Daring Bakers November 2011 - Sans Rival

Catherine of Munchie Musings was our November Daring Bakers’ host and she challenged us to make a traditional Filipino dessert – the delicious Sans Rival cake! And for those of us who wanted to try an additional Filipino dessert, Catherine also gave us a bonus recipe for Bibingka which comes from her friend Jun of Jun-blog.

I got in early this month so I could make this in time for my very last day at work before starting maternity leave. A Sans Rival cake involves layers of baked dacquoise (similar to meringue) with lots and lots of buttercream icing. I have a serious sweet tooth and am not afraid of fat, but even I had to baulk at the idea of eating this cake between two. Fortunately it was a big hit at work . I am hoping that I find a mothers' group that likes baked goods so I have a regular place to share the DB challenges and other sweet things I make.

I made the recipe exactly as prescribed, except I adopted a suggestion from someone in the forum to bake the dacquoise layers spread on baking paper instead of in a tin. That worked really well because I don't have multiple cake tins in the same size, but I could still bake 2 at a time. Although this is not the kind of thing I would usually make by choice, it was lots of fun to prepare the layers and decorate the cake.

Thank-you Catherine for hosting this month and for introducing me to something new. I would love to explore more Filipino foods in the future.

Fresh Fraisiers - Daring Bakers July 2011

Jana of Cherry Tea Cakes was our July Daring Bakers’ host and she challenges us to make Fresh Frasiers inspired by recipes written by Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson in the beautiful cookbook Tartine.

Yes, this was as good as it looks. A chiffon cake soaked with sugar syrup and filled with pastry cream and strawberries - pretty hard to go wrong here. Each of the compulsory components were simple to make, but you'll be pleased to hear that I made things a bit more challenging for myself. Firstly, by baking it on the last possible night and not starting until after 7pm. And secondly by transporting the finished cake over 90 kilometers on the train the next day to share with my colleagues in a regional office.

You can find the recipes here in the Daring Kitchen archive. I chose to make the chocolate flavored chiffon cake. I used syrup that was left over from poaching rhubarb, so it was infused with flavors of rhubarb, orange and vanilla.

My colleagues absolutely loved the cake. I have not baked for them before and it was a joy because they all went out of their way to thank me and say how much they enjoyed it. I thanked them in return for helping me not to eat the whole thing myself.