jenncc's Reviews
5 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 5Sort by: Title 
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Baking: From My Home to Yours
By Dorie Greenspan
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - 2006
Brown Sugar Bundt Cake : page 179
Yum! This is a moist, tender cake with chunks of pear and sweet little morsels of prune. Honestly I hesitated on the prunes, not that I don't like them, I do, but I just thought the pear/brown sugar/hazelnut flavors would be enough to carry this cake. I am so glad I decided to throw then in! The addition reminded me of a delicious, homey dessert I had in France. The options for this cake are limitless - Dorie suggests apples with raisins or currents. I think dried apricots or tart cherries would also be great. I am sure the ground hazelnuts added to the moisture in this cake, I did not get much hazelnut flavor however.
useful (1)
French Yogurt Cake with Marmalade Glaze : page 224
This is moist and delicious without being over the top and it is not as heavy as the usual pound cake. Fancy enough for guests, humble (and simple) enough for a lazy Sunday. I used fat free Greek yogurt and added a bit of orange juice to my glaze as I found the marmalade a little bitter for my taste. I like Dorie's idea of making this into a layer cake as I think it would hold up to a multitude of flavors and textures. I served this along side goat cheese and sweet corn ice creams (from Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream cookbook).
useful (2)
Golden Brioche Loaves : page 48
This recipe produces a fabulous, rich loaf. Though it takes time, it isn't complicated and certainly worth the effort. My only worries were when Dorie says (during the first step) that the dough should be a fairly dry, shaggy mass - I had dry for sure, but no "shaggy" and nothing cohesive enough to call a mass. I added a bit more warm water and it eventually came together. My other dilemma was during the final rise the dough are in pans, on a baking sheet - I wasn't sure if they should remain on the baking sheet during baking or not. I went ahead and put them in the oven, baking sheet and all, where they browned quickly and evenly. In fact I did turn the oven down a notch for the final 5-6 minutes of baking as to not over brown the tops (I wasn't so worried about the bottoms since I had the baking sheet under the pans:) They came out lovely both in flavor and texture.
useful (0)
Perfect Party Cake : page 250
Great cake with a bright, lemon-y flavor. The buttercream came together easily, though it did separate momentarily before whipping up into the perfect silky, shiny, white frosting. I made a strawberry quick jam for between the layers - lovely lemon- berry combo. Skipped the coconut.
useful (1)
The Most Extraordinary Lemon Cream Tart : page 331
This is delicious! It was fairly simple and I had no trouble getting the cream to thicken/ reaching 180 degrees, especially after following Dorie's tips on her website - put a metal bowl over a soup pot of simmering water (rather than my usual smaller saucepan), whisking "like mad", and not straining the lemon zest. Used her Sweet Tart Dough recipe which is always great. It definitely benefits from setting in the fridge overnight (4 hours was not quite enough).
useful (3)