Daring Bakers' Challenge: Tres Leches or Three Milk Cake

Inma of la Galletika was our Sept. 2013 Daring Bakers' hostess and WOW did she bring us something decadent and delicious!  Pastel de Tres Leches or Three Milk Cake, creamy yet airy, super moist but not soggy...just plain delish!

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Swedish Princesstårta

Korean of Korena in the Kitchen was our May Daring Bakers' host and she delighted us with this beautiful Swedish Princesstårta!

This amazing layered masterpiece was created in the 1930's by a Swedish home economics teacher named Jenny 
Åkerström, who taught the three Swedish princesses of the time.  She published a series of four cookbooks called "The Princess Cookbooks" and in one of the editions, there was a recipe for "Grön Tårta" (green cake).  One story is that this later became known as "princess cake" (princesstårta) because the three princesses are said to have loved it so much.  Another story is that Ms. Åkerström actually created three very elaborate "princess cake" recipes - a different one for each princess - and that the current version is a simplified combination of all three.  That explains the princess connection, but not the reason that the cake is green.  That seems to be a mystery.  It's so popular today, that the third week in September is officially Princesstårta Week.

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Savarin

Natalia of Gatti Fili e Farina challenges us to make a traditional Savarin, complete with soaking syrup and cream filling!  We were to follow the Savarin recipe but were allowed to be creative with the soaking syrup and filling, allowing us to come up with some very delicious cakes!

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Hidden Veggies

Ruth from Makey-Cakey was our March 2013 Daring Bakers' challenge host.  She encouraged us all to get experimental in the kitchen and sneak some hidden veggies into our baking, with surprising and delicious results!

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Raincoast Crisp Crackers

Sarah from All Our Fingers in the Pie was our February 2013 Daring Bakers' host and she challenges us to use our creativity in making our own Crisp Flatbreads and Crackers!

I was very excited about this challenge because Sarah provided us with a recipe for one of my all time favorite crackers, Leslie Stowe's Raincoast Crisps.  I discovered these amazing crackers years ago while working in Canada.  At that time, I had to bring several boxes home with me in my suitcase because they weren't available in this country.  We had the option to get creative with the flavor combinations but I chose to copy Leslie's Rosemary Raisin Pecan flavor because it's my favorite.

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Gevulde Speculaas

Francijn of Koken in de Brouwerij was our January 2013 Daring Bakers' Hostess and she challenged us to make the traditional Dutch pastry, Gevulde Speculaas from scratch!  That includes making our own spice mix, almond paste and dough! Delicious!

Daring Bakers' Challenge: 12 Days of Cookies

Holiday season is the time for sharing and Peta of Peta Eats is sharing a dozen cookies, some classics and some of her own, from all over the world with us.

Our challenge was to make at least one of the twelve cookie or bar recipes provided.  I chose to make the chocolate hazelnut cookies.  I followed the recipe exactly, except for substituting the egg with one tablespoon of ground flax seeds and three tablespoons of water and the cow's milk with almond milk.  I did cut the recipe in half because 4 dozen cookies is a little much.

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Empanada Gallega

Patri of the blog, Asi Son Los Cosas, was our September 2012 Daring Bakers' hostess and she decided to tempt us with one of her family's favorite recipes for Empanadas!  We were given two dough recipes to choose from and encouraged to fill our Empanadas as creatively as we wished!

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Crackers

Our July 2012 Daring Bakers' Host was Dana McFarland and she challenged us to make homemade crackers!  Dana showed us some techniques for making crackers and encouraged us to use our creativity to make each cracker our own by using ingredients we love.

When I read this challenge, my mind went immediately to Ritz crackers and wheat thins, the classics.  As a kid, Ritz, my cat, and I used to hang out together after school.  My cat and I could eat a whole tube of those crackers watching television.  I believe that cat liked them just as much as I did.  Today I would never eat them.  Partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil is not something anyone should be eating, not to mention all of the other GMO ingredients.  

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Challah

May’s Daring Bakers’ Challenge was pretty twisted - Ruth from The Crafts of Mommyhood challenged us to make challah!  Using recipes from all over, and tips from “A Taste of Challah,” by Tamar Ansh, she encouraged us to bake beautifully braided breads.

Daring Bakers Challenge: Dutch Crunch Rolls

Sara and Erica of Baking JDs were our March 2012 Daring Baker Hostesses!  Sara and Erica challenged us to make Dutch Crunch bread, a delicious sandwich bread with a unique, crunchy topping.  Sara and Erica also challenged us to create a one of a kind sandwich with our bread!

Having grown up in the San Francisco Bay Area, I never realized that Dutch Crunch bread was a local phenomenon.  The recipe originates in the Netherlands, where it’s called “Tiger” Bread, but no one is quite sure how or when it came to the Bay Area.

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Quick Bread

The Daring Bakers’ February 2012 host was - Lis!  Lisa stepped in last minute and challenged us to create a quick bread we could call our own.  She supplied us with a base recipe and shared some recipes she loves from various websites and encouraged us to build upon them and create new flavor profiles.

Spring is in the air in my part of the world so I wanted to choose flavors that complimented the season and would be appropriate for an Easter Brunch.  I chose to make a pineapple coconut quick bread.  I love this combination of flavors because they always remind me of summers on some tropical beach.

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Perfect Biscuits

Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host.  Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!

Aud is from Australia where biscuits are called scones and scones are called rock cakes.  Here in North America, these are biscuits.  Her recipe and more importantly her techniques were excellent, these biscuits were very light and fluffy and didn’t call for as much fat as most recipes.  I followed her recipe substituting the butter with Earth Balance butter substitute and Spectrum butter flavored palm shortening.  I also replaced the cow’s milk with rice milk to make a heart healthy, vegan version. 

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Filipino Desserts

Catherine of Munchie Musings was our November Daring Bakers’ host and she challenged us to make a tradition Filipino dessert - the delicious Sans Rival cake!  And for those of us who wanted to try an additional Filipino dessert, Catherine also gave us a bonus recipe for Bibingka which comes from her friend Jun of Jun-blog.  

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Povitica

The Daring Baker’s October 2011 challenge was Povitica, hosted by Jenni of The Gingered Whisk.  Povitica is a traditional Eastern European Dessert Bread that is as lovely to look at as it is to eat! 

Povitica (pronounced po-va-teet-sa) is traditionally served during the holiday season.  The best description would be: amazingly tender cinnamon nut swirl bread.  I would imagine that you could get very creative with the filling, maybe substituting with poppy seeds or by adding some chocolate chips or cranberries and it would be just as good. 

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Croissants

The Daring Bakers go retro this month!  Thanks to one of our very talented non-blogging members, Sarah, the Daring Bakers were challenged to make Croissants using a recipe from the Queen of French Cooking, none other than Julia Child! 

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Fresh Fraisiers

Jana of Cherry Tea Cakes was our July Daring Bakers’ host and she challenges us to make Fresh Frasiers inspired by recipes written by Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson in the beautiful cookbook Tartine.

Fraise is the French word for strawberry.  A Frasiers is a cake made with fresh strawberries and filled with pastry cream.  Making the required sponge cake was not the challenge for me.  I used my normal egg free cake recipe except that I substituted cake flour for all purpose flour to give it a lighter texture and I add a teaspoon of lemon zest.

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Baklava

Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Bakers’ June challenge.  Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then to use that homemade dough to make Baklava.

Typical of most ancient recipes, the origins of baklava are claimed by many ethnic groups but no one is really certain where it originated.  The educated guess is Central Asian, with it’s more current form being developed in the imperial kitchens of the Ottoman Turks after they captured Constantinople.  The palace chefs came from all the different Ottoman territories, so it’s considered an urban creation and not an ethnic one.

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake

The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast.  Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Panna Cotta & Florentines

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.