1. Venison

2. Nettle tea

3. Huevos rancheros

4. Steak tartare

5. Crocodile

6. Black pudding

7. Cheese fondue

8. Carp

9. Borscht - I almost Italizied this one - I really hate beets, but I won't rule it out.

10. Baba ghanoush

11. Calamari

12. Pho

13. PB&J sandwich

14. Aloo gobi

15. Hot dog from a street cart

16. Epoisses

17. Black truffle

18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes

19. Steamed pork buns - I'm really interested in this one - I plan to try it soon.

20. Pistachio ice cream

21. Heirloom tomatoes

22. Fresh wild berries

23. Foie gras

24. Rice and beans

25. Brawn, or head cheese

26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper

27. Dulce de leche

28. Oysters - these just gross me out

29. Baklava

30. Bagna cauda

31. Wasabi peas

32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl - I've had clam chowder and a sourdough bowl... just not together

33. Salted lassi

34. Sauerkraut

35. Root beer float

36. Cognac with a fat cigar - not the cognac, the cigar is the obstacle

37. Clotted cream tea

38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O

39. Gumbo

40. Oxtail

41. Curried goat

42. Whole insects

43. Phaal

44. Goat’s milk

45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more

46. Fugu

47. Chicken tikka masala

48. Eel

49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut

50. Sea urchin

51. Prickly pear

52. Umeboshi

53. Abalone

54. Paneer

55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal - I'm sure I've had one, Big Macs just aren't that memorable

56. Spaetzle - I really want to try this...

57. Dirty gin martini

58. Beer above 8% ABV

59. Poutine

60. Carob chips

61. S’mores

62. Sweetbreads

63. Kaolin - I can't say never here... pregnancy can bring on strange cravings for some women, someday I might be pregnant and have such an urge...

64. Currywurst

65. Durian

66. Frogs’ legs - "You ever et a frog?" - Misspelling intentional... anyone know what movie that's from?

67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake

68. Haggis - "Harriet, sweet Harriet. Hard Hearted Harbinger of Haggis..."

69. Fried plantain

70. Chitterlings, or andouillette

71. Gazpacho

72. Caviar and blini

73. Louche absinthe

74. Gjetost, or brunost

75. Roadkill

76. Baijiu

77. Hostess Fruit Pie

78. Snail

79. Lapsang souchong

80. Bellini

81. Tom yum

82. Eggs Benedict

83. Pocky

84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.

85. Kobe beef

86. Hare

87. Goulash

88. Flowers - nasturshums

89. Horse

90. Criollo chocolate

91. Spam

92. Soft shell crab

93. Rose harissa

94. Catfish

95. Mole poblano

96. Bagel and lox

97. Lobster Thermidor

98. Polenta

99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee

100. Snake

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.

This month's challenge pushed me to try making doughnuts that were new to me.  I have made doughnuts before with success and felt comfortable trying a different kind of recipe than the ones recommended in the challenge.  The fall weather enticed me to try making pumpkin pie brioche doughnuts.  The recipe I used for the dough was from Healthy Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.

I have tried recipes from the original Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day with mostly success.  This was the first recipe I have tried from the newer book.  In the book, they claim the dough makes excellent doughnuts, so I felt good about trying this.

However, I felt the doughnuts were only okay.  I suppose I wanted them to have a more pumpkin flavor and even though I doubled the spice amount (using fresh spices) they still didn't seem very flavorful.  This is not to say they still did not get eaten.  They were pretty good while fresh and hot, just not as tasty once they cooled.  The recipe I used can be found here.

This month's challenge, although seemingly simple, was anything but.  I was excited about this challenge because I have wanted to try my hand at using royal icing to decorate sugar cookies for a long time.  I was fairly confident that I could make something that was pretty, but I wasn't quite sure I could make something that looked "realistic".  I decorated leaves and dogs.  The leaves are pictured, the dogs... well, let's just say they aren't worth posting... really, they are too funny.

Working with Royal icing can be tricky, and making really fantastic looking cookies takes practice, but I feel good about how the leaves turned out.

The sugar cookie recipe itself, I wasn't crazy about in the beginning.  The recipe definitely needs to be decorated because it really isn't very sweet and has little flavor.  Additionally, this is another cookie recipe that seems to improve with age.  The day I made these cookies and decorated them they were okay tasting.  Two or three days later and these cookies are slightly soft, yet sturdy, and the sugary vanilla flavor comes through.  

I have posted the recipes below, however, I haven't included a lot of information about the details of decorating cookies because I am no expert in this area.  However, I have included some links to people who do have a lot of knowledge in this area.

Thanks for the excellent challenge!

Basic Sugar Cookies:
Makes Approximately 36x 10cm / 4" Cookies

200g / 7oz / ½ cup + 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
400g / 14oz / 3 cups + 3 Tbsp All Purpose / Plain Flour
200g / 7oz / 1 cup Caster Sugar / Superfine Sugar
1 Large Egg, lightly beaten
5ml / 1 tsp Vanilla Extract / Or seeds from 1 vanilla bean

Directions
 Cream together the butter, sugar and any flavourings you’re using. Beat until just becoming
creamy in texture. (Don’t over mix otherwise you’ll incorporate too much air and the cookies will spread during baking, losing their shape.) Beat in the egg until well combined, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Add the sifted flour and mix on low until a non sticky dough forms.

Knead into a ball and divide into 2 or 3 pieces.  Roll out each portion between parchment paper to a thickness of about 1/4".  Refrigerate for a minimum of 30mins.

Once chilled, peel off parchment and place dough on a lightly floured surface.  Cut out shapes with cookie cutters or a sharp knife.  Arrange shapes on parchment lined baking sheets and refrigerate for another 30mins to an hour.  (It’s important to chill them again otherwise they’ll spread while baking.)
Re-roll scraps and follow the above process until all scraps are used up.

Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C Fan Assisted) / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.  Bake until very lightly golden around the edges, about 8-15mins depending on the size of the cookies.  (Bake same sized cookies together otherwise mixing smaller with larger cookies could result in some cookies being baked before others are done.  Rotate baking sheets half way through baking if your oven bakes unevenly, or bake one sheet at a time).

Leave to cool on cooling racks.  Once completely cooled, decorate as desired. If wrapped in tinfoil/cling wrap or kept in airtight containers in a cool place, un-decorated cookies can last up to a month.

Royal Icing (From Joy of Baking)

4 cups (440 grams) confectioners' (powdered or icing) sugar

3 tablespoons (30 grams) meringue powder

1/2 teaspoon extract (vanilla, lemon, almond) I used 1/4 tsp vanilla, 1/4 tsp almond extract

1/2 - 3/4 cup (120 - 180 ml) warm water

 In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder until combined.  Add the water and beat on medium to high speed until very glossy and stiff peaks form (5 to 7 minutes). If necessary, to get the right consistency, add more powdered sugar or water. To cover or 'flood' the entire surface of the cookie with icing, the proper consistency is when you lift the beater, the ribbon of icing that falls back into the bowl remains on the surface of the icing for a few seconds before disappearing.

The icing needs to be used immediately or transferred to an airtight container as royal icing hardens when exposed to air. Cover with  plastic wrap when not in use.

Makes about 3 cups

Read more:http://www.joyofbaking.com/RoyalIcing.html#ixzz10mNVXjI1

Tips and Instructions on Decorating Fancy Cookies:

http://sweetopia.net/2009/06/cookie-decorating-tutorial-general-tips-butterfly-cookies/

http://sweetopia.net/2009/09/how-to-decorate-cookies-with-royal-icing-top-10-tips/

Okay, okay! Here is a picture of the dog cookies.  My work here reminds me of something I drew under the kitchen table with blue-green crayon when I was six!  Proof that we all have our areas of strength, and mine is not in making "realistic" looking sugar cookies!  Thanks for reading to the end of this post! :D

Pear-Grape Gelées

  When my parents moved into their new house several years ago they were fortunate enough to inherit a well established tart cherry tree and a venerable Concord grape vine.  Apparently, the former homeowners liked to make fruit wines.  However, my parents don't really drink and, therefore, have little interest in winemaking.  Usually my mom makes grape jelly.  I'm not a huge grape jelly fan.  It is usually the last flavor I would choose.  However, I do like grapes, and homegrown grapes can be something special.  

Grape Gelées

My mom did not have a grape harvest last year because Japanese Beetles destroyed her vines before she realized it and was able to do anything about it.  For some reason, the Japanese Beetles attacked this year, stayed for a few weeks, and then mysteriously disappeared.  So thankfully, this year, we were able to pick over 8 pounds of grapes!  I was encouraging my mom to try something new with her grapes and she was interested.  She, too, was looking to make something other than jelly.  So we looked at making sorbet, or jam (instead of jelly) or a pie.  But when I mentioned the idea of candies, my mom was immediately on board.

I have seen Pâtes de Fruits on other blogs and in some cookbooks, but had never made them before.  In fact, I'd never really had one; the closest thing I've had is an "orange slice" candy, which are poor substitutes for the real thing.  So, on Saturday, my mom and I spent the day harvesting and cooking down the grapes from her backyard.

Grape Gelées

This recipe, although time consuming, produces a quality gelée.  The texture is firm, but not overly chewy and they both had a very good "jammy" flavor.  They were quite sweet, so be sure to cut them in small cubes.  The pear-grape gelées were more muted in their grape flavor, which is to be expected.  I preferred the all grape gelées, personally.  Their texture was a bit firmer and was all grape.  I'd love to try making these again with fruits that I am even more enamored with, like peaches and raspberries.  

Pear-Grape Gelées

Grape Gelée Candies

Adapted from Brittles, Barks & Bonbons by Charity Ferreira

Ingredients

3 pounds fruit {For Pear-Grape gelées use 2 pounds Bartlett or Anjou pears and 1 pound stemmed grapes (we used Concord from the garden).  For all grape gelées, use 3 pounds stemmed grapes}

4 cups sugar, divided

1/2 cup water

Two 3-ounce packages Certo liquid pectin

3 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions

Line a 8 inch square pan with foil (we used non-stick foil and it worked well)

Rinse pears (if using) and grapes thoroughly.  Quarter, core and cut the pears into chunks (don't remove the peel because in contains more pectin which helps the candies set up).  In a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir together all the fruit, 2 cups sugar and the water and simmer gently about 20 minutes.  Let the mixture cool slightly, then puree it in batches in a blender or food processor until smooth.  Press this mixture through a sieve or other fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds.

Return the puree to the saucepan and add the pectin, lemon juice and 1 cup sugar.  Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring frequently, especially as it reduces, until the mixture is quite thick, 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes.  It should be thick enough that when you run a spoon across the bottom of the pan, you can see the bottom of the pan for a moment before the mixture covers it again.  Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with a spatula.  Let it cool at room temperature 1 hour, then cover the surface with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 more hours, or up to 2 weeks.

Just before serving, place the remaining 1 cup sugar on a plate.  Remove the candy from the pan.  Trim the edges and cut the candy into 3/4" squares.  Roll the squares in sugar to coat.  

Grape Gelées

In my household we have an obsession with chocolate and peanut butter, especially lately.  Our favorite cake is the Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cake from Sky High.  In fact, I recently made the cake again for a family gathering.  Unfortunately, I didn't have any parchment paper and I decided to make the cakes without lining the pans.  It turns out, those parchment circles really are important, at least for chocolate cakes.  Even though I thoroughly floured and buttered my pans, one of the cake layers stuck to its pan and was un-usable in the cake.  However, I tucked the broken cake layer away in the freezer for another day.

When I was contemplating ice cream flavors for the latest Daring Bakers' Challenge, an ice cream emulating our beloved Chocolate Peanut Butter cake struck me.  However, I knew it would be too powerful for the delicate brown butter cake.  Also, it deserved to be enjoyed for what it was, not mixed with more cake.  

So, using David Lebovitz's Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream from the Perfect Scoop as my guide, I mixed up the ice cream batter.  I prepared little peanut butter patties with a little extra sugar to firm them up (to simulate the frosting) and cut the cake (while frozen) into coarse chunks.  It came together beautifully and tasted just as rich and decadent as the cake.  Needless to say, there is not any more of this ice cream left in my freezer... 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake Ice Cream

Slightly adapted from a recipe by David Lebovitz from The Perfect Scoop

Yield: 1 quart

2 cups half-and-half
¼ cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
½ cup granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
½ cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 of one 8 or 9 inch Chocolate Cake round (you could also use any other chocolate cake you like)
Peanut Butter Patties (recipe follows)

Peanut Butter Patties
6 tablespoons peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
2-4 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar (I added extra sugar because I thought it needed it, you may be happy with the original 2 tablespoons)

Mix together the peanut butter and confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl. Line a dinner plate with plastic wrap. Pinch off small pieces of the peanut butter mixture, about ½ teaspoon each, and drop them onto the dinner plate. Once you’ve used all of the mixture, freeze the patties. (The patties can be stored in the freezer, well wrapped, for up to 1 month.)

To Make the Ice Cream:

1. Whisk together the half-and-half, cocoa powder, granulated sugar, and salt in a large saucepan over medium heat. Heat the mixture, whisking frequently, until it comes to a full, rolling boil. Remove from the heat and whisk in the peanut butter, stirring until thoroughly blended.

2. Chill mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions. Fold in the Peanut Butter Patties and cake chunks (thawed if you want them to disperse some in the ice cream, still frozen if you want them to remain solid chunks) when it has finished churning. Place in a freezer container and freeze until firm.

When I first saw this challenge, I was very excited.  I have been having a hankering for ice cream cake for quite some time and I've always wanted to make one from scratch.  This challenge allowed us a lot of freedom in that we simply had to make an ice cream cake from Swiss rolls, including making our own cake, fudge sauce and ice creams.  

I love ice cream with a passion, but I have been trying to limit my caloric intake lately so I decided to try making my own frozen yogurt and sorbet.  I ended up getting carried away with frozen yogurt and it ended very badly.  I filled the roll with vanilla bean frozen yogurt, then I layered the dessert with chocolate frozen yogurt with raspberries in it, a layer of chocolate fudge, raspberry sorbet with chocolate chips, another layer of fudge, then a layer of vanilla bean frozen yogurt with a raspberry swirl.

In theory, this was an amazing dessert. In reality, it tasted terrible; very, very, tangy. No one, including myself, wanted to eat it.  I made it for my mom's birthday.  We all tasted it, agreed it was bad, and went out to get an ice cream cake from Coldstone!  Of course I accept all the blame, because I decided to veer very far from the original recipe.  I should have stuck with delicious ice cream, or perhaps just sorbets.  

Since this dessert was such a spectacular failure, I am not including any recipes.  However, I did discover several excellent recipes while creating this dessert.  I really enjoyed David Lebovitz's Lean Chocolate Sauce from The Perfect Scoop, which I used as my fudge filling.  I also really enjoyed the raspberry sorbet I made.  The recipe was from Saveur.  I simply added 1 teaspoon orange vodka and 4 ounces of finely chopped dark chocolate and omitted the whole raspberries.  Check out the recipe here.

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet. 

This months challenge sounded simple, yet very interesting.  I saw all these pictures of steamed puddings with browned crusts, but how could something brown if there was steam??The whole steaming pastry and cake idea was very interesting to me.

I tried to find some suet to experiment with, but I wasn't able to find any nearby.  Also, I was looking to make something a little on the lighter side.  The only major requirements for this challenge was that our pudding had to be steamed.  And steam I did!

I found a very tasty steamed banana pudding here.  When I ran the recipe through a calorie counter it came to 267 calories per slice.  Not bad at all.  Really, this isn't a very traditional version because it doesn't contain suet, vegetable suet, vegetable shortening or even butter.  It is really more of a big, huge, steamed muffin.  Very tasty.

I added 4 ounces of chopped bittersweet chocolate so that likely upped the calorie count a little bit, but added a little something extra.  I think next time, I would even increase the spices a little more to give it a little more kick.  I would also use super-ripe-almost rotten bananas to get more banana flavor!

Debby's Steamed Banana Cake

Adapted from a recipe by Nina Simonds and Debby Richards taken from In My Kitchen

12 servings

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2  cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons powdered cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 ripe bananas, mashed (about 2 cups)
• 1/2 cup non-fat yogurt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate

Directions

Fill a wok or a large pot with water for steaming and heat until boiling.  Generously grease a 10-inch tube pan (I used a metal Kitchen Aide mixer bowl sprayed with Baker's Joy) with the softened butter, making certain that it is thoroughly coated. Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt.  Add the chocolate pieces and stir to coat.

Break the eggs into a large bowl. Beat vigorously with an electric mixer at high speed until the eggs are light and lemon-colored and have tripled in volume, about 5 minutes. Add the sugar and beat for 3 minutes. Add the mashed bananas, yogurt, and vanilla extract, beating well after each addition. Slowly, fold in the dry ingredients. Pour the batter into the greased pan.  Cover with foil.  Tie tightly in places with kitchen string.  Also, tie another piece of string on as a handle to make lifting it in and out of the water easy.

 Place the cake pan (or bowl) in a steamer tray over the boiling water or balance it on a trivet or an empty tuna can (or a metal measuring cup, like I did) in the center of the pan. Cover and steam over high heat for 3 - 3 1/2 hours, or until the cake is springy to the touch and browned on the sides; check the water level after 30 minutes and add more boiling water if necessary. Remove from the steamer and let cool slightly. Unmold the cake onto a platter, cut into slices, and serve warm with tea (or warm cajeta, like I did). To reheat, steam for 10 minutes (or pop in the microwave for 20 seconds, like I did the next morning).

Sugar Cookie Bars?  Kind of a weird name, I know.  But when I saw these over at Ice Cream Before Dinner, I knew I wanted to try them.  Sugar cookies aren't really anything I ever crave.  I rarely ever think to make them.  No chocolate, no caramel, no nuts, nothing but "sugar cookie"?  Also, I think sugar cookies just take a lot of work.  Most sugar cookies need to be rolled and cut out and sometimes, I'm just not interested. 

However, these caught my eye because they looked like they might solve my laziness where sugar cookies are concerned, and they look really pretty with cute little sprinkles on them. 

They came together very quickly and were very tasty.  I had a hard time not eating the whole pan myself.  I actually made them as a "thank you" to my neighbor that helped me chip the iceberg off my driveway.  We made some real progress and I had to find a good way to thank him for spending some of his free time chipping away at 6-8 inches of ice with me.  That's just the kind of nice neighbors I have, though!

I deviated from the recipe on Ice Cream Before Dinner by using a different frosting.  I kind of have this weird thing against vegetable shortening in things I make, especially frosting.  I don't know why, but it just feels wrong to me (with the exception of pie dough and one bread recipe I have).  Now if other people use it, it doesn't really bother me.  But I just can't bring myself to do it.  So I went with a classic Betty Crocker vanilla frosting recipe.  It was perfect.

I think next time, for the cookie/bars, I would see what adding an extra egg yolk would do for the texture of the bars.  I felt like they were a tad dry and I wonder if the extra fat and emulsifiers in the yolk would make the bar a little more soft and chewy.  If I happen to get around to doing that, I'll update this post with the results!

Definitely a tasty "make again" recipe!

Sugar Cookie Bars

Adapted From recipe on Ice Cream Before Dinner and Betty Crocker 40th Anniversary Cookbook. 

1 stick of butter, softened
1 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda

Preheat to 375. Sift together the flour, salt & baking soda to combine, and set aside. Spray a 9 x 13 cookie sheet (with raised sides) with non-stick spray.  (You can also line the pan with parchment or foil to make the bars easier to pull out and cut) Put the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and turn on to cream the butter. Slowly add the sugar and mix until creamy, about two minutes. Add the eggs and mix to combine. Add vanilla. In three parts, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir just to combine, scraping the bowl in between additions. Spread the dough in the 9 x 13 pan. Bake for 14 - 19 minutes, or until it is slightly golden around the edges. Leave in pan to cool, on a wire rack.

When cool, spread with the frosting, sprinkle with sprinkles of your choosing, pull out of pan (if you used parchment or foil lining) and cut into 24 - 32 bars.

Creamy Vanilla Frosting

2 1/2 - 3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup unsalted butter (omit salt if using salted butter, or salt very carefully)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons milk

1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix powdered sugar, salt and butter in a mixer on high speed until well blended.  Add vanilla and milk.  Beat until smooth and of spreading consistency, adjusting to taste with extra powdered sugar or milk.