mix, mix…stir, stir

 Such trepidation swirls around even the mention of soufflé, but for the brave baker that dares attempt this notorious dessert, unparalleled reward awaits.  The chorus of oohs and ahhs that rises when a beautifully puffed soufflé is presented is unmatched.

Truthfully, a soufflé is nothing more than a drama queen; a very delicious drama queen mind you, but not worthy of causing you to quake with fear at the thought of attempting to make one. As a cook you need to know this, whereas it’s just fine if your guests continue to be stunningly impressed with the miraculous result you place before them.  Unfortunately my soufflé lost it’s grandeur during the time it took to be photographed—drama queen.

There are a few key tips to ensure a dramatically puffy success, but it’s nothing complicated.  Susan, of She’s Becoming Doughmestic was brave enough to put all of us Tuesdays with Dorie Bakers to the test by selecting the Chocolate Soufflé recipe for us to make this week.

The keys to soufflé success lie in baking it in a straight sided dish, properly beating the egg whites and properly folding the ingredients together. This combined with a nice hot oven and you will be all set to truly impress the people you feed. I don’t expect you to take my word for it, or even Dorie Greenspan’s word for it. I give you the grand dame of French cooking instruction, Julia Child herself, demonstrating a cheese soufflé.

This video is from The French Chef series, circa 1972, and will be the most enjoyable 28 minutes you have spent in a long time. She is larger than life with so much charm and skill.  Enjoy, and then click over to Susan’s blog for Dorie Greenspan’s recipe for Chocolate Soufflé.

Over 350 baking bloggers are baking our way thorough Dorie Greenspan’s book, Baking: From My Home to Yours . 90 recipes completed 131 to go!

If you have ever puzzled over how to make cheesecake finger food, here is your answer.  Serve it on a brownie!  How could these not be good? Cheesecake and brownie together with the added bonus of espresso is a delight, and what all the Tuesdays with Dorie bakers made this week (yes, I am finally caught up with the group and posting in the correct week!)

Knowing espresso does not please all, I set the espresso aside and mixed the batter without it. I then divided the batter into two bowls and only spiked one with the coffee. By pouring both batters simultaneously into the pan, I was able to successfully make ½ and ½, or what I like to call Espresso/Not-espresso Cheesecake Brownies.

I left of the last step of covering the whole delicious deal with sweetened sour cream. Initially I just forgot about that step, then I decided I like them as they were so I let them be. Overall they were easy to make, with the only challenge being chill time. After letting the brownies cool to room temperature they need to hang out in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Having sampled a brownie before chilling them I must agree that the time in the refrigerator does make them better. Melissa of Life in a Peanut Shell picked this recipe for the group top make, you can find it posted on her blog. The recipe calls for a 9×9 baking pan, but an 8×8 worked just fine for me.

Over 350 baking bloggers are baking our way thorough Dorie Greenspan’s book, Baking: From My Home to Yours . 89 recipes completed 132 to go!

In an effort to get caught up with my Tuesdays with Dorie baking group posts here is what should have been up on Aug. 25th. I am sticking with the “summer holiday” story to explain my tardiness. It could also be that I was seriously distracted from all of life by this pie.

 The Meringue topping is a nice balance to the oh- so-rich-and-creamy filling. Just because it’s smooth and rich does not mean it’s a subtle cream pie. The lovely texture is bursting with tangy sweetness and a hint of ginger. The lime flavor is a delightful change from the more common lemon cream version. This filling uses an interesting technique Dorie learned from Pierre Hermé. The filling is cooked like any curd, but without the butter. The butter is added to the curd as it is blended in a blender so the fat and emulsifies with the mixture creating a lusciously smooth creamy texture.

The one lesson I learned with this pie, is to crush the graham crackers finer than I did. My graham crust didn’t want to hold together, but the structural integrity of the crust did improve once the pie was refrigerated overnight. The only made two small changes to the recipe, adding a pinch of salt to the filling and a pinch of  ginger powder to the crust. Linda of Tender Crumb was the recipe picker this time and you can find the recipe posted on her blog.

Over 350 baking bloggers are baking our way thorough Dorie Greenspan’s book, Baking: From My Home to Yours . 88 recipes completed 133 to go!

I am not sure what happened, but like every week I made my Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, in this case it was Applesauce Spice Bars. Lovely moist fruit bars flooded with a sweet caramel coating across the top. They were good, so good that I ate nearly half the pan in one evening. I couldn’t shake the idea of adding some coriander and presenting it more like a carrot cake, so I made the recipe two more times in the same week resulting in this Coriander Caramel Apple Cake.

Pictures were taken, and then accidentally deleted.  With no photos, I decided I would wait a few days and make it again and then get my August 18^th post up on the 20^th, or the 21^st at the latest, but either way I will definitely have time to sit down over the weekend and post on the 22^nd or 23^rd…It’s September 3^rd and I have come crawling back to my blog. I am not really sure what happened to the last three weeks, but let’s just chock it up to “summer holiday” and move on.

Karen, of Something Sweet by Karen, picked this great recipe. You can see the actual Applesauce Spice Bars that were the inspiration for my cake on her blog where she has also posted the recipe.  Here is a link to my Coriander Caramel Apple Cake recipe. If you want to read more about coriander and why it’s good in sweet and savory dishes, check out our Spice Library.

Over 350 baking bloggers are baking our way thorough Dorie Greenspan’s book, Baking: From My Home to Yours . 87 recipes completed 134 to go!