daring baker's challenge: pizza dough

For someone who likes to bake, yeast scares me. I never seem to have dough that has the right elasticity, texture and overall correct feel. With this month's Daring Baker's Challenge I was apprehensive. We love pizza, however I cheat, I get it at the bakery a block over. For $1.25 a pound, how could you go wrong?

I've attempted pizza dough before but it was always too ... heavy? This recipe recalled 5-7 minutes of kneading, and the overall recipe used a stand mixer with a dough hook. In the world's smallest kitchen there is no space for a stand mixer, so instead of kneading by hand, I decided to head out to my mom's for a visit, with the side benefit of using her's. I don't know if it was the recipe, the mixer or cooking in my mom's kitchen, the dough turned out! I loved the texture, finally, the dough felt right! And one day when I leave the tiny kitchens of downtown apartments, I too will make this dough again, when there is space for a kitchen mixer, or perhaps if I head out for another visit :).

The Pizza dough challenge, hosted by Rosa at Yummy Yum's was lots of fun. Not only were you to make the dough, but a sauce and demonstrate proficiency (eeerrhmm?) in tossing the dough. Dough - check. Sauce - check. Tossing - oops! I tried, I swear I did, but really it was a disaster waiting to happy. The dough was thick in spots, and thin others. I think I was more throwing it up than throwing and spinning around... for lots of delish looking pizzas and some expert tossers check out the Daring Baker's Blog Roll.

One thing I would do differently next time with this dough, is to cook it on our bbq rather than the pizza stone. The bbq gives it more of a smokey and crispy end result than the pizza stone which bakes it more... not sure if that makes sense! The pizza below is topped with a simple spicy tomato sauce, hot Italian sausage, caramelized onions and oyster mushrooms and sesame seeds.

Basic Pizza Dough Ingredients
Makes 4 large pizza crusts

4 1/2 cups all purpose flour, chilled
1 3/4 tsp salt
1 Tsp instant yeast
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups water, ice cold (40° F/4.5° C)
1 Tbsp sugar
Semolina/durum flour or cornmeal for dusting

Directions: Day One

1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer).
2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough.
   
3. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water. (If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for the same amount of time.The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour, so that it clears the sides. If, on the contrary, it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a teaspoon or two of cold water.
4. The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50°-55° F/10°-13° C
5. Flour a work surface or counter. Line a jelly pan with baking paper/parchment. Lightly oil the paper.
6. With the help of a metal or plastic dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas).
   Tip: To avoid the dough from sticking to the scraper, dip the scraper into water between cuts.
7. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Gently round each piece into a ball.
   Tip: If the dough sticks to your hands, then dip your hands into the flour again.
8. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.
9. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to thee days.
   Tip:You can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag if you want to save some of the dough for any future baking. In that case, pour some oil(a few tablespoons only) in a medium bowl and dip each dough ball into the oil, so that it is completely covered in oil. Then put each ball into a separate bag. Store the bags in the freezer for no longer than 3 months. The day before you plan to make pizza, remember to transfer the dough balls from the freezer to the refrigerator.
   

Directions: Day Two

1. On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator.
   
2. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour.
   
3. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter.
   
4. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours.
5. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F/260° C).
   Tip: If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a jelly pan. Do not preheat the pan.
   
6. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly pan with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal.
   
7. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss.
   Tip: Make only one pizza at a time. During the tossing process, if the dough tends to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue the tossing and shaping. In case you would be having trouble tossing the dough or if the dough never wants to expand and always springs back, let it rest for approximately 5-20 minutes in order for the gluten to relax fully,then try again. You can also resort to using a rolling pin, although it isn’t as effective as the toss method.
8. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter - for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the back of the jelly pan, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for abour 5-8 minutes.
9. After 2 minutes baking, take a peek. For an even baking, rotate 180°.
10. If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone or jelly pane to a lower shelf before the next round. On the contrary, if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone or jelly.
11. Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.
    

Original recipe taken from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhart.

daring baker's challenge: lavash crackers + dips

This has to be a record fast post. First of all I am up against the clock deadline of the Daring Bakers Challenge to post today. Second of all, we had company surprise us and drop in (and they are still here!) I'm not very good with that. I like notice and to feel prepared. It's not even making sure the house is tidy, it's just my mindset...

Anyhow as I write this the crackers are baking. This month's challenge was Lavash Crackers, a first for the Daring Bakers, courteousy of bakers from the "alternative baking list", Natalie from Gluten A Go Go and Shel of Musings From the Fishbowl teamed up to bring us a two-part challenge. After months of rich cakes, and involved recipes, this was lovely. Quick easy and you have everything you need in your pantry. The second part of the challenge was to create a topping or dip that was vegan friendly. Because I am up against the clock, I had to make something quick and easy (sorry!) and insert hummus. Yum!

For a great look at lots of delicious savoury niblets check out the Daring Baker's Blog Roll. And for the recipe, visit Natalie (Gluten A Go Go) and Shel (Musings From the Fishbowl). One thing I have noticed about this recipe is that the thinner you can roll the dough, the better it is. I thought I had rolled it out enough, but I just peaked in the oven and it resembles pita more than crispy crackers. Over at A Whisk and Spoon, she suggested rolling the dough with a pasta machine on the setting for lasagna - BRILLIANT! Now if only I had a pasta machine... next time, more muscles!

(worst picture ever!)

Hummus Ingredients
1 can drained chickpeas
1/4 cup tahini paste
5 cloves of roasted garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp sour cream (not necessary, but a nice touch if you are ok with making this non-vegan)
salt to taste

Directions:
Take all ingredients, blend until creamy and ready to eat in a food processor. And you are done!

daring baker's challenge: danish braid

For some reason I thought that starting this month's daring baker's challenge at 8:00 pm was a good idea - what was I thinking? Before I even get to that point, let me start by saying that I thought that this month's challenge of Danish Braid sounded exciting, challenging yes, but I was excited to try to create a laminate dough...and i loved that I had everything needed for the recipe except for the whole milk so there was no need spend $50+ on ingredients - so than you to Ben and Kelly who hosted this month!

Back to the 8:00 pm start, I had read through the ingredients, I was prepared to do all the dough turning, and leave it in the fridge overnight to bake the next day. Then came the slow unravellings of what could have been a long evening. My dough mixer wouldn't power up. I had run out of ground cardamom apparently, so had to crack the pods and pound to smithereens with my mortar and pestle. Then I made a batch of dough and forgot to add the eggs, but didn't know until had made the first well and had the liquid pour out all over the counter...and then finally, finally after remaking the dough, rolling out and turning it, but wait, one more mess to clean up, I spilt the carton of milk all over the counter - sigh - by 1:30 am, I was ready to go to bed.

I seldom loose my patience in the kitchen, but boy I am sure Pete was glad that I had something to get my frustrations out on! I enjoyed the process of braiding, it was interesting to see how such a simple step could create something that looked well presented. Below is the result - the dough didn't rise as much as I would have liked.

Ingredients:
For the dough (Detrempe)
1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

For the butter block (Beurrage)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Apple Filling
4 Fuji or other apples, peeled, cored, and cut into ¼-inch pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions: Dough

1. Combine yeast and milk in a bowl with a hand mixer on low speed or a whisk.
   
2. Add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice and mix well.
   
3. Sift flour and salt on your working surface and make a fountain (My edit after round two - start in a large bowl, make well and add liquid, combine in the same method as follows). Make sure that the “walls” of your fountain are thick and even.
   
4. Pour the liquid in the middle of the fountain.
   
5. With your fingertips, mix the liquid and the flour starting from the middle of the fountain, slowly working towards the edges.
   
6. When the ingredients have been incorporated start kneading the dough with the heel of your hands until it becomes smooth and easy to work with, around 5 to 7 minutes. You might need to add more flour if the dough is sticky.

Directions: Butter Block

1. Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute.
   
2. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free.
   
3. Set aside at room temperature.

Directions: Turning the Dough

1. After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.
   
2. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick.
   
3. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour.
   
4. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough.
   
5. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter.
   
6. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally.
   
7. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
8. Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left.
   
9. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle.
   
10. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed.
    
11. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
12. Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight.
    
13. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.
    

Directions: Apple Filling

1. Toss all ingredients except butter in a large bowl.
   
2. Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat until slightly nutty in color, about 6 - 8 minutes.
   
3. Then add the apple mixture and sauté until apples are softened and caramelized, 10 to 15 minutes. If you’ve chosen Fujis, the apples will be caramelized, but have still retained their shape.
   
4. Pour the cooked apples onto a baking sheet to cool completely before forming the braid. (If making ahead, cool to room temperature, seal, and refrigerate.) They will cool faster when spread in a thin layer over the surface of the sheet. After they have cooled, the filling can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Left over filling can be used as an ice cream
   

Putting it all together
(Makes enough for 2 large braids)

Ingredients
1 recipe Danish Dough (see below)
2 cups apple filling, jam, or preserves (see below)

For the egg wash: 1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
   
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.
3. Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.
4. Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.
   

Proofing and Baking

1. Spray cooking oil (Pam…) onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.
2. Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.
3. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.

daring baker's challenge: opera cake

A month ago I would never have been able to tell you anything about an Opera cake other than that it sounded fancy. Well, this month's DB challenge was just that. An incredibly rich and sweet French gateau. I completed the challenge back on Mother's day weekend as a dessert for dinner. My mom had asked for a lemon flavoured dessert so I thought it would be a nice combo with the almond flavour of the joconde (almond cake layer). In theory I thought this would work well, but somehow the sweetness of the buttercream was just too overpowering. The family enjoyed the cake, but when it came to the leftovers I think most begged out :(.


A traditional Opera cake to my understanding has the light jaconde coupled with a dark chocolate ganache. One of the requirements for the challenge, (in keeping with spring) was to keep the colours on the cake to the pastels. I think I prefer the contrast of the dark and the light. On my cake, everything just kind of melts together. I had the light yellow from the lemon buttercream icing, and I flavoured the ganache was a berry liqour, and topped the glaze with a strawberry (which my mom stuffed with sweet and tart cream cheese something...mmm).

Over all I thought the combination of white chocolate, with the richness and sweetness of the buttercream, was just too much.

I did however enjoy making the jaconde. I had never actually made a jelly roll cake before, so that was interesting, and I enjoyed grinding down the almonds into an "almond meal" was kind of fun. I think it would work really nice as a base for a somewhat nuttier version of strawberry shortcake.

For the full recipe check out the lovely blogs of this month's hosts: Lis, Ivonne, Fran and Shea.

daring baker's challenge: cheesecake pops

This month's Daring Bakers' challenge was a success, posting it was not! The deadline to post was Sunday, today is Thursday.... I even had done the challenge a few weeks before, brought it into work for a birthday surprise but failed to take a picture of it before - oops... still new to this whole "take the picture of your food" thing.


Anyhow, Elle and Deborah from Feeding My Enthusiasms and Taste and Tell, respectively, hosted. They chose little cheesecake pops. The creativity of the other Daring Bakers was inspiring. I loved the people who had geometric shapes, perfectly cut and clean...then were those who had been meticulous with the details like the Daring Baker at Delicious Days.

Anyhow, mine were simple. The cheesecake recipe. Melted chocolate chips some vegetable shortening (mmm, yes I know, tasty tasty) and rolled in graham cracker crumbs. I would make these again for sure. They are cute, festive and most importantly yummy. The recipe below is the FULL recipe, I halved it, and I would halve it again, as it made nearly 25 pops (which was plenty).

Ingredients:
Makes 30 – 40 Pops

5X 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature
2 cups sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
5 large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¼ cup heavy cream
Boiling water as needed
Thirty to forty 8-inch lollipop sticks
1 pound chocolate, finely chopped
(you can use all one kind or half and half of dark, milk, or white)
(Alternately, you can use 1 pound of flavored coatings, also known as summer coating, confectionary coating or wafer chocolate – candy supply stores carry colors, as well as the three kinds of chocolate.)
-2 tablespoons vegetable shortening

(Note: White chocolate is harder to use this way, but not impossible)

Assorted decorations such as chopped nuts, colored jimmies, crushed peppermints, mini chocolate chips, sanding sugars, dragees) - Optional

Directions:

1. Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Set some water to boil.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.
3. Grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a springform pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes.
4. Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.
5. When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 – 2 hours.
6. When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Do not heat the chocolate too much or your chocolate will lose it’s shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety.
7. Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.
8. Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.)
   
9. Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed.
10. Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.
    

This recipe is adapted from Jill O'Connor's book
Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth

daring baker's challenge: dorie's perfect party cake

My first daring baker's challenge completed! Since this is my first challenge, I should explain the process. This is a group of bloggers, and non bloggers who "knead to bake!". At the beginning of each month the host selects a recipe, posts it and sets out the guidelines for what can and what cannot be changed/personalized and also indicated what day everyone will post their final results.

Thank you Morven for hosting this month's challenge. I was excited to make this cake because I love anything lemon. I made it a few weeks ago for a friend's engagement party. For the most part it turned out well. Throughout the month on the Daring Baker's blog some folks were noting that the cake did not rise properly. Morven noted a few changes in the recipe before I baked my cake, but alas mine still did not rise the way I would have liked! I did use cake flour, a different brand than she had suggested, but it was what they had at our local store. As a result I ended up making a second batch of batter after the first had been baked. In the end I had 4 cakes, used 3, and didn't end up slicing them in half as per the recipe.

A few other things. I left out the raspberry preserves, but used both a lemon and lime curd (recipe's below - love these!) And I also made a quick lemon syrup that i brushed on each cake before layering the curd.

One final note about the cake - I loved the marshmallowy icing (Swiss Meringue Buttercream)! I think it was beautiful to make and it was much simpler than I thought it would be...so if I walk away with one thing, it would definately be that!

**I wish I had taken a picture of the slices, the alternate between the yellow and the green lime curd was actually very lovely against the white of the cake and the crisp white of the buttercream**

For the Cake

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups buttermilk (the recipe suggested whole milk as an alternate)
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract

For the Buttercream
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


For the Lemon & Lime Curd
*I made one batch of Lemon & one of Lime*

3 large eggs
1/3 cup fresh lemon or lime juice
1 tablespoon citrus zest
¾ cup granulates sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

Directions:
Move oven rack to centre, heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

To Make the Cake

1. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
2. Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
3. Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. (I loved this part!)
4. Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.
5. Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.
6. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.
7. Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.
8. Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.
9. Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
10. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean
11. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners.
12. Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).
    

To Make the Buttercream

1. Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes.
2. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.
3. Remove the bowl from the heat.
4. Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.
5. Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.
6. Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.
7. During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.
8. On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla.
9. You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.
   

To Make the Lemon or Lime Curd

1. In a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together the eggs, sugar and lemon juice until blended.
   
2. Cook, stirring constantly (to prevent from curdling), until the mixture becomes thick (like sour cream or hollandaise sauce). This will take approximately 10 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and immediately pour though a fine strainer to remove any lumps.
   
4. Cut the butter into cubes and whisk into the mixture until completely melted. Add the lemon zest and let cool.
   
5. The lemon curd will continue to thicken as it cools.
   
6. Cover immediately (so skin doesn’t form) and refrigerate for up to two weeks.

Makes 1 ½ cups.

To Assemble the Cake

1. Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half. (I didn't do this part as my cake didn't rise enough)
2. Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.
3. Spread it with one third of the preserves.Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover).
4. Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top.
5. Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides.