Passion Fruit Challenges

On one of my last days in Boston I went to the Danish Pasty House (the one mentioned in my last post!) and in my state of sadness about leaving I ordered a big slice of their passion fruit cake. And it was the BEST slice of cake I've had in a loonnnng time. There's something about the tartness of the filling that makes it very appealing to me, probably because it's not a taste that I've had much exposure to. Anyways, when I got back home I couldn't stop obsessing about the cake so I decided to try and make my own version.

This recipe for Six-Layer Coconut Cake with Passion Fruit Filling comes from Food&Wine.com, and it is by far one of the more complex recipes I've tried. There were a lot of ingredients involved and a lot of time periods where I was just waiting (for the cakes to cool, for the filling to firm up, for the frosting to firm up as well....so much waiting!) The other reason this was tricky for me was because it was supposed to have SIX layers, and it was challenging for me to cut through the three original cakes I had made without cutting the layers too thin, because then they would fall apart as I would move them...So as you can see, the six layers were reduced to three because I was much too panicked that I was going to ruin the cake. However, the downside to only having three layers is that each layer was heavier than it was supposed to be, meaning the filling would come out down the sides (!!!)

I'm usually pretty laid back in all aspects of life, but not with my baking. And I was probably the most Type A I've ever been while baking this cake (my family and boyfriend evacuated the kitchen because I was just awful!) I get very bossy and very irked when things don't go my way, and in addition to the layer trouble I also had some challenges with the frosting, which I may have overwhipped because it was a little difficult to spread. But overall, the cake turned out well given all the challenges! I do wish I had made the filling a little sweeter because it was a little more tart than expected, but the cake itself without anything added was soooo delicious, it was moist and soft it's a good recipe to hold onto for other baking challenges.

I added some toasted coconut on top and ta-da! It was well worth the headache.

My next challenge is to make a dessert that is "wet and cold" and dense, like a tres leches cake or something along those lines...Rachel sent me some recipes so I'll decide soon!

2 Baking Challenges...One Post!

So, my banana bread challenge was from March...my Pinterest challenge in May and I gave myself a "wet and cold" challenge for July...so here they are all together all at once, in order to make up for my procrastination!

However, first I wanted to mention some fun baking-related adventures I had in Boston, since they were delicious and fun memories that I would like to preserve and share with others.

If anyone is ever visiting Boston and wants to try a deeeelicious bakery, one great one that I visited was Flour Bakery + Cafe. There are several locations, with the original being in Boston proper and the other in Cambridge, which is the one I visited. My roommate and I had heard great things about their sticky buns so we ventured out one Sunday and were lucky enough to grab some seats and sticky buns! They lived up to the hype and were incredibly messy!

The other place I wanted to mention isn't as popular as Flour because it is in Medford, which is several miles outside of Boston and right down the street from my apartment! The Danish Pastry House was a really cute cafe that I would go to frequently while I was at Tufts, and while their danishes and kringles were always yummy, my favorite thing to get there was their carrot cake:

The decoration is wonderful, which is something about my own baking that I would like to improve on. Their frosting always looks neat and smooth!

Okay, so now for my challenges:

Challenge 1: To make a variation of banana bread

Result 1: I unfortunately forgot to take pictures of the outcome, but I made this banana bread back in April one one of the weekends when we were STILL getting snow! I got the recipe from My Baking Addiction for Rum Coconut Banana Bread (!) and it turned out very well for me. Rachel and I are two rum lovers and the taste of the rum was subtle but still present in the bread. It was a really cool twist on traditional banana bread that gives it a tropical flavor, which was really neat. 

Challenge 2: To make a recipe off of Rachel's Pinterest Board

Result 2: For this challenge I chose to make Cheesecake in Jar, which is one of the challenges I saw Rachel had pinned. This dessert was so simple and truly adorable:

 

I just realized I must be a fan of My Baking Addiction, because that's where this recipe came from too! I would recommend using smaller mason jars than the ones I did...I'm on a poor girl's budget and had to make do with what I had! Additionally, I like my cheesecake with caramel or fudge...something wet on it. That's just personal preference but I would recommend including that, and also using graham cracker crumbs in the recipe because I think some crunch always makes things better. 

Double Trouble: Part One

This go-around Luisa gave me an OR challenge, that I am turning into an AND challenge because I love both ideas so much.


Option #1 was to make chocolate kiss macaroons. I used this recipe from Taste of Home. These cookies are so fragrant (thanks to the fresh squeezed OJ and almond extract. I could seriously make myself high off the extract-it smells THAT good.)

It made approxamently 40 cookies and after the Women's Assoc. potluck tonight, I have three left.

Clean plates make me happy :)

The Recipe Behind the Challenge

A few months ago I tried a super yummy banana bread recipe that I found on Pinterest.

It was so moist and did the hula in my mouth, I knew I wanted Lu to share in the deliciousness. You can find the recipe that inspired the banana bread challenge at The Baking Robot

I followed the directions, except instead of savind kiwi slices to decorate the top with I chopped it all up and added it to the batter. It turned out beautifully.

Valentine's Day The Coconut Way

Luisa offered me a choice of two recipes for Valentine's Day and I (uncharacteristically) chose the recipe  that did not include chocolate (as I gave up chocolate for 40 days to help me grow closer in my walk with the Lord).

I made this recipe: http://www.fifteenspatulas.com/coconut-lime-dulce-de-leche-bark/ for our monthy potluck luncheon at work.

It was delicious!

If you love coconut, which I do, then this is the pefect treat for you.

These four pieces are all thats left from the lunch:

 

Hey Lu! What's my next challenge?

PB Butterscotch Chips Coconut Bars

I think these babies may be my new favorite dessert. I like them better than brownies.

Thats not entirely fair. I usually don't like plain chocolate brownies, they have to be s'more or peanut butter or some other tasty combination. But they do contain chocolate so that usually puts them one step ahead on the dessert ladder when it comes to bars.

The recipe is a tweak on a recipe I found on pinterest. You can find the orginal recipe here.

Here's what I did:

Cream 1/3 cup of butter, 1/2 cup of pb and 1 cup of sugar. (And it is possible to cream with out an electric mixer, just takes a bit of elbow grease.)

Add 2 eggs and 2 teaspoons vanilla.

Mix in 1 cup flour until combined.

Stir in 2/3 cup coconut and 2/3 cup butterscotch chips.

Spread into a buttered 8X8 pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes. Sprinkle (a heavy, even coat) with powdered sugar.

Mmmmmmm......

Candy Inspired Cupcakes!

So this post is very much overdue, and I especially know this because I made these cupcakes back when I was still wearing tank tops and shorts in the 90 degree weather back home, and am posting about it while snow sits on the streets and trees around my apartment up in MA. So many changes!

I had a great time making these cupcakes-there are so many decoration possibilities and flexibility which is what I really loved about this challenge. My family is also slightly obsessed with Almond Joys, which is why I find them tucked into all these random corners in our kitchen-we hide them from each other because otherwise you'd never get any! So my parents loved the cupcakes, I loved making them=winning!! ;)

I found this recipe on a great blog that did a series of candy bar inspired cupcakes. Definitely go check it out!

**Rachel's Next Challenge: Who doesn't love Rocky Road ice cream?! You're challenge is to bake something Rocky Road Inspired (cookies, cupcakes, anything!) Heres a recipe a friend of mine put on her own cooking blog if you want to try this.

No Bake Challenge 3: When Life Gives You Lemons...Make Lemon Bars!

So my family and I are going to a trip at the end of the week to Savannah, followed by a few days to Myrtle Beach, and we are in need of some snacks=perfect time to try this recipe I found for No Bake Lemon Bars!

The recipe included coconut, something my dad takes very seriously (as expected, he ate about 90% of the bars!) They weren’t as solid as I would have liked, but I’m finding that’s a trend with these no bake endeavors…This might have had to do with the fact that I couldn’t find tea biscuits at Food Lion, so I just subbed in vanilla wafers…you work with what you got! They were still good though. The lemon taste just POPS, which I love because sometimes when I make lemony baked goods, you get a hint of the taste of lemon but that’s it…what a disappointment! I would, however, appreciate tips on the best ways to zest a lemon…I usually use one of the smaller sides of a cheese grater, but so much lemon skin gets stuck in that thing!! Also, in the future I think I might toast the coconut flakes first, because I do wish they hand a more crunchy, solid feel to them.

The ingredients and directions are below!

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 lemon, juiced and zested

1 1/2 cups tea biscuits, crushed (or vanilla wafers, in this case)

1 cup flaked coconut

Directions

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt together butter and sweetened condensed milk, stirring frequently until smooth. Stir in crushed biscuits, lemon juice and zest, and coconut; mix well. Press into a 9x9 inch dish. Refrigerate overnight before slicing or the squares will come out sticky