Thanks to The Powers That Be over at our main website for Tuesdays with Dorie our pick from Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours cookbook was free choice this week in honor of the Thanksgiving holiday. We could pick anything we wanted from the rewind list, i.e. recipes that have been chosen already and ones, that for one reason or another, we did not, or could not, make when they were chosen, or perhaps ones that were made before one joined the group.
I hadn't a clue what I was going to choose until my pal Nancy said, "I'm going to make the Hidden Berry Cheese Cake Torte, on page 240-242." Leslie thought that sounded good as well, so I was in. It did not involve chocolate, and it had my favorites, fruit and cream cheese, so it didn't take me long to jump in on also choosing this one.
This one was made back in the second week of the group's existence (January 2008), a couple of months before I joined. Click here for the recipe. Leslie and some others had trouble with the top browning, so Nancy tried making it with foil tented over the top for the baking time and it did not get brown and rubbery this way. I decided I was going to do mine that way as well as in the book, the torte is pictured with a clean smooth light colored filling, so I was happy with the result and it tasted great. You guessed it, we were doing all this on Twitter so we could compare notes. Leslie did hers first so we all benefited from her experience and tips.
I used strawberry preserves for the jam in the recipe, and I am guessing the guys are going to eat this with whipped cream on the top, but why??? It is absolutely delicious just as it is, no need for anything further. Is it a repeat? Possibly. With tortes in general, I find that the crusts are just too thick or chunky or heavy or something...so I might not use this particular crust again for those reasons. (Of course, this could be a reflection of my torte-making skills, or lack thereof, as well.) It was good, it's just that for my personal tastes, it's just a bit much...something lighter would be perfect.