I made this week's TWD recipe on Sunday. I knew it would not get done in time for Father's Day dinner dessert, but hoped it would be done on Father's Day. This recipe just had several steps that took a lot of time. "Bake for three hours, chill for three hours, once assembled, chill for four to six hours."
I had everything I needed for this, except for a pineapple and parchment paper. I even had some white chocolate that I had been thinking would never get used. So I bought a pineapple, decided to use silicone mats, and decided to follow the recipe and make the white chocolate ganache, even though I had a feeling I would like this more with a whipped cream. I decided to just take my time and work on the recipe throughout the day.
I baked the meringue sheets on silicone sheets, so I didn't exactly make neat 6'X 12" rectangles. My camera batteries died, so I couldn't take pics of my steps, but knew that they would be charged by the time this recipe got done.
I made the ganache, and roasted the pineapple and had them chilling, when my brother called wanting to know if I would babysit my 18 month old niece for a few hours. Baby E came over and shortly thereafter was scratched by a cat and started crying. And crying and crying. I knew she was tired and would be more comfortable at her house so I had my husband hold her while I threw the dacquoise together so it could be chilling while I took her home and got her a bath and in bed.
He calmed her for a few minutes by getting a Yo Gabba Gabba song on Youtube. I decided to try to trim my meringues to make them more neat and even, but they cracked. Baby E started crying harder in the other room. Knowing this needed to chill for a few hours, I wanted to get it assembled, but it was hard to piece the meringues together attractively with the crying baby wailing and I felt hurried.
Wah Wah Wah Wah! I hurried and made a layer of meringue. Wah Wah Wah Wah! I pulled the ganache and pineapple out of the refrigerator and made layers. Wah Wah Wah Wah. More meringue, ganache, pineapple. Wah Wah Wah Wah! Finished it off by pouring the rest of the ganache on top and slapping on the rest of the pineapple.
I looked at it, wondering if it was supposed to be sitting in a lake of ganache? Threw it in the fridge and the baby in the stroller and headed to her house. Her cries subsided as soon as we were out the door.
We went to her house and she got a bath and a snack and we read some stories and she went right to sleep. It's been a long time since I have taken care of a little baby. I sat down in the quiet house, and just then it hit me; I forgot to whip the ganache! When I got home around midnight, My dacquoise had been chilled long enough, so I pulled it out and realized it was more of a floating island than a dacquoise.
It was really too sweet too. I think I would have liked this with whipped cream. I liked the meringue (eating my left over chipped pieces) and the pineapple. Maybe whipped, the ganache wouldn't have been so overpowering. I'll have to try this again. Thanks to Andrea in the Kitchen for this pick!
9 comments:
When I'm rushed or stressed (which with a crying baby you would be both) I always seem to make mistakes. Especially of forgetfulness. I tend to leave ingredients (such as the eggs) on the counter and then wonder, why is this batter so darn thick? It's like the stress not only makes me forgetful, but dumb!
Maybe someday you'll have time to make it again, leaving out the white chocolate. Or I could bring it to book club, lol.
I had pineapple problems myself.
I also thought this was way too sweet. When I was making the meringues, I thought "Wow - that's a lot of sugar."
I nearly forgot to whip the ganache too because I was putting it all together before work on Monday!
My heart started beating harder reading about your adventure, because I used to try and make things while rushed with a crying baby! Whew! I'm glad those days are over.
While I skipped this one, it sure looks good, even if you forgot to whip the ganache.
I think using the whipped cream as a filling is a great idea!
making this one while dealing with a crying baby- crazy! sorry it was too sweet for you
I read some other people saying it was too sweet as well.
Luckily, I'll never know :)
Your pineapples though, they make me wish I had gotten that far. Perhaps I will grill some this weekend just for the hell of it.
Your roasted pineapples look amazing! And I don't think there's anything wrong with a floating dacquoise if it tastes good! =) Sorry you were rushed baking the dacquoise. I wasn't rushed and still ran into some problems!
Wow, that looks really good! I love grilling pineapple because of how the sugars caramelize, I'm sure it's great roasted. I probably couldn't eat more than a bite though, I'm not a big sweet eater :)
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