This month’s challenge at Daring Bakers was panettone. Panettone is a staple at Christmas tables over here, so it wasn’t new to me. But was nice to make it again, since I had passed on it last year.
I also used the chance to try a new recipe, provided by Marcellina.
Cookie season is up! Though pretty hard to believe, we have reached the end of November. And this challenge marked the start of my holiday baking. We were asked to bake from a list of 12 cookies, and I chose seven layers because they are so cute!
Here’s my take on October’s challenge at the Daring Bakers: mille-feuille. I’m not sure how to pronounce that, but I can tell you that it’s delicious! The thousand layers are made with 3 sheets of puff pastry (which are weighed down to make them more compact and sturdy), and 2 layers of pastry cream.
I have to admit I wasn’t too excited about this challenge at first. I didn’t see how the empanada gallega (which is a kind of shallow savory pie with a bread crust) belonged into the Daring Bakers just because it had yeast on it. Plus there was no exciting novelty factor either. My grandmother is from Galicia, so I have empanada gallega often. And while it’s a delicious and repeatedly requested dish, I’m not much of a savory cook so I didn’t feel like making a tuna and sardine pie, just to name my aunt’s staple. I could make a sweet version, of course, but I had never seen a sweet empanada gallega before. I had no idea what ingredients could be used (other than apple, which wouldn’t be fun enough!)
This month at the Daring Bakers, we were asked to make pâte à choux swans. Aren’t they cute? And they’re filled too, in my case with a vanilla creme which is like a custard with whipped cream mixed in.