Tagged...

I have been tagged by Tulin of Domestic Cat to list my food challenges for 2006. Let's see if I will be able to come up with 5 as asked:

1. I promised to make a wedding cake for my friends who are getting married at the end of March. The bride wants a chocolate cake with a traditional white frosting. I have tried my hand at wedding cakes before, but every wedding cake is definitely a new challenge; and this one will be even more so because of the dark colored cake under the light colored frosting. I am both very excited and nervous about this project. The good news is that I'll have another friend --who is more experienced in making big cakes-- to help.
2. My husband was diagnosed with gall stones about two weeks ago, and has been on a strictly no fat diet since then. Knowing that he should stay away from the kind of desserts I usually make initially left me without any desire to bake. But lately, I am starting to discover that it is possible to make delicious desserts with much less fat. This is virgin territory for me, so I am very excited and really look forward to experimenting with new ingredients and recipes.
   
3. I always wanted to learn more about bread baking. I hope that 2006 will be the year that I can experiment more with yeast.
4. I want to master making madelaines, canelles and homemade puff pastry. And, oh yes, there are a couple of desserts in Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme that I have been dying to make. I really hope that I can do at least some of these this year.
   
5. I started to use mascarpone and creme fraiche in my baking in 2005. Both of these are hard to find in US supermarkets, and they can be quite costly even if one can find them. I want to try and see if I can make these European ingredients at home.

And now I tag Anna (Cookie Madness), Sarah Lou (One Whole Clove) and Fethiye (Yogurt Land). I hope you guys have not been tagged with this before. Would you like to share your 5 food challenges for 2006 with us?