Joie Patisserie: pistachio

Hi Everyone! Thanks for stopping by to check out this month's Secret Recipe Club's Group C reveal. Its pretty much one of the best days ever - its when we get to reveal our top secret blog assignment for the month and our selected recipe from that blog. :) If you're interested in learning more about SRC or joining, check out what its all about here.

This month, my assignment was The World in my Kitchen written by Mindy. Mindy is from Kentucky, but she has lived and traveled to many different places over the years. Her blog is a great testament to the different places she has lived and she has so many cool recipes to share. You've got to stop by and check if out if you haven't been there before. I can't wait to pop back over there and make some more of Mindy's recipes given the wild success of the one I selected for SRC.

I made the Cranberry, Pistachio Icebox Cookies - they were so perfect because they're easy (and not at all finicky) and they used ingredients I already had in my pantry (woot!). Mindy had a really cute story about how these cookies pulled her out of a string of unsuccessful cookie baking attempts, so I knew the recipe must be a winner. And it was! You've got to try it out ASAP. :D

Cranberry, Pistachio Icebox Cookies
Minimally adapted from The World in my Kitchen

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
grated zest of one lemon
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar + 2 tbsp for sprinkling
1/2 cup shelled pistachios, roughly chopped
1/3 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten

Method:

Stir together the flour and the salt in a small bowl.
Beat together the butter, lemon zest, vanilla, and 1/4 cup of the sugar about 3 minutes (or until pale and fluffy). Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in three separate additions, mixing well after each addition. Mix until dough starts to come together in clumps. Add pistachios and cranberries and stir til evenly distributed through dough (it will be very crumbly still).
Gather and press dough together and divide into two equal portions. Using a piece of plastic wrap, gather and form each piece into a log (about 1 1/2 inches in diameter). Chill, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap until firm - minimum two hours, but up to three days.
Once chilled, preheat oven to 350F and line two large baking trays with parchment paper.
Brush egg over the log covering all surfaces except the two ends of the log. Sprinkle liberally with remaining two tbsp of sugar (or use turbinado sugar).
Slice each log into 1/4 inch rounds and place on the prepared cookie sheets. Bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Cool completely on a cooling rack.

And thats it! These are super easy and they taste delicious. They also look great because of the beautiful colours added by the pistachios and cranberrys. Thanks Mindy for such a lovely recipe. Can't wait to try out many more. :)

This post has been linked up with Whatcha Bakin Wednesdays over at Cajun Sugar Pie. Head over and check out what other mouthwatering desserts other bloggers have come up with this week.

I am most definitely posting late for this month's Daring Bakers' Challenge. It has been an insane month and it seems that just yesterday I was posting about our Panna Cotta challenge. Well, surprise, an entire month has flown by and I feel like I have nothing to show for it. But at least I managed to complete the challenge! And had a good time doing it!

The March 2011 Daring Bakers' Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria's Collection & Jamie of Life's a Feast. Ria & Jamie challenged the Daring Bakers to make a yeasted meringue coffee cake. I made two of the coffee cakes - the first one I stuck to the recipe and used cinnamon sugar, chocolate chips, and toasted pecans. I shaped this bread differently - more of an "S" shape then cut down the middle to show off the meringue. The second coffee cake I sprinkled on a tiny bit of the cinnamon sugar, fresh cranberries, toasted pistachios, almonds, and the zest of one lemon. I shaped this one like the wreath we were challenged to make. I found this to be a very similar technique to that of the Stollen Wreath we made at Christmastime, the only additional challenge was rolling it up without the meringue squishing out the sides!

I will definitely be making this recipe over and over again with different fillings! The possibilities are endless and it really does look nice when it is baked. Not to mention the fact that the house smelled absolutely heavenly while it was baking away in the oven. It was pretty tough to wait for the loaf to cool before hacking into it!

There are a couple of parts to this recipe, the first being the sweet dough.

Yeasted Coffee Cake Dough

Ingredients:

4 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1 pkg active dry yeast

3/4 cup whole milk

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

Method:

In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups of the flour, the sugar, the yeast, and the salt. Set aside.

In a saucepan, combine the milk, water and butter. Heat over medium heat until the mixture is warm and the butter is melted.

With an electric mixer on low speed, gradually add the warm liquid to the flour/ yeast mixture, beating until well blended. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes. Add the eggs and one more cup of the flour and mix for 2 more minutes.

Switch to your dough hook and stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a dough that holds together. Knead with the dough hook for 8-10 minutes until the dough is smooth, soft, sexy and elastic, adding extra flour as needed.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and then a tea towel. Place in a warm, draft free place until risen and doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Prepare your fillings.

The next component of this coffee cake is the meringue filling. The meringue is super easy to whip up as long as you have a stand mixer that you can just turn on high and walk away!! Which I do, so of course I LOVE making meringue because it turns out perfect every time. :) Ingredients:

3 large egg whites, at room temperature

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup sugar

Method:

Once the dough has doubled in bulk, make the meringue. Using a very clean mixing bowl, beat the egg whites and the salt on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase speed to high until the egg whites and foamy and opaque. Add the vanilla and then start adding the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff, glossy peaks form.

Mix up 2 tbsp of sugar with 1/4 tsp cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside. Also prepare one cup toasted pecans and 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (or as I did for my other bread - sprinkle with cranberries, pistachios, almonds and zest of 1 lemon).

The last step is to assemble the bread!

Method:

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Punch down the dough and divide in half. On a lightly floured surface, working with one piece of dough at a time, roll out the dough into a rectangle about 20x10 inches. Spread half the meringue over the dough, leaving about 1/2 inch of room on each side. Then sprinkle with 1/2 of the cinnamon sugar mixture, 1/2 of the nuts and 1/2 of the chocolate.

Roll the dough up jelly-roll style, starting on the long side. Pinch the seam closed to seal. Bring the ends of the log around and seal together, forming a ring, tucking one end into the other and pinching to seal.

Using a sharp knife, slash the dough evenly about 1 inch apart.

Repeat with remaining ingredients. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise again for about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Take 1 egg and beat well. Brush the loaves with the egg wash just prior to placing in the oven.

Bake the loaves for 25-30 minutes in the preheated oven until risen and golden brown. The dough should sound hollow when tapped.

Remove from oven to cooling racks until well cooled. Just before serving dust the tops lightly with cocoa powder or icing sugar (or both) to give them a pretty look. These are best if eaten fresh, the first day or two is ideal.

Yummers! They were great! The meringue sort of absorbs into the bread to make it so moist and delicious tasting. You'll have to restrain yourself from eating the whole loaf!

Thanks Ria and Jamie for such a lovely challenge! My favorite part about this challenge was the fact that it took elements that most of us Daring Bakers were familiar with and did something totally unexpected with them. I mean who would have thought of putting meringue into a sweet bread?! I know I never would have. I can't wait to have a look around at what all of the other fabulous Daring Bakers did with their challenges. Check it out if you have a second at the Daring Kitchen website. You won't be disappointed. :)