February Baking

For one reason or another, this month's baking activities do not deserve individual posts. So I decided to share only their pictures with a brief description of what went wrong in each case.

What you see below is a Turkish quince dessert served with mascarpone as a substitute for its perfect accompaniment kaymak (clotted cream). The poaching instructions are included in this post. We were very happy with the results when I made the Quince and Mascarpone Tart using the same recipe; however, this time the consensus was that the quinces needed a lift from more sugar.

This was inspired by another apple dessert from Alice Medrich's Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts, one of my newer acquisitions. I borrowed the idea of the "apple rose" from her. What you don't see in the picture is the multi-layered cake underneath the rose, my contribution to this dessert. We loved the taste, and when I make it again, I hope to take better pictures showing the different layers. On that occasion, I will share the recipe, too.

These brownies were for the potluck following my son's class play. I made them for the first time and was disappointed with the result. In spite of the alarming amount of butter that went into the batter (not to mention some of my best bittersweet chocolate), the brownie part turned out to be flat in taste and dry. The pecans, caramel and chocolate drizzled on the top partially made up for what was missing underneath. Still, the overall dessert does not deserve to be on Our Patisserie archives, nor to be given a second chance.

I made this peach tart for my brother and his wife who visited us last weekend. The ingredients were on hand, and the combination of a thin almond spiked cheesecake layer with peaches sounded good. Well, I was forgetful as always, and left it in the oven a little longer than the recipe indicated. The cheesecake layer browned on the top and although it did not burn, it cooked firmer than it should have. The overall taste was still OK, but I suspect it might have been better if I baked it less. Will try again.

Not exactly patisserie fare, but these came out of the oven, too. They are known as pide in Turkey, and come with a variety of fillings. These had a combination of ricotta and cheese in them, and they were very good to have with tea. I also made meat, tomato and pepper ones, but the idea of having anything meat in Our Patisserie did not appeal to me, hence no pictures.