Saturday, August 28, 2010

August 2010 Daring Bakers' Challenge: Ice Cream Petit Fours/ Baked Alaska With Brown Butter Pound Cake

Posted by Nuraini at 3:30 PM
The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”.

August's challenge was a fun, and tiring one to me. As always, making homemade ice cream without an ice cream maker is time consuming. Moreover, with limited storage space in my more-than-15-year-old freezer makes ice cream making a more daunting task. Elissa was kind enough to allow the use of store bought ice cream for those with complications in making homemade ice cream.

Earlier this month, I was having my progress test so I was afraid I wouldn't have enough time to make my own ice cream and to complete this challenge. However, towards the end of the month, I've decided that I should participate this challenge by making homemade ice cream, rather than store bought ones. Else, would this be a challenge anymore? Challenges are meant to be hard, don't they?

Initially, I chose to make baked alaska. However, during the process, I decided to make some petit fours as well. I suppose I was excited to decorate my cakes with those decorating sprinkles and stars sitting in my fridge waiting for my Raya baking. I invited a friend over to bake with me as I have all the equipments over at my place. In exchange, I got to have awesome pictures of my cakes taken.

Here's my baked alaska - caramel ice cream with brown buter pound cake topped with meringue.


Next up, is my petit fours - caramel ice cream sandwiched with brown butter pound cake decorated with chocolate glaze, icing sugar, almonds, colourful sprinkles and stars.


I've enjoyed this month challenge a lot. It allowed me to let my creativity flow, something I could never have done else where but my baking. The brown butter pound cake was exceptionally delicious. The aroma itself could lured me into the kitchen past midnight just to have another bite of the cake. Letting the cake wait in the freezer sure was a torture. My family and friends enjoyed the cake a lot and hopefully, my Physics tutor did too. I gave him each of the Petit Fours as a I'm-sorry-I-did-not-score-very-well-for-Physics-progress-test gift.

This recipe is really something worth keeping. Perhaps it's time I re-compile all my recipes into my recipe book. If you wanna know more about the recipe, please visit http://thedaringkitchen.com/.

This month, I'll let the pictures do all the talking for the baking process. :)

2 comments on "August 2010 Daring Bakers' Challenge: Ice Cream Petit Fours/ Baked Alaska With Brown Butter Pound Cake"

Renata on August 30, 2010 at 2:11 PM said...

I love the way you dared and made both versions and + variations! Great job, the Alaska looks delicious and the petit fours are adorable!

Kris Ngoei on September 21, 2010 at 4:29 PM said...

Thanks Nuraini for the link to the layered cake! That is a very rich and yummy cake....

Sawadee from bangkok,
Kris

 

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