Candy!

The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drive and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mavens challenged us to make sinfully delicious candies! This was a special challenge for the Daring Bakers because the good folks athttp://www.chocoley.com offered an amazing prize for the winner of the most creative and delicious candy!

I decided to stick with chocolates and I had a blast!  I will definitely be making more in the future.  I had a lot of difficulty tempering the chocolate but I blame it on a bad thermometer.  So here they are-

White Chocolate Bon Bon's with Marzipan and Pistachios, topped with a little salt-

Dark Chocolate Truffles with Dark Chocolate, Chipotle and Cinnamon Ganache and topped with a Pepita

Dark Chocolate Truffles with Dark Chocolate and Espresso Ganache and topped with an Espresso Bean

And since I had chocolate left over that couldn't go to waste...

White Chocolate Bark with Pistachios and a pinch of salt-

Dark Chocolate bark with White Chocolate chips, Pistachios, and a pinch of salt-

Fresh Fraisiers

This is my first challenge as a Daring Baker!  I'm posting a little late due to a family emergency last month, but better late than never.

Jana of Cherry Tea Cakes was our July Daring Bakers’ host and she challenges us to make Fresh Frasiers inspired by recipes written by Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson in the beautiful cookbook Tartine.

Mandatory Items: You must make a cake with exposed fruits, edible flowers, etc. around the sides of the center layer. You must make all components (cake, pastry cream mousse, simple syrup) from scratch. You may not make a trifle. It must be a free-standing cake on a platter.

The challenge went really well and was actually quite easy.  It did take all day, but I would say it was worth it.  I will definitely be making this again and will probably try some more complex flavors!