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Hello all! Happy 2010! I have been away due to staging job and writing classes I was taking at N.Y.U., and of course the holidays. I hope you all will join me in my food new adventures.
Below is a photo of my latest eggs benedict. These consist of a parmesan lemon pepper biscuit, thick cut bacon, dippy egg and homemade hollandaise sauce (do they even sell pre-made hollandaise?) Yes, I know what your thinking, “Holy FAT with a side of FAT?!” But we don’t eat like this everyday; this is our weekend brunch. (Although, I may have leftovers for breakfast today… I know… don’t judge!) OK, more posts coming soon!

This cake was for my husband’s birthday and I didn’t have time to get a great shot of it. It was a chocolate cake with a chocolate pastry cream filling, vanilla bean butter cream and topped off with chocolate ganache. Finally, I served it with a fresh raspberry coulis. The best part of making this cake was the pouring the ganache and watching it find its own path on the cakes walls. While I was pouring the ganache, I paused and looked up to see about 20 of our friends circling around me watching the chocolate drip off the sides in hopes I would offer them a swig.

The next cake was for a sweet 16 birthday party. I was told by my client that the birthday girl loved oreo cookies. Wanting to surprise the birthday girl after the candle blowing, I chopped up some oreo cookies and baked them into the chocolate cake layers.

The zebra print is hand cut fondont on buttercream and brushed with edible silver glitter.

PHOTOS: Danielle Bilton

With all the this summer heat I like to keep my time in the kitchen short — and my time spent in front of a hot oven even shorter.

This summer I’ve been drawn to crisps. I’ve been trying to avoid letting pie dough chill, then rolling it out, letting it rest, and so on… With a crisp you just get your hands in there and mix up the toppings. The fruit is the same, toss, mix and into the oven it goes.PHOTOS: Danielle Bilton

CRISP:
1 3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds
3/4 cup flour
1 lb. brown sugar
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cubed, and chilled

FRUIT FILLING :
2 1/2 lbs stone fruit, pitted, and quartered into bite sized pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Rub the butter into topping dry ingredients with fingers, until there is no more dry mixture.
3. Stir all filling ingredients together, and pour into a 2 quart oven save dish.
4. Cover fruit filling with topping. Place baking dish on a cookie sheet, as the crisp will bubble over when done. Bake for 30-40 minutes until top is golden and filling is bubbling through.

A 2-layer chocolate cake, with fresh banana pastry cream filling, and covered in vanilla bean buttercream: I think that’s a pretty unforgettable 1st birthday cake. Friends of ours commissioned me to make their adorable daughter’s 1st birthday cake. It was a luau themed party. So, as requested, I made orange hibiscus flowers and scattered hibiscus petals around the cake. I was very happy with the final product, as was little Miss Aysa. Photos: Danielle Bilton.

This post is very exciting for me because it’s my first virtual potluck! The wonderful hostess’ of this potluck are Tara Desmond and Joy Manning of Almost Meatless.

The recipe I chose was the almond gnocchi in a lamb ragu. The lamb is seared and then braised in the tomato, red wine and herbs mixture for about and hour to an hour and a half. By the time you’re cooking in the gnocchi the lamb is falling off the bone.

PHOTOS: Danielle Bilton

I’ve never made gnocchi before; it just never appealed to me. But when I saw that there were almonds used in this recipe I jumped at the chance to make it. Plus, making the gnocchi is easy. Though, I would recommend getting a family member or a friend to help out as it can be a time consuming task. This also helps ensure that every piece of gnocchi has its own personality.

When it was time eat the fruits of our labor, the table was silent — in an Italian household, this is a good thing. Eating the gnocchi was like eating little puffs of almond pasta covered in lamb and saucy goodness. I topped off my ragu dish with crispy sage fried in butter and freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Thank you again to our wonderful hostess’ Tara Desmond and Joy Manning for creating such meat lite and vegetable hearty dishes in their cookbook, Almost Meatless. You must go and check out the recipes other talented food bloggers made from their book. You can find the list of bloggers on Tara or Joy’s blog. Till my next pot luck!

This was a birthday cake for a woman who does not like buttercream. I came up with this alternative: meringue frosting with bavarian lemon cream filling and fresh raspberries.

I didn’t have the right size cake ring. So I taped clear film around the cake and just hoped for the best while I poured in the filling.  As you can see, the filling seeped out the sides, but eventually set and stayed put.

To finish off the cake I bruleed the top with a torch and placed candied lemons in the middle. The band around the bottom is fondont covered in gold sugar.

PHOTOS: Danielle Bilton

PHOTOS: Danielle Bilton

The aromas of strawberries at the farmers market have me dreaming of endless berry desserts. I really enjoyed this recipe because cream and strawberries go so well together. The crumbly sweet crust makes it instantly complete. One of the endless strawberry desserts!

SWEET TART DOUGH:
from tartine bakery cookbook
1 cup +2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter, sugar, and salt. Mix on medium speed until smooth.
Mix in eggs one at a time and mix until smooth.
Stop mixer and scrape down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula.
Add flour all at once and mix on low speed until just incorporated.
Divide dough into 4 equal balls, 1/2 inch thick, wrap well in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours or over night.
On a parchment lined baking sheet, set out your tart rings, I used 4-3 inch rings.
Once chilled, roll out dough to proper size you need to line your tart rings.
Dock shell with a fork and bake in oven at 325 degrees F for 7 to 10 minutes. Make sure color is golden, about 5 more minutes. Set aside and let cool.

BAVARIAN CREAM FILLING:
from tartine bakery cookbook

1 1/2 teaspoon gelatin
1 tablespoon cold water
2 1/2 cups pastry cream, cold
2 cups heavy cream

In a small dish sprinkle gelatin over water and let stand for a few minutes to soften.
Next, in a double boiler, place 1/2 cup of the pastry cream in a stainless steel bowl resting over the simmering water.
Heat the pastry cream whisking constantly, until hot to the touch (120 degrees F), about 5 minutes. Add the gelatin and whisk until smooth. Remove from water bath.
Whisk half of the remaining cold pastry cream into the hot mixture, then whisk in the rest.
In a separate bowl, whip the rest of the heavy cream until medium-stiff peaks. Immediately and gently fold the whipped cream into the pastry cream with a rubber spatula. At this point you want to fill the tart shells right away and store in the refrigerator until filling is set, about 1 hour. Top off with your favorite fruit and serve.

See if you can keep up with me here as I bake a cake for 50 people in the middle of summer. My inspiration for this cake came from my stage last summer in Chef Iuzzini’s kitchen. His Sous Chef, AJ Bellarosa, made a wedding cake with lime scented white chocolate mousse filling and creme brulee pellets throughout the mousse layer. At that moment, it just stuck with me, what kind of cakes I would be making. Cakes do not just have to be cake and buttercream — which is absolutely fantastic and OK, just not what I would want — but can become anything your mind can conjure up.

PHOTOS: Danielle Bilton

The font and the soccer ball, were done by tracing a print out under a piece of acetate with melted and colored white chocolate.

I should also mention as the cake layers were cooling, I had spread the thinnest layer of seedless raspberry jam on each layer. I just thought the hint of the raspberry flavor was necessary to accent the fresh lime zest.

At the end of the party, all that was left was the soccer ball. People actually went back for thirds!

It’s that time again: Rooftop BBQ’s in Brooklyn. PHOTOS: Danielle BiltonEach summer, Nick and I try to hold a few rooftop BBQ’s and this was our kickoff event. Nick made everyone’s classic favorite: four racks of ribs and salad. I made cornbread, and strawberry rhubarb crisp with basil ice cream.Our guests enjoyed the dessert. One friend said she thought the basil ice cream tasted like sweet pesto. Not sure if it was a compliment, but she did eat the entire thing.BASIL ICE CREAM:2 cups whole milk3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil1/2 cup sugar4 large egg yolks1/2 cup well-chilled heavy creamSpecial equipment: an instant-read thermometer; an ice cream makerBring milk, basil, 1/4 cup sugar, and a pinch of salt to a boil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan, stirring, then remove from heat and let steep 30 minutes. Transfer to a blender (reserve saucepan) and blend until basil is finely ground, about 1 minute.Beat together yolks and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until thick and pale, about 1 minute. Add milk mixture in a stream, beating until combined well. Pour mixture into reserved saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture coats back of spoon and registers 175°F on thermometer (do not let boil). Immediately remove from heat and pour into a metal bowl. Set bowl in a larger bowl of ice water and stir until cold, 10 to 15 minutes.Stir in cream and freeze in ice cream maker. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden, at least 2 hours.STRAWBERRY RHUBARB CRISP:2 pints of fresh strawberries, hulled and halved1 quart chopped rhubarb, about 3-4 stalks depending on size1 cup sugar1 teaspoon lemon zestjuice from one lemon3 tablespoons cornstarchCRISP:1 3/4 cup rolled oats1/2 cup sliced almonds3/4 cup flour1 lb. brown sugarpinch of salt1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cubed, and chilledPreheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 13 baking dish and set aside.FOR THE FILLING:In a large bowl combine all ingredients until fruit is well coated. With a rubber spatula, scrape filling into baking dish and set aside.FOR THE CRISP:In the same large bowl, with clean hands, mix together oats, almonds, brown sugar, and salt.  Toss in chilled butter and begin to quickly rub the butter between your fingers with the dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse meal.Sprinkle topping to completely cover the filling. Now it’s ready for the oven.Bake for 20 minutes or until top is golden and juices are slightly bubbling from the sides. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

A few weeks ago, I was approached to make a red velvet 3-tier wedding cake, using Martha Stewart’s recipe. The bride had made it many times and loved this one recipe.

PHOTOS: Danielle Bilton

The cake batter was very RED, so I would advise you to wear gloves. With the leftover cake batter, I made mini cupcakes and topped them with pearl dragees .

They were a great, casual dinner party dessert. Everyone felt OK to eat at least four or more mini cupcakes.