clean up. Hope you'll come to another exchange. I also like your idea for a bread exchange.

Thanks for the photos!

Took me a while to find my way back here, but I, too want to thank our wonderful host, and Pairs4life for the introduction to the group. I had a wonderful time, and hope to make it back in April!

ParumMorsus,

Was your contribution the Apple Cream Pie? It was very nice.

Thanks for attending.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:ParumMorsus,

Was your contribution the Apple Cream Pie?

Regards,

Yep.