I'm a Daring Baker!

Daring Bakers are an online group that agree to bake one item a month following the exact same recipe with no changes. It's a fantastic way to bring new zest into your baking life and your human life. Any worries I had on my first challenge, Julia Child's French Bread, recipe here- http://breadchick.com/?p=336 -dissolved when I read the encouraging comments given to others & felt the commaraderie. Alright!

I've worked with yeast breads and double risings before so I began my recipe feeling a bit confident but not cocky. The 15 page recipe gave me pause until I read it & started organizing my ingredients and equipment. The estimated time for the bread was 7-9 hours. I set aside one of my days off work for the baking. I live in Southern California so my house was pretty cool inside. I ended up puuting the dough in the laundry room with the dryer running for its risings. My antique KA was not up to the challenge, so I did the kneading by hand. The only problem I had was that my sharp knives weren't sharp enough to properly mark the dough before baking. Next time I'll try the razor blades mentioned in the recipe. The bread was amazing & all gone in a poof! I'll definitely make this again...I don't think I can wait long, drool, drool. Many thanks to the Daring Bakers founders, Lisa & Ivonne & to this month's hosts, Mary & Sara for a wonderful experience!

Kendall

(c) Flourbuttereggs 2008 All Rights Reserved.

Kung Pao Tofu

A family favorite!

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Ginger Cookies

I tried a new recipe hoping to find a great ginger cookie that didn't involve rolling the dough out. These were a success & are from Cooking Light, to boot, so are healthier than a typical cookie.

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Zarafina

I'm a tea person. I only have 1-2 cups a day but they are mandatory. For my b'day, my mum gave me the best thing a tea drinker could dream of....Zarafina (TM)! It's a tea brewing sytem that boils the water, steeps the tea leaves, and then decants the tea into the included pitcher. This way, the tea doesn't sit & stew in it's leaves forever. Best of all, there are separate settings for black, green, oolong, and white teas as well as for loose tea vs. bag tea. No more waiting for my boiled water to cool enough to start steeping my green tea-Zarafina does it all! My son, who's obsessed with all machinery & things with buttons and levers, said it was "the best present ever!" xox to mum! (c) Flourbuttereggs 2008 All Rights Reserved.

As you can see, cake's going fast! Here's the good old pan I make it in-it's not even non-stick, so I get to burn off some calories to make sure it's well greased.

(c) Flourbuttereggs 2008 All Rights Reserved

Lemon Pound Cake

I make this Lemon Pound Cake for every possible special occasion for LH. He's even been known to claim I should make one for his 1/2 birthday! Sorry for the lack of presentation but he likes it untouched by any prettifications & I'm shocked I was able to get the photos up since I'm such a newbie!

Lemon Pound Cake
Compton Place, San Francisco, CA

2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
2 2/3 cups sugar

6 eggs at room temperature

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 cup full-fat sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
grated zest of 2 lemons


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour 9” tube pan

1. Cream butter & sugar together until light & fluffy, scraping sides of mixing bowl.
2. Add eggs, one at a time mixing on low until mixture is silky & smooth.
3. Measure out dry ingredients-flour, salt, baking soda, then sift together or whisk with fork.
4. Alternate adding dry ingredients & sour cream to mixing bowl in 5 steps: start with flour, then ½ the sour cream, then flour, then rest of sour cream, then remaining flour. Scrape bowl between mixings. Be careful not to overmix batter.
5. Add vanilla & lemon zest & gently mix into batter.
6. Bake on middle oven rack for about an hour, until a broom straw or cake tester can be inserted in middle of cake all the way to bottom & removed without any crumbs clinging to rod.
7. Let stand 10-15 minutes in pan, then invert onto plate for cooling. Store covered at room temperature. Serves 10-12.

(c) Flourbuttereggs 2008 All Rights Reserved.