Croquets - Tuesdays with Dorie

Crunchy, egg white-based, nut-filled cookies were on the Tuesdays with Dorie menu this week. Dorie described them as possibly "the crunchiest cookies in the French canon", a sure sign that mine weren't quite right!

My quirky little oven is not known for its browning ability so I couldn't rely totally on the visual cues and went by the book's bake times for the cookie logs. (Having baked through most of the recipes in Baking Chez Moi, I have found these to be quite reliable). The end pieces were very hard and crunchy as expected but the centre slices still had some chew to them. Regardless of texture, they were sweet and nutty and a delicious way to use up some spare egg whites.

Visit TWD to see what the others made this week.

Cream Cheese and Toast Tartlets - Tuesdays with Dorie

My second recipe this month for Tuesdays with Dorie was for these little tarts with tangy, no-bake, cheesecake-like filling.

I still haven't acquired proper tartlet pans so used brioche moulds instead, seriously underestimating how much they would hold. This resulted in a rather generous amount of filling in each. They were still very nice. The crunchy cinnamon toast topping was particularly delicious and provided a textural contrast to the smooth, rich filling.

Visit here to see the other members' bakes.

Berry and Cream Croustades - Tuesdays with Dorie

This week's Baking Chez Moi recipe was a pretty little dessert that was composed almost entirely of items from my freezer: phyllo pastry, blueberries and blackberries, butter, and almond cream and raspberry sauce left over from other baking projects.

I don't think you can go wrong with that combination. They were delicious!

This recipe is a variation of Petite Apple Croustades, page 253. Visit TWD to see what everyone else made.

Fall Market Galette - Tuesdays with Dorie

I'm not much of a pie baker - I'm already dreading making the annual Thanksgiving pumpkin pie (October 14 in Canada) - but thanks to Dorie Greenspan, I can make a galette! Her foolproof pastry recipe, an abundance of seasonal fruit, and her direction is all that's needed.

Everyone loved this version made with Italian prune plums, red grapes and honey crisp apples. Now my question is this....is there such a thing as pumpkin galette?

Visit TWD to see the latest bakes from Baking Chez Moi.

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.