This cake was the November Daring Bakers’ challenge (hosted by Dolores, Alex, and Jenny). The recipe for the caramel cake and brown butter frosting was generously provided by Shuna Fish Lydon. I added ground cardamom to the cake batter, and flavored the butter with cardamom as well, by heating the butter with crushed cardamom pods. Caramel and cardamom are wonderful together! The cake promised to be sweet, very sweet. Thus, I decided to balance it with basically unsweetened strawberry gelée that I placed between the two cake layers as a filling (the cake was sliced horizontally in half). I also increased the amount of salt in both – cake and frosting. Fleur de sel would be nice in the frosting, but it could clog a piping tip, so I went with kosher salt instead. I piped the rosettes on the top of the cake and placed the little caramel cut-out flowers in the center of each rosette (the soft honey-cardamom caramels made earlier were rolled thinly between plastic wrap and used for these cut-outs). Such décor has to be chilled in the refrigerator to firm up, and placed on the cake right before serving.

How did the whole thing turn out? The flavor was marvelous! The caramel, brown butter, cardamom, and fresh strawberry flavor together made it sing, really. The cake itself was also delicious and moist. As for the frosting texture, I simply don’t favor icing sugar based frostings. I think the same flavored cream cheese frosting (to preserve the American style) would be better here. But, it’s all the matter of taste. If you, unlike me, like the icing sugar frostings, you are going to love this one.

The recipe is adapted from Shuna Fish Lydon’s.

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These soft caramels are not difficult to make and very easy to eat. I infused the cream with cardamom flavor and added a good portion of fleur de sel. I do have an addiction to salted caramel. I guess, it shows…

The recipe is from “Pure Desserts” by Alice Medrich (I’m addicted to her recipes, as well), slightly adapted.

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There are total of four layers in this tart and I’m not counting the tart crust as a layer. At the very bottom there are honey roasted salted peanuts covered with fleur de sel caramel. Then goes a layer of barely sweetened tangy sour cream-cream cheese mousse followed by the milk chocolate pastry cream. The egg whites left over after making pâte sablée and pastry cream were turned into Swiss meringue topping and then blow-torched. It tasted fantastic. Every layer is equally thin (well, except the Swiss meringue) and harmoniously compliments each other. The filling is sweet and salty, and creamy; the crust is buttery, chocolaty, crispy and tender.

Some components can be made in advance, but the assembled tart should be enjoyed (and it’s pure enjoyment) the same day it is put together.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who hasn’t celebrated their Thanksgiving yet! And I’m off until Saturday. I’ve got a lot of catch up to do visiting your blogs, guys. I haven’t had a lot of time lately, so – my apologies.

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Everyone who bakes regularly once in a while faces a problem of utilizing cake scraps after leveling layers, or/and some chocolate ganache-glaze leftovers. The most efficient and easiest way to get rid of them all at once is to make the dolce salami. This is not a classic Italian recipe required egg yolks but it makes no less delicious salami. The formed log can be popped in the freezer and kept there well for about a month guarantying you always have something for your unexpected guests (don’t we all love them). There’s no need to defrost the salami before serving; it doesn’t freeze rock-hard and softens fairly quickly at room temperature. Cut it into slices with a sharp knife, put a kettle on and, by the time it boils, the salami will be good to go.

The ingredients below are mostly for a reference. Feel free to substitute for different nuts, fruits, and flavorings suiting your own taste.

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A pumpkin pie that I would love is an ongoing project. I’ve tested dozens of recipes but haven’t yet found the favorite one. As soon as I hit it I’ll certainly share my discovery with you. Meanwhile, there’s a whimsy but tasty alternative. Caramelized phyllo rounds (or it can be any other shape appealing to your eye) can be made a day in advance and they would still preserve their crispiness if you store them in an airtight container away from moisture. But the whole stack shouldn’t be assembled more than 2-3 hours in advance to ensure crispy pastry. I served the napoleons with caramelized spicy-salty walnuts, candied ginger, and some maple syrup drizzled over.

Also there’s a thought worthy to be mentioned. I found that the baking of phyllo flattened under a weight is a great solution when the store bought phyllo pastry turns out to be too dry and too fragile (due to improper storage, I suspect) to be used for any other baking needs requiring rolling-shaping. Nothing has to be wasted, it still can be transformed into delicious stuff. There are thousands of possible filling variations as well as presentation options.

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Or, I probably should say “the perfect gingersnaps”, because they definitely are! The recipe is from Alice Medrich, so their deliciousness didn’t catch me by surprise. The cookies are crispy outside, chewy in the middle, loaded with fresh and candied ginger; so pleasantly warm! They are my carb servings which combined with low-fat cottage make a perfectly balanced meal (still on the diet… sort of). Suddenly, this cottage thing seems more appealing.

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