Madeleines - TWD: Baking with Julia

Tuesdays with Dorie: Baking with Julia - 31st Installment.  The recipe is Madeleines.

OK, so they're not exactly Madeleines....

I had to take the ladyfinger option, since I don't (yet) own a Madeleine pan.   I didn't realize that they are the same batter.

The subtitle of this post really should be 'Don't Forget to Set the Timer'!  They were not quite done, so I put them back into the oven for just one more minute, and didn't kick off the timer to remind me to pull them out.  Five minutes later....eeeeek!  You can see the result above - at least they were edible, if drier than I really wanted.

This was definitely a bit fussy, but that was OK - they're not called 'Rustic Madeleines' after all :-)  I followed the directions, and they went pretty well - interesting method, whipping the eggs and then folding the butter in at the end.

After gently folding in the butter

The batter spread out/flattened a bit more than I thought it would.  I ruled the lines onto the parchment, and piped the ladyfingers at the prescribed distance apart, and a number of them merged into their neighbors, which was OK because the recipe then told me what to do in that situation - cut them apart with a pizza cutter (well written recipe, as usual!).

I made a half batch, since I knew we didn't have enough people to eat an entire batch, and the recipe said they don't keep very well.  Next time maybe I'll make a whole batch and use part of it for Tiramisu or something like that.  

Looking forward to seeing the TWD group's variations on this one....

Rustic Potato Loaves - TWD: Baking with Julia

Tuesdays with Dorie: Baking with Julia - 30th Installment.  The recipe is Rustic Potato Loaves.

Here I am, running to catch up with Tuesdays with Dorie...I was so caught up in my day-to-day living that I didn't check the site to see that our first recipe was 'due' in the very first week of April - by the time I looked at the site, I had missed the 'deadline' - oops!  So I squeezed this project into last weekend, and was so glad I did.  I loved this recipe, and so did my family. 

They just fit on the baking stone

 Any kind of potato bread tends to draw raves around here, and this was no exception.  And it was SO EASY and SO FAST.  I couldn't believe the short rising times (20 minutes?!?) produced such a delicious result.  I love the way the seam on the bread turned into a big slit in the top of the loaf - I was surprised I didn't have to slash the bread to make that happen.

It helped to have a Kitchen Aid for the lengthy kneading, and a baking stone, to enhance the crusty texture.  I appreciated the specific directions in the recipe about the texture of the dough - it seemed too dry initially, but the mixing worked its magic.  I think it might have to do with the moisture in the potatoes gradually making its way into the dough over the course of mixing.  

Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies - TWD: Baking with Julia

Tuesdays with Dorie: Baking with Julia - 29th Installment.  The recipe is Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies

Wow!  This was yummy, and just as easy as it looked.  Thanks to the tips people provided before hand on the TWD chat, I used Starbucks Via decaf instant coffee, so people wouldn't have to be caffeinated just by eating a cookie.  It gave very good flavor.
Some household members were horrified at the thought of dried fruit 'contaminating' their chocolate/coffee flavor, so I made half of the batch without the apricots.  For the other half, I used dried cherries (from Traverse City, MI - Cherry Capital :-) and it was a delicious combination.
(I actually made this recipe on time for the deadline, but life was so busy I didn't get to post until now!)