r/52weeksofbaking

I've been wanting to make something from Showstopping Cakes by Rahul Mandal from the Great British Baking Show for awhile and what better time than Showstopper week! Since I didn't need to eat a three layer cake myself, I reduced the cake to 25% and used two 5" pans and reduced the caramel and ganache recipes by 50%. The flavors are amazing but the ganache came out really dry and crumbly, which made whipping impossible and spreading difficult. Overall, I like the cake but would need a few more practice runs before serving to others.

Recipe from Claire Saffitz’s Dessert Person. This was a bit of a fail for me - my brioche didn’t rise so I had to make a second one, my crème pat was too thin, folding in the whipped cream made a soupy mess, and it didn’t want to hold together at all! I ended up having to put it in the freezer just to get it set enough for a photo. However it was still tasty! I would try this again, maybe for nemesis week.

I really love challah but have never attempted to make it myself so enriched dough week seemed like a great opportunity! I used Claire Saffitz’s Tahini Honey Challah recipe from Dessert Person. My shaping absolutely needs some work but I’m not mad at it for a first try.

Maritozzi, Italian cream buns, combine a soft and buttery enriched dough with a light and fluffy cream filling to get you the perfect sweet bite to go with espresso.

I went a bit off-book with my version, since I wanted to add a little more visual flair and also work in some of my favorite flavors.

The buns themselves are made using Kristina Cho's milk bread recipe from Mooncakes & Milk Bread, a reliable staple for me. The filling is a whipped mascarpone with pistachio paste, and then the buns are all topped with a dusting of powdered freeze dried strawberries and toasted pistachios or strawberry slices.

my first ever tiered cake! any tips on piping drop lines appreciated 🥹

Soft, buttery, hamburger buns topped with a little Everything seasoning.

Recipe from America’s Test Kitchen: https://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/3757-blueberry-scones

Vanilla chiffon soaked in longan syrup and layered with jasmine whipped cream frosting and bits of longan. Brought to a family function.

Longan is a common Southeast Asian fruit, similar to lychee. Subtle sweet, floral, musk flavors.

This cake was delicate and not too sweet, which was perfect for my family’s palate!

Definitely wayyyy overstuffed it, but it was tasty!

Recipes:
Puff Pastry: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/classic-puff-pastry-pate-feuilletee-recipe
Tarte Soleil: https://www.peelthegarlic.com/recipe/tarte-soleil

Life had been busy and I’ve fallen behind on the challenges, but I’m starting to catch up! Made these lemon basil shortbread for the 4th of July celebrations since I had some lemon on hand and my basil plant needed a good trim. Turned out way better than expected!

For this week’s challenge, I made the Blueberry Slab Pie from Claire Saffitz’s Dessert Person, but I decided to make it in this design since I was bringing it to a party for the 4th. There are only 39 stars because there wasn’t room for all 50, so some states had to be sacrificed. I am fine with this. 😂

Anyway, rolling out the dough for the base of the pie was a major pain in the ass for me. It took me three tries to get it right because the dough ripped upon being placed on the sheet (from being too thin in some spots or being too warm) or didn’t go far enough up the pan in some areas.

But the final result was great and the crust was very flaky and golden brown with no soggy bottom! I did not bake it inside a second preheated half sheet pan — I just baked it on a foil-lined bottom rack.

I baked the stars separately and placed them on the already baked pie. So the stars technically count as a topping! I used the star of a Linzer Christmas cookie cutter set to make the stars.

I was going to make lemon chantilly to top the pie and made the lemon syrup for it, but I didn’t have any leftover lemons to zest, so I just made vanilla-bean infused whipped cream instead.

It was so hot this week so I tried to balance something visually appealing with something that would hold up in this heat. I made a basic chocolate sponge layered with chocolate French buttercream and homemade cherry jam. Chocolate mirror glaze was a fun challenge since I’ve never used gelatin in a recipe. It was a delicious cake and the mirror glaze set very well!

It’s Jack and Jill’s birthday! They are 4 now. Bonus dog tax from the party

The base dough recipe here uses a tangzhong, butter, whole milk, and egg to enrich it and is SUPER soft and fluffy! https://cooklikelauren.com/breakfast/homemade-cinnamon-rolls/