Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies... the July Daring Bakers' challenge

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

And this is my mallows it's lovely work with lovely taste

Mallows(Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies)
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website

Prep Time: 10 min
Inactive Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 10 min
Serves: about 2 dozen cookies

• 3 cups (375grams/13.23oz) all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (112.5grams/3.97oz) white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter
• 3 eggs, whisked together
• Homemade marshmallows, recipe follows
• Chocolate glaze, recipe follows

1. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients.
2. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy.
3. Add the eggs and mix until combine.
4. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
5. When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
7. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 1 to 1 1/2 inches cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough.
8. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.
9. Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours.
10. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.
11. One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze.
12. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.
13. Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

Note: if you don’t want to make your own marshmallows, you can cut a large marshmallow in half and place on the cookie base. Heat in a preheated 350-degree oven to slump the marshmallow slightly, it will expand and brown a little. Let cool, then proceed with the chocolate dipping.

Homemade marshmallows:
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar
• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 2 egg whites , room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.
2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.
3. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.
4. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.
5. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.
6. Transfer to a pastry bag.

Chocolate glaze:
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 2 ounces cocoa butter or vegetable oil

1. Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water.

The July 2009, Walima Challenge

The July 2009, Challenge is brought to us by Chahira Daoud from http://chahirakitchen.blogspot.com/ Chahira worked on two recipes to give us two choices; one for a wonderful savoury dish and one for dessert....


thank u for this choices it's very delicious and healthy... I made the koshary by Syrian touches ... cause we have similar recipe..
it's Mogadara.. we can make it by rice or burgul.
and when we make it with rice and lentils ...
we put the chopped onions in and some out ..
and the rice we cooke it with the lentils boiling water .. .
so i made the Nesrin's way.... and the surprise is in aldakka >>>:O >>>:D ....
it;s lovely .. i was made it one time before but not with Chahira way ...
and now i will cooke it allways :)
then we test the perfect basbousa at all... thank u Chahira it's realy good .....



ـ
KOUSHARY
at first I fried the onions
with olive oil

then add the lentils

then the water



when the lentils is done
i take that water and make my rice with it then combine all together


the ingredients as Chahira told us.......:

1 cup brown lentils
1 cup rice (Egyptian rice)
1/8 kg ditalini pasta
Salt

For the fried onions :
2 big onions and some oil for frying it.
About a 1/4 cup of vegetable oil.

For the salsa or tomatoes sauce:-

2 cups tomato juice.
1good onion chopped very finely.
3 garlic cloves, finely crushed.
1 TBS vinegar (white vinegar).
vegetable oil, salt, pepper, cumin, hot chili.

For Dakka:- a cumin, vinegar, garlic sauce

2 TBS cumin seeds crashed
Half a cup of vinegar
Half a cup of hot water
1tsp of hot chili- salt and pepper
4 garlic clovesHow to prepare it:-

Cook lentils in salted water until tender. Strain.
In a rice pan stir the washed rice in a tablespoon of vegetable oil then cover it with water put some salt and let it cooked till boiling then Cook it on a very low flame until tender.
Cook macaroni, strain, rinse, and strain again.
Place these three ingredients in a cooking pot.
Fry onions (in a separate pan) to a brown , then remove the onions onto absorbent paper and strain the oil into the lentil /rice/pasta mixture. Return the pot to the flame and cook for 7-10 minutes, keep the flame always low.

To prepare tomato sauce:-

Saute onions until soft, then add garlic and fry to a pale brown. Add tomato juice and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until sauce is cooked and becomes thick . Add vinegar and seasonings and cook 2-3 minutes longer.

To prepare Dakka:-

Take garlic cloves and hit them with the end of the knife, but don't break them up. Add into white vinegar and water mix. Add some cumin and coriander into the vinegar as well as salt and pepper and hot chili. Stir and let it aside.Serve the dish by topping each individual plate "rice/pasta/lentil" with tomato sauce and fried onions. Sprinkle it with some whole cooked chickpeas.
Serve it with a bowl full of Dakka so you can add from it the quantity you need in your plate.




Basbouussa:--

One of the most famous dessert dishes in Egypt, you can find it in other Arabic countries but with different tastes and different flavors as well as different names.
I am presenting to you this time the Egyptian basbouussa.

The ingredients:-

2 and half cups of fine Semolina flourA half cup of all purpose flour
1 and half TBLSof baking powder.
A half cup of coconut
A 3/4 cup of ghee " natural ghee" or you can use butter instead of it but you have to make it one full cup "softened at room temperature".
1tsp of vanilla.
One cup of yogurt.
Half cup of sugar.

For the syrup:-

2 and half cups of sugar
2 and half cups of water
1 tbls of lemon juice.
vanilla

Tahini and some butter to grease the baking tray.

How to prepare it:-

Mix the semolina- flour- baking powder- coconut- sugar- butter or ghee- yogurt- vanilla, mix it well with your hands, don't be afraid it will not bite you….LOL
Just to feel the batter and to enjoy it as I always do.
Grease very well your baking tray with a mix of butter and tahini, you can use just Tahini.
Pour your basbouusa dough and spread it using your hand to cover and fit your baking tray.
Garnish it with nuts and candied cherries, it is up to you, I love it with walnuts, hazelnuts and candied cherries. Take care and insert your nuts or fruits very well by pushing it down.
Keep your basbouusa tray for 6 or 7 hours before baking it.

To prepare the syrup:-

In a pan put the sugar with the water , on the stove stir it until the sugar crystals dissappear then let the spoon and add the lemon juice, let it boil till it reaches the thread point stage , add some vanilla . Keep it warm when pouring it over the basbouusa tray, it should be hot too.
Bake basboussa in a preheated oven on 230C or from middle to middle high temp.
Pour the warm or hot syrup over the hot basbouusa tray.




this is my photos ... wich you will like it .....cause we are love it ..:)

The May 2009, Challenge is brought to us by Khadidja Zehani from www.dessert-world.blogspot.com. Khadidja worked on two recipes to give us two choices; one for a wonderful savoury dish and one for outstanding dessert....

Almond Surprises

Dough (Outer layer)

note I'm using a "measure" which means use the same cup to measure the different ingredients. Could be a cup, 1/2 cup....etc. For instance if you use the "1/2 cup" you would need a 1/4 cup of the clarified butter. Also, I usually use the food processor to make the dough.

3 measures all purpose flour
1/2 measure clarified butter
pinch of salt
1 measure orange blossom water

In a bowl, mix the flour, clarified butter and salt. Work the ingredients between your hands until crumbly. Start adding the orange blossom water slowly until you get a dough. It shouldn't be very soft. Add enough water to make a dough that is not sticky. If using the food processor, follow the same instructions. Divide the dough into balls and color each one with the desired food coloring. It takes some time for the color to get incorporated in the dough, just keep working the dough with your hands and be patient! Keep the dough balls in a ziploc bag and let them rest for at least 30 minutes at room temperature.

Almond Filling

300g ground blanched almonds
180g powdered (confectioner) sugar
1 large egg
Zest of 1 large lemon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix all the ingredients until you form a dough. It shouldn't be sticky to the touch. Form into a walnut size balls and keep in the fridge until ready to use.

Orange blossom & Lemon Syrup

2 cups granulated sugar
5 cups water
1/4 cup orange blossom water
2 TBsp lemon juice
Lemon peels from 1 large lemon

In a sauce pan, mix the sugar, water and the lemon peels. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Off heat add the orange blosoom water and the lemon juice. Cover and let completely cool. The syrup should be cold when used.

Preparation of the cookies

Prepare your pasta machine. If you don't have one, you could use a rolling pin, but I don't think the result will be the same since we want the dough to be very thin. Plus, the machine makes the work much easier and faster.
If you want the cookies to be just one color (like the pink ones I made) there won't be too much work to do, you would put the dough through the machine and roll it out on the thinner setting.
If you want the multi colored stripped dough, here is what you would do: make strips out of the different colored doughs. Stuck the strips by alternating the colors. Make sure they are well glued to each other, you could use some water to make them stick (go easy on the water please!). Start rolling the strips on the medium thickness of the machine, then roll it again on the thinnest setting. while you're rolling and working, use some corn starch to make the dough dry out a little bit. Spread some corn starch on your work surface and lay the rolled out dough. Let it sit for 3 to 5 minutes, then cut out circles about 5 inches in diameter. Let the circles dry out another 5 minutes.
Put in the middle of each circle of dough a ball of filling and close the whole thing gently to form a
surprise package or some kind of a basket. Press gently so the dough in the middle stick well and won't open up during baking. Be careful not to press hardly otherwise the dough will get cut and the filling will come out during baking.
finish making all the cookies and arrange them on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Let the cookies sit for at least an hour before baking. The more they sit the better they will keep their shape while baking.
Bake the cookies in a 320 f preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. They shouldn't get brown at all to keep their nice color. As soon as they come out of the oven, plunge them in the cold syrup. Let them soak the syrup for 1 to 2 minutes. Arrange the cookies on a cookie rack with a baking sheet underneath it to drain the excess syrup.

Note: You can use Honey thinned with orange blossom water instead of the simple syrup. Just heat the honey and orange blossom water and let the mixture cool. The consistency of the honey should be like a simple syrup

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers

Hi all
i'm very happy to do this pastry it's so amusing to do and delicious
i made it twice one with apples , cinnamon and walnut mix...
and one with the cheese and parsley mix..
we love it ...

Strudel dough

1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.
Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.

Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.
Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).

It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.
Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.

The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.

Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked

.

April 2009 challenge

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

Hello

And finally ...I carved out some of my time to enjoy with the best piece of wonderful cheese cake
I used in decorating the green apple ...
And of course with a cinnamon...my favorite:)

I have to observe the basic ingredients listed by JennyBakes ....from Abbey's cheescake...

and the result was more than wonderful ...

I hope to get your satisfaction

...

:Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake

crust:
2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

cheesecake:
3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)
1 tbsp liqueur, optional, but choose what will work well with your cheesecake

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too - baker's choice.

..Set crust aside

Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer

or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer.. and cream together until smooth

Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy

Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface

Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water

Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center

You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve

love it

this is my burger

I mixed with fresh meat...Onion

garlic with some of soft bread crumbs, salt
and the black pepper

































YAMMMMMY:D