TWD: Tomato Galette

There are a few recipes in Baking with Julia that I've gone back to again and again.  This is one of them.  



The dough is fantastic, those tablespoons of sour cream and the corn meal make it so unique. The texture is lovely. It is a complete must in my opinion to put the dough in the refrigerator overnight. 



I will make this again with native tomatoes but I did already have fresh basil from our garden.



I like the combination of the mozzarella with cheddar. We had this galette with steak for Father's Day dinner.  It was fantastic together. 

Broad Brook Baker

TWD: Savarin

This was a very interesting recipe and I ended up having a lot of fun with it.  The dough seemed so thin and I was rather perplexed how this was going to work out.  





I do not have a ring mold and the mold that I was going to use I could not get clean enough!  So I opted to do individual savarins using a muffin pan.  I was inspired by those diminutive sponge cakes that they always have displayed with strawberries this time of year.



I took two cups of frozen strawberries, blended well and then added a half cup of sugar and cooked to make the less-than-just-simple-syrup.



I soaked the cake well with the syrup and plated with strawberries and whipped cream.



This was truly a hit with the family.  My husband especially who  loved the texture of the cake and how it was not overly sweet.

Happy Spring!  (at least for a few more days!)

Broad Brook Baker

TWD: Savory Brioche Pockets

This was not a complicated or difficult Baking with Julia recipe but it was time-consuming!



With the brioche this time around I was not nervous that the butter would not incorporate.



I made half the recipe with the goat cheese, potato and asparagus filling.  I love these ingredients.  I tasted the filling before I placed into the pockets but in the end I did not end up adding enough salt.  For this reason, I sprinkled kosher salt on top of the second batch that came out of the oven.

I decided to do small turnover shapes because I wanted them to be more like appetizer-sized.



Because I was late making this recipe, I brought these to a Memorial Day picnic.



I used the remainder of the dough to make the blankets for the pigs.



I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day with family and friends.

Warmly,
Broad Brook Bakers

TWD: Fresh Rhubarb Upside-down Cake

I'm a manager with twelve direct reports and it's been performance review time for too long.  For the last four weeks it's generally been working during the day and then at night writing the reviews.  This is the first time that I've been this behind in keeping up with my baking for this group.  I'm back on track now!

This week I went on the hunt for fresh local rhubarb.  I went to a couple of wonderful small grocers near my work and I could not find any rhubarb!  

Tried at home this weekend but only was able to find rhubarb that was packed as I call it Florida-style - slightly sad looking stalks on a foam tray wrapped in plastic wrap. I salvaged the best of the best stalks and went with it.

I heeded the instructions to fold the flour and sour cream (could not find creme fraiche) gently in the batter.

I did one large 12-inch cake using a cast-iron pan.

I made this cake for a day before-mother's-day-dinner gathering.  It was a hit.  The caramel pecan rhubarb top was subtle but delicious.  My husband especially loved it because it was not too sweet. I would definitely make this again, I think with peaches or the traditional pineapple. Or even with apple!

Had to include this on my blog.  Sarah made this one Sunday breakfast not too long ago.  She was so proud of herself.  Who could blame her.

Happy Mother's Day to all the ladies in the house, you don't have to be a mother to be a mom.

Warmly,

Broad Brook Baker

TWD: Rewind Irish Soda Bread

This was such a surprise hit with the kids that I needed to make it again so my husband could try.  Last March when we made this recipe he was on a business trip and the kids reported over the phone to him what he had missed. They've been talking this up ever since.
   


I made half the recipe and added in one tablespoon of sugar and grated peel of one lemon.



This is best in our book when toasted and served with butter and honey.




Sarah loves it with sugary foamy milk and tea.  

Mommy loves it with a cappuccino  What a treat and so easy.  

TWD: Madeleines

My big take-away from this recipe was the fact that I clearly have never eaten a fresh Madeleine or a properly made one until this past Sunday after we baked our first batch.  I was telling my husband as he bought the Madeleine pan on Amazon for me, "I'm not too excited about making these cookies - they are just so cakey and plain."  Was I wrong. Fresh out of the oven these melt in your mouth. 



I made the recipe as is, so did not add any other flavors like orange or lemon peel but I bet that would be very good also.



I forgot to take a photo of the batter!  This time I got the genoise correct.  Last year when we made the French Strawberry Cake, I completely messed up incorporating the flour into the whole egg meringue.



I made 26 of them.  After the first two batches I realized that I had a little more batter left. The flour was not incorporated very well so I stirred the last bit and put in the pan.  These two rose higher than the others.  My husband and I both ate one of these last two.  They tasted good but they were not as light and airy as the others.  Honestly they tasted like most Madeleines that I've eaten before.



The neighborhood kids were all over and had two each. They gobbled them down plain and powdered sugared.  We had some left over the next couple of days.  They loose that fresh out the oven taste, but with a cup of coffee or tea they are still great.




I did a rewind with the left over Croissant dough too!

Rustic Potato Loaves

This is absolutely a new favorite.  I went shopping with my mother-in-law for Easter.  I mentioned the idea of using sweet potatoes in this recipe instead of the Russets that it called for.  She said, "Why not, go for it!"  I'm so glad that I decided to take the chance.



I cut the sweet potatoes in small pieces because they take a bit of time to soften.



The yeast blossomed really lovely.



The potato dough was such a wonderful peachy tone.



Sarah did a great job adding the flour to the towel.



I was amazed how much these loaves rose in such a short period of time.



These smelled fantastic! We all had to fight the urge to eat all of it, the night before Easter.



A slice cooled a bit out of the oven was heavenly.  There were small bits of sweet potato that you could see in the bread. This went well with county ham the next day.

Warmly,

Broad Brook Bakers