Baking With Dorie: Summer Fruit Galette

Ever since Elizabeth picked the recipe for this weeks' challenge, I've been constantly dreaming about this galette. I felt it was another very versatile recipe that could be varied in many ways. I dreamed up, in elaborate length, what I would do with it & was meant to bake the galette before I left for our short holiday. But with so many things to do before we left, the galette took a back seat and I had to bake it in a hurry this morning. 

I had already decided, before I left, that I would make it with pineapples. The other recommended fruits are in season (apricots, plums, peaches), but I found the freshly cut rings of pineapples so appealing when I was out grocery shopping one day that I decided right then I'd have to use them in the galette. 

For the jam, I used a thin layer of homemade mandarin marmalade and topped it with a generous amount of crushed Speculoos (my current addiction) & spooned over just a little custard before baking it for the second time.  For those who don't know what Speculoos are: they are traditional Belgian bisuits that are crisp, caramelized and slightly spicy. After eating my way through many, many Speculoos-flavored gelatos and ice creams, I have still not had enough and I felt the slight gingery-spiciness would go really well with the pineapple.

And now I wish I had some ice cream to go along with this galette that is so delicious, warm from the oven. So delicious, in fact, that you'll wish you had made enough dough for a 9" double crust. It made me wish, also, that I had enough time to make the ice cream I had originally planned to go along with it. A summer gallette does seem kind of lonely without ice cream. 

Thanks for choosing this recipe Elizabeth! For a gluten-free version of this dessert, please go over to Elizabeths' blog Gluten-Free Baking 101. 

Check out what the other BWD bakers have done with this weeks' challenge by checking out the blogroll here or here. For the recipe, please go over to Tina's blog My Domestic Bliss, or pages 366-7 of Baking: From my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan.

If youd' like to join us for our next BWD challenge on July 5 (Caramel-Peanut-Topped Brownie Cake, pages 264-5), please drop me an email. We'd love to have you bake along with us. 

Baking With Dorie: Tender Shortcakes

These baking challenges and this blog are turning out to be the reason why I have to hit the gym at 5 a.m. daily. Seriously.  

But does the guilt stop me from at least wholly consuming everything I make? Nah. You already knew that, didn't you?

This weeks' recipe was chosen by Susi of Susi's Kochen Und Backen Adventures & we're joined this week by two new bloggers who have joined our baking group.

I made these short cakes in a hurry this morning & was glad that it wasn't an elaborate dessert that I would have had to labor over.

I've never made shortcakes before, so I was a little perplexed over the dough which looked too crumbly and didn't come together as well as I had expected it to. I didn't want to overwork it, but had no idea if this was even what it was supposed to look like. 

So, I just took the plunge and baked a batch of 4 to begin with. And guess what happened: burnt the bottoms. I had better luck with the second batch which came out looking great and was only slightly scorched on the bottom. 

Now handling these cakes was tough - they were crumbly and using a serrated knife to slice them just didn't work. So I did what Dorie alternatively suggests: pricked with a fork all around and then just lifted the top off with a spatula & layered it back on after spreading the bottom halves with fruit & whipped cream.

For the fruit, I chose to use chopped mangoes with a squirt of lime (as suggested by Dorie on page 425) . Her original recipe asks for berries, but I used mangoes because they are my favorite fruit and it's hard to resist them now, with the beginning of mango season here. 

I also played around with the dough & took up one of Dorie's suggestions of adding powdered as well as candied ginger into the dough. And for me, the blend of flavors from the lime, mango and ginger were a real treat. 

All the shortcakes then  needed, was some simple whipped cream.

Please go over to Susi's blog for the recipe, and the blogroll here to check out the other BWD bakers versions.

Our next recipe, due on June 7, is the Lemon Cup Custard (page 387). If you'd like to join the challenge, please drop  me an email at needfulthings at ymail dot com. 

Salted Mandarins

One of my memories of winters back home, while I was growing up, involves sitting in the sun and eating sections of mandarins dipped in salt.

Each time I come across mandarins I am tempted to eat them that way. The flavorful combination of sweet and salty is a real treat for the palate. 

I would have never thought of dipping them in brine and now believe I will no longer eat them any other way.

This recipe is adapted from a beautiful little cookbook I own called Salt & Pepper. Try it out next time as a simple end to a meal, or all on its own as a snack. 

Salted Mandarins

1/4 cup water

1 tablespoon fleur de sel

2 mandarins, peeled and sectioned with pith removed

Stir the water and fleur de sel together in a bowl until the salt dissolves. Place the  mandarin sections in the bowl and toss well to coat. 

Lay the sections on a wire rack to air-dry for 5-6 hours or until their skins are tight. 

Serve.