Danish Braid for the Daring Bakers

Updated: I love this dough! I loved making it, folding it, everything! This month was chosen by Kelly of Sass & Veracity and Ben of What's Cooking?, they chose the danish braid from Sherry Yard's, The Secret of Baking. This is something that I would have never tried on my own. That is why I love the Daring Bakers, each month we are given a challenge out of our comfort zone. I would definitely recommend trying this dough, it is easier than expected and you get to make yummy danishes from it. The fillings are endless. I chose to make a cream cheese and peach filling. The only regret I have from this, is that my peaches were not ripe and still crunchy and tart after the baking. But, if I pick out the peaches, it is wonderful! I do have extra dough in the freezer, and plan to make individual size danishes with several different fillings.

Thanks to the hosts for a wonderful challenge this month, and check them out for the recipe!

I am sure that you have seen the Danish Bread popping up all over blogland from all of the Daring Bakers as of yesterday. That is when mine should have been completed and posted...but, obviously, it is not. The dough was made yesterday, it is still in the fridge, waiting to be filled and baked. That will be done as soon as I get home today, so check back later tonight.

***And don't forget to get me your Cupcake Hero entries before midnight tonight!***

Just Rambling....

Ok, so, this is really a reminder for myself! ha!

Don't forget about Taste Like Home..sign ups end tomorrow at midnight! We just had a Farmer's Market open up here, and I super excited to go and check it out later today!

Next, Cupcake Hero deadline is Monday June 30th, don't forget to get me your entry. This has been harder than I expected! We have great cupcake bakers in this blogland! Thanks for the entries that I have gotten so far!

I have a couple of thank you posts coming soon from things that I have won. There is a great prize from The Baking Beauties Bingo, I won the blackout board. And a giveaway from Nashbabe. Thanks a ton for you both and that post is coming soon!

And finally...Knoxville has a Cupcake Bakery!! It is a franchise owned bakery. I am really excited to go and check them out as well. This will be a Saturday field trip. I will try to take pics and post about it as well. I am curious about it. Knoxville hardly ever has anything here. I really don't understand why people to come vacation here. There is nothing, unless you go to Pigeon forge and Gatlinburg. But, that is 30 minutes from here.

Alright, I think that is all for today. Have a great one!

Snickerdoodles for the Cookie Carnival

If you like snickerdoodles, this is the one to try! This cookie is my husbands number 1 favorite cookie, so he was excited when this one was chosen. This recipe was simple and quick to put together, roll into balls and then coat with sugar and cinnamon and bake for 10 minutes, with a quick spin after 5 minutes. Let them cool for a few minutes and move them to a cooling rack. But, if you are like my family, eat them warm, with a glass of milk!

Snickerdoodle Cookies

Ingredients
Makes 4 dozen.
* 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
* 1/2 cup pure vegetable shortening
* 1 3/4 cups sugar, plus more if needed
* 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon, plus more if needed
* 2 large eggs

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, with one rack in top third and one rack in bottom third of oven. Line baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper; set aside.

2. Sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine butter, shortening, and 1 1/2 cups sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add eggs, and beat to combine. Add dry ingredients, and beat to combine.

3. In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar and the ground cinnamon. Use a small (1 1/4-ounce) ice-cream scoop to form balls of the dough, and roll in cinnamon sugar. Place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the cookies are set in center and begin to crack (they will not brown), about 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheets after 5 minutes.

Transfer the sheets to a wire rack to cool about 5 minutes before transferring the cookies to the rack. Store in an airtight container up to 1 week.

TWD-Mixed Berry Cobbler

This week's TWD recipe was chosen by Beth at Our Sweet Life. I am really glad that it was a fairly quick and simple one to throw together. These past 3 weeks have been crazy at my house and I am ready for some baking time. I really miss being in my kitchen! Now, on to the cobbler...

This cobbler recipe is not my usual recipe. This one makes a biscuit like topping, where my normal recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of milk, and 1 cup of self rising flour. Mix them together, pour them on top of your berries and bake. My normal fruit mixture is 1 cup of sugar for every 2 cups of fruit. Cook them in a pot until bubbly, and the sugar is dissolved, pour into the baking dish, top with the topping and bake it. With that said, I was curious to see how this recipe differed from my normal. So, here goes!

With the price of fresh berries here lately, I decided to go with frozen, which is completely fine, because Dorie had said it is completely fine to use frozen, and no need to thaw them! Even better! I also chose to only use blackberries. They are great on their own, and don't need any other berry added, in my opinion. Add just a few ingredients to the berries and throw them into your baking dish. Mix the biscuit dough, AP flour, baking powder, a little sugar, some cold butter and heavy cream. I think my favorite part of mixing this together was adding the butter and mixing it together with my hands. There is just something about breaking up the butter that makes me happy! Crazy, I know. I can admit that! There had been some talk on the TWD site that the biscuit dough was rather bland, so I added a little more sugar and some vanilla, and sprinkled some extra sugar on the dough before baking.

Next, you roll out the biscuit dough, put it on top of the berries, cut a few venting slits and cut a hole in the middle. Bake for about an hour and there you have it, and nice and bubbly cobbler. This recipe was quick and simple and tasty. Although, I will probably not make it again, only because I like my normal go to cobbler better. I really like my dough mixed in the fruit instead of just a topping.

Make sure that you go and check out the other TWD chicks, as we are over 200 now! If you want this recipe you can find it here. Next week has been chosen by Karina at The Floured Apron, Apple Cheddar Scones.

Taste Like Home Reminder

You still have until this Friday June 27th to sign up for the *Taste Like Home* local goodie swap. If you think that you might want in, you can find all the details right here and here.

Thank all of those who have already signed up! Now is the time that the Farmer's Market's are getting stocked with tons of local items, don't you want to share? If so, send a little note to myself at aprilsattic@comcast.net and Megan and cookinmeg@gmail.com.

TWD-Peppermint Cream Puff Ring....

....or something like that. Ok...so I haven't even started this one. It has been a crazy life at the Love household for the last 2 weeks, so hopefully this is a start of it slowing down. My TWD will become a Wednesday with Dorie for this week. Go ahead and start checking out the other TWD chicks, and all of those great looking eclairs and cream puffs and cream puff rings...they all are looking delish!

Cupcake Hero

I am super excited about this month's Cupcake Hero. Laurie, the Quirky Cupcake herself, decided to take a CH vacation through the Summer, and has allowed me to host for the month of June. I have to say that I am nervous, and really excited about it! Next month, you will also have a surprise hostess. So, I was allowed to choose the theme, I get to test all of the entries (this will be the best part) and then I will get to choose the winner. I am assuming, that this will be the hardest part!

Are you ready to know what the theme is?

You guessed it! MELON!

As long as you use any type of melon for this edition of Cupcake Hero, you are good to go. So go ahead and get to thumping those melons!

If you want to participate, send your cupcakery to April at aprilsattic AT comcast DOT net by June 30.

Send me your:

*Name
*Your blog name and URL*
*Link to your Cupcake Hero entry
*Picture of your cupcakery (250 width is preferred)

This month the theme is Melon, which must be used in the cake, frosting or filling. Come on your CH lovin' people, get to making me some cupcakes!

TWD-La Palette's Strawberry Tart

I am sorry to say that I have no Strawberry Tart to show for this week. It was a great choice chosen by Marie at A year in Oak Cottage. Light and simple and even better made with fresh berries. Go ahead and check out the rest of the TWD chicks, I am sure that there are some delicious looking tarts!

Next week is Peppermint Cream Puff Ring chosen by Caroline at A Consuming Passion.

**Go and check out the Taste Like Home event hosted by myself and Megan of Megan's Cookin**

Taste Like Home

Walking around the farmers market, I always see plenty of local area goodies. We have olive orchards and pecan orchards near by as well as honey, jams and spice blends. One of my favorite locals sells a killer mango chutney. When I look around, I see plenty of local staples that say *Taste like Home* to me. We think these local treasures would be fun to share.

April from Abby Sweets and Megan from Megan's cookin are hosting a goodies exchange featuring local area goodies. If you would like to join us in a local area goodies exchange, send your name, mailing address, e-mail address, and blog name and blog URL to either aprilsattic@comcast.net or to me at cookinmeg@gmail.com. Let us know if you'll send internationally. We will match up partners and have a round up of the participating blogs.

We ask that you post about the goodies you receive and include links back to both myself and Megan. Sign ups end June 27th. So, what do you say?

Want to share your *Taste Like Home* with someone?

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I've been tagged....twice in the same week!

Megan from My Baking Adventures and Christine from Blender's Galore have both tagged me this week for a meme. I hope that they will both forgive me if I only still post 5 things, instead of , because I really don't think that I could come up with ! So, here goes...

The rules: Each participant answers questions about himself. At the end of the post the participant tags 5 people. Their names are posted letting them know they’ve been tagged. They then have to read the participant’s blog. The tagged let’s the tagger know when he’s posted his answers.

What was I doing ten years ago?
Ten years ago, I had 2 kids, 3 yrs and 8 months. Working and taking care of babies.
What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today:
*Take my daughter for a test at the children's hospital (had to be there at 9:30)
*Take her to lunch at the hospital cafeteria (there is nothing better than a hospital grilled cheese!)
*Take her to the doctors office to get the results of the test (couldn't get in there until 1, which really turned out to not see the Dr until 2...)
*Clean the kitchen
*Cook dinner

5 Snacks I enjoy:
*marshmallow popcorn
*chocolate
*string cheese
*peanut butter and apple
*cantaloupe and watermelon

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
I would make sure that my family was taken care of. Own a house on the beach. Travel, to lots of places all over the world. Probably adopt like 10 kids!

Places I have lived:
This is a boring one..I have only ever lived in Knoxville, TN. Exciting, huh?

Jobs I have had:
Kmart
Baskin Robbins
Thompson Cancer Center
Captain D's
And where I am now, Child Neurology (part time)

now for the fun part:
I tag…….
Lisa at Bumblebutton
Jeanine at Baking Beauties
Sarah at Sweet Endeavors
Carla at Chocolate Moosey
Megan at Megan's cookin

So, there it is! :)

TWD-French Chocolate Brownies

A few weeks ago Blake Makes had a giveaway for Amano Chocolate, I was one of the lucky recipients of this sweet treat. I had never heard of them before, so I was excited to get to try it. The lucky ones received 3 bars of 3 different kinds, 2 oz each. (Sorry, I didn't get a picture of them) If you haven't checked out Blake yet, make sure you do! He has an awesome site, lots of giveaways and makes some wonderful PBDDL, also known as Peanut Butter Dulce De Leche. You won't be disappointed!



Now, what does this have to do with this weeks TWD recipe? These brownies needed 6 oz of chocolate...just the right recipe to use my Amano chocolate for! Di, from Di's Kitchen Notebook, was the lucky one to choose the recipe for this week. The original recipe called for rum infused raisins, but, I couldn't make myself put raisins in these brownies. Some other TWD chicks went on and added raisins and compared it to raisinettes in brownie form, others used other dried fruits and had great results. I still like my brownies just plain. I loved this brownie recipe. A few ingredients, quick to put together, and a short bake and you have fudgy brownies, with a thin crust on the top. I only had one problem, and that was when you completed mixing, the batter had the consistency of chocolate mousse! I almost ate all of the batter before I could get to the baking part!



Don't forget to check out the other TWD chicks and their take on this recipe. Next weeks recipe comes from Marie at A Year at Oak Cottage and we are using strawberries!



French Chocolate Brownies
- makes 16 brownies -Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours.


Ingredients
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

1/3 cup raisins, dark or golden

1 1/2 tablespoons water

1 1/2 tablespoons dark rum

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons; 6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into 12 pieces

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup sugar


Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 300°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, butter the foil, place the pan on a baking sheet, and set aside.
Whisk together the flour, salt and cinnamon, if you're using it.


Put the raisins in a small saucepan with the water, bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until the water almost evaporates. Add the rum, let it warm for about 30 seconds, turn off the heat, stand back and ignite the rum. Allow the flames to die down, and set the raisins aside until needed.


Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Slowly and gently melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the butter, stirring so that it melts. It's important that the chocolate and butter not get very hot. However, if the butter is not melting, you can put the bowl back over the still-hot water for a minute. If you've got a couple of little bits of unmelted butter, leave them—it's better to have a few bits than to overheat the whole. Set the chocolate aside for the moment.


Working with a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until they are thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Lower the mixer speed and pour in the chocolate-butter, mixing only until it is incorporated—you'll have a thick, creamy batter. Add the dry ingredients and mix at low speed for about 30 seconds—the dry ingredients won't be completely incorporated and that's fine. Finish folding in the dry ingredients by hand with a rubber spatula, then fold in the raisins along with any liquid remaining in the pan.
Scrape the batter into the pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top is dry and crackled and a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and allow the brownies to cool to warm or room temperature.


Carefully lift the brownies out of the pan, using the foil edges as handles, and transfer to a cutting board. With a long-bladed knife, cut the brownies into 16 squares, each roughly 2 inches on a side, taking care not to cut through the foil.


Serving: The brownies are good just warm or at room temperature; they're even fine cold. I like these with a little something on top or alongside—good go-along are whipped crème fraiche or whipped cream, ice cream or chocolate sauce or even all three!


Storing: Wrapped well, these can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.