Caramel-Topped Rice Pudding Cake - Tuesdays with Dorie

This week's Baking Chez Moi project was a cake comprising cooked rice pudding, eggs and caramel, baked as one would a custard, in a hot water bath. The author tells us it's very popular in France but it was very new to me.

Warm from the oven, it was like creamy, comforting, firmer than usual rice pudding with a slick of caramel. I particularly liked the tartness of the caramel, which was a good foil the the cake's richness, but wanted more of it. Unfortunately, my reserved caramel sauce couldn't be used because it was hard candy at room temperature - overcooked perhaps? - so I served it with leftover plum compote I'd made for another dessert. 

I thought it was quite a nice dessert but family didn't appreciate it as much as I did - apparently it was a textural thing.

Visit TWD to see what the other bakers thought of it.

Cats' Tongues - Tuesdays with Dorie

Our second bake this month for Tuesdays with Dorie were these beautifully delicate vanilla cookies with crisp, melt-in-your-mouth texture.

The batter for them was quite forgiving so that even my piped squiggles somehow transformed into somewhat uniform, flat ovals during baking. They were very quick to make, and even easier to eat! 

Visit here to see what everyone else baked this week from Baking Chez Moi.

Espresso Tiramisu Tart - Tuesdays with Dorie

One of this month's projects for Tuesdays with Dorie was tiramisu presented in a tart crust. I've made classic tiramisu and actually served it in tart form before so I decided to follow the suggestions in the recipe to switch it up a little with a chocolate crust and an espresso-flavoured mascarpone filling.

This was a very nice twist on traditional tiramisu, which in this recipe, was quite light and mousse-like. I made the ladyfinger cookies from the book and they melded with the filling more than store-bought savoiardi might have but they still created a distinct layer of concentrated espresso flavour. 

We really enjoyed this dessert. Each bite was an explosion of crisp cookie crust, cool creamy filling, and coffee and chocolate flavours, one of my favourite combinations.

The recipes for Espresso-Espresso Tiramisu Tart, Chocolate Tart Dough and Ladyfingers are from the book Baking Chez Moi, by Dorie Greenspan. Visit TWD to see what everyone else made.

Mascarpone Mousse - Tuesdays with Dorie

This week's project for Tuesdays with Dorie was an incredibly light and billowy mousse that included the creamy Italian cheese, mascarpone.

I made smaller portions than suggested and I'm glad I did because despite its cloud-like texture, it was also very rich. Fresh, tart raspberries were just the thing to serve with it.

Visit TWD to see what everyone else made from Baking Chez Moi this week.

Roasted Rhubarb with Bitters - Tuesdays with Dorie

This was a delicious variation of a simple recipe for rhubarb roasted with sugar. The Angostura bitters's flavour wasn't as strong as its fragrance but it added complexity and complemented the rhubarb beautifully.

It made a lovely dessert served as suggested with almond cake. 

Recipes for the roasted rhubarb and plain almond cake are from Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking Chez Moi. Visit the TWD blogroll here.