Daring Bakers' - Maple Mousse and Edible Containers

The April 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Evelyne of the blog Cheap Ethnic Eatz. Evelyne chose to challenge everyone to make a maple mousse in an edible container. Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 27th to May 27th at http://thedaringkitchen.com/!

Time for another Daring Bakers challenge! This is my second challenge and I promised myself that I would get it baked and blogged well ahead of time.

Well... It's now Sunday night and my blog is due Tuesday, so technically it's not quite last minute yet. But not quite as early as I wanted it to be done. Oh well. Third time's the charm!!

So this month we had to follow Evelyne's maple mousse recipe and use it in an edible container. Her suggestions for containers were either a bacon cup or a nut cup, both of which looked great. While I'm not one to turn down bacon in any form, I really wanted to see what I could come up with on my own.

The maple mousse on it's own is delicious. This was my first time making mousse and it went much easier than I thought it would. I have to confess, I've been eating the leftover mousse with a spoon all day. It's just that good!

My original idea for the edible cup was a spicy polenta cup. I wanted the sweetness of the mousse to balance the spiciness of the cup. I ended up really liking the flavor combination and getting a subtle kick from the cayenne pepper.

I tried two different ways to bake the polenta into cups, and neither way was very user friendly for me. For my first batch, I filled a mini muffin pan with polenta and tried to mold it to the sides of the pan. They looked pretty good going in, but expanded in the oven. I ended up having to push them back down a couple of times.

The second batch I spread on a baking sheet to about a half inch thickness on a cookie sheet and chilling it in the oven. I used a circle cookie cutter to cut out circles and indent them with the round end of a spoon. Like the first batch, they expanded in the oven and didn't quite cup like I saw it going in my head.

Sadly, I wasn't so much a fan of the polenta cup itself. I didn't really like the texture of the polenta, but I feel like it was more user error on my part. Having never cooked or eaten polenta before, I was sure what I was aiming for. Good learning lesson though.

Because my polenta didn't make as many cups as I thought I would need for a dinner party, I started searching my kitchen for what else I could turn into an edible cup. I had some graham crackers in my pantry, so I crushed them in with butter and cinnamon and tried to make crusts in a mini muffin pan. They baked and they baked and they baked, but they just wouldn't turn into a cup that would hold together.

So I turned to my freezer and found two sheets of leftover puff pastry and decided to make some puff pastry cups. I cut about 20 2-inch circles and then cut a smaller circle out of half of them. I stacked them and added my failed "toasted" graham cracker cups to the inside to make a graham cracker filling. After they baked, they turned out to be nice little cups and perfect for my filling!

I plated both types of edible cups with a cinnamon maple glaze garnish on the plates. I was really happy with how they looked when plated, and my guests seemed to really like them too!

I personally ended up liking my last-minute puff pastry cups much better than my spicy polenta cups. The graham cracker filling below the maple mousse gave it a nice crunchy texture and buttery flavor that went well with the maple.

Overall, I was really happy with how it turned out, especially the maple mousse! I'm looking forward to next month's challenge!

Banana Muffins and An Apology

Dear Butter,

I know, I'm sorry. I turned my back on you and walked away. I betrayed you. All I can do is ask your forgiveness for what might have been the biggest mistake of my life.

I know it's not an excuse, but all I could think of was my recent Beer Fest comfort eating. I just wanted to eat healthier. Which was why I turned to a banana muffin recipe that called for flax seed and no butter.

But before you dismiss me forever, dear Butter, will you remember the years we've spent together? You haven't been just some Buttery booty call I make at 2 in the morning. Oh no, you've been so much more to me. We had a commitment.

Do you remember how many chocolate chip recipes we went through before finding The One? Do you remember the cakes we've created together? Think of the pies!

I know I betrayed you and I know it was wrong. I knew from the minute I tasted the "healthy" muffin that I would be begging you to take me back. I mean, did you see the crumb on those muffins?! Flax seed can't even compete with your sweet crumb.

Oh Butter, all I can say, from the bottom of my heart, is if lovin Butter is wrong, I don't wanna be right.

Eternally yours,

Rachel

I'm not one to judge you if you try this recipe. We all make mistakes, and sometimes you have to be away from something before you realize just how much you need it. Just know that you'll be begging for your butter back.

The original recipe called for dried dates, but who really keeps those in their pantry? I had dried cherries, which were probably the only saving grace of these muffins.

"Healthy" Homewrecking Banana Muffins

from Allrecipes

Ingredients 1/2 cup flax seed 3 bananas, mashed 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 cup white sugar 2 eggs 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup flax seed 1/2 cup cherries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a standard 12-muffin pan. Use an electric coffee grinder or food processor to grind 1/2 cup flax seed; set aside.


2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together banana, oil, sugar and eggs. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground flax seed and 1/4 cup whole flax seed. Gradually stir flour mixture into banana mixture. Fold in cherries. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins.


3. Bake in preheated oven for 20-30ish minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into muffin comes out clean.