Biscuit Joconde Imprime/Entremet - January '11 Daring Bakers

I got really excited upon learning this month's Daring Baker's challenge. I felt guilty about skipping last month's challenge of making a German Christmas bread called Stollen. So, I told myself I'm doing the January challenge no matter what.

The January 2011 Daring Baker's challenge was hosted by Astheroshe from the blog, accro. She chose to challenge everyone to make a Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremet dessert.

A lot of times when my husband and I look around coffee shops and check out their display of delicious desserts, I can't help but just be in awe of how beautifully decorated they are. I can't believe that I'd actually learn to make a dessert that I used to just admire.

Gumpaste Baby Shoes or Booties

After making baby Converse shoes, an opportunity came up for me to make another cake for a baby. This time for a girl. I wanted to take that opportunity to learn something new so I decided I'd try making booties. It's a really cute cake topper if you ever need one for baby shower, baptism or a 1st birthday.

You can get really creative on this one and even match any theme. I found the template on CakeCentral and I have to thank grannys3angels for sharing this.

Chocolate Macarons

Macarons (not to be confused with macaroons and pronounced like "macaroni" but without the '-i'), are cookie-like French confections made by sandwiching cream, ganache or almond paste between two wafers made from egg whites, almond powder and confectioner’s and granulated sugars.

A few friends of mine have been craving and gushing over these little goodies which I've never actually tried myself but made me think that maybe I should try learning how to make these for their sakes.

Here's a really good recipe I found online from David Lebovitz - Chocolate macarons filled with chocolate ganache. I've read suggestions that aging the egg whites called for the recipe makes a difference. I'm not too familiar with the science but thought that it won't hurt since I still have to look for Almond Flour and Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder. So, I left it sitting on our counter uncovered for overnight. My husband found the almond flour and cocoa powder at Raley's in the special foods aisle.

How to Make Cake Flour

I feel like it's been forever since the last time I posted. It's past the middle of January and this is my first post of the year. Yey! It's been almost a year since I started baking. And yes, I still feel like I'm a beginner.

But anyway, due to my late post for 2011 and being Valentine's is the closest special celebration happening, I thought I'd share how to make cake flour. Why cake flour? It's the choice ingredient for Red Velvet Cake - a popular baked goodie for the occasion. It makes it light and fluffy with a tender crumb. 

Who ever has cake flour on hand when needed, right? Fortunately, it is so easy to turn all-purpose flour into cake flour. You probably already know how.