November Daring Baker's Challenge

First things first:

This month's recipe courtesy of : http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2006/12/24/caramel-cake-the-recipe/

Author : Shuna Fish LydonHosts

Co-hosts : http://eggbeater.typepad.com/,http://culinarycuriosity.blogspot.com/, http://blondieandbrownie.blogspot.com/,http://forayintofood.blogspot.com/ and http://glutenagogo.blogspot.com/

I don't know how to say this nicely so I'll just come out and say it. I hate this cake. Separately, the components are ok. In the words of Joey Tribiani, caramel syrup? Goooood. Brown butter frosting? Gooood. Salt? Very good. Chocolate ganache filling? Excellent. All together in a cake? Not so good.

One good thing about this challenge is the awesome caramel syrup recipe! Not only does it taste great and is super easy to make, when the water is added to the syrup it makes a sound like an explosion, loud enough to make any blood-thirsty girl happy.

On the bright side, many other daring bakers seemed to like it a lot, so maybe its just me =)

I just want to say...

SUCK IT, BITCH

Light at the end of the tunnel

Tunnel: exams

Light: Christmas!

I don't usually celebrate Christmas, not even sure if I like it. Its crowded everywhere and most people don't even celebrate it for religious reasons anymore. Not that I'm a devote Christian, I actually describe myself as agnostic/pagan most of time, another reason why I don't celebrate Christmas.

But this year, some how I just feel like celebrating Christmas. I like some parts of Christmas, like the music, the movies, the food. While nothing's confirmed yet, I think I'll do a Christmas bake-off series this year! Straight after exams, I'm going to buy myself a Christmas cookbook and cook up a storm! Something to look forward to =)

Biscotti

I am so excited about this biscotti recipe! Its FANTASTIC. Its fast, its traditional, it tastes great, AND its looks great. This is like the dream biscotti recipe, and I'm not the only one who thinks so. Check out the raving reviews from hundreds of other bakers! http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Biscotti/Detail.aspx


So, as you can tell, I got the recipe from http://www.allrecipes.com/, from the user Jandee who says she got it from a co-worker. The recipe is for an original biscotti, with only a little anise essence for flavor, which means you can modify it in any manner you desire, my absolutely favorite kind of recipe.

Instructions and tips and whatever are on the website, so check it out there. For this batch, I added 2 tablespoon of expresso and roughly a cup of walnuts. Unfortunately the coffee didn't come out strong enough, but it did impart a lovely brown colour. Words of advice: the dough is incredibly sticky, but it's perfectly alright, if a little impossible to shape with hands. Just pile it onto your baking tray and smooth out into desired shape and you'r in business =) Enjoy!