Having my dinner turn out scrumptious good, hanging out with family all day,
I’m Thankful for…

Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream ( Daring Bakers)
Filbert genoise, praline paste, praline butter cream frosting, sugar syrup, apricot glaze, and a ganache! Phew!! Those were all the components to this months Daring Baker challenge.
I must say It all got off to a pretty good start, I mean my cake itself (the genoise), came together perfectly, it rose nice and I was able to get 3 layers evenly cut.
I think the problem started here, although it doesn’t look that bad, I think I overcooked the sugar which turned into a bitter tasting caramel.
I had no problem with this either, It looks pretty good doesn’t it?Little did I know at the time that the bitterness of the caramel was going to affect the whole flavor of the cake!
Unfortunately that’s what happened, the whole cake had a bitter taste to it, even my Hubby who has a enormous sweet tooth couldn’t even finish his one piece, believe me, he wanted it to be good!!

Rum, Raisin, and Ricotta Danish Braid
Danish dough, or as it’s sometimes called laminated or layered dough, is a pastry technique. It’s like the beginning steps of learning puff pastry,” but not nearly as complex”, so says the author Sherry Yard of (The Secrets of Baking). By learning this technique you can create a whole slew of different recipes, of course I would be contented just getting through this one!!
Although it was time consuming, it wasn’t too difficult to do, as long as I had my directions close at hand.
Of course I had to put my Italian twist on it, so for my filling I decided to do sweetened ricotta cheese, with rum soaked, golden raisins. I soaked the raisins over night in the rum so they were definitely “drunk”!!
I wouldn’t call this “braided to perfection” by any means. I prefer to call it a, well…. a more “rustic look”.
The recipe called for Cardamon, which I didn’t own, but really wanted to try, besides, I thought that it would go well with the ricotta . I searched a few stores for the cardamon, and ended up getting it at Whole Foods, it was ground, and only $4.99, which I thought was a steal. In my search I even found it as high as $15.00 (ouch!)
I was anxious to try Cardamon, because I’ve been reading that it’s the “new Cinnamon”. I can’t say that I’m 100% sold on it yet, I’ll have to try it again in something else. I do love it in Chai tea though!
The egg wash made for a beautiful golden brown finish!




I’m Marie, a wife, mother, mother-in-law, and gramma of two beautiful girls. My passion is food, clear and simple but especially Italian food, hence the name of my blog, Proud Italian Cook. I want you to feel right at home here so grab a cup of coffee, I’ll get the pastries, take a look around and enjoy your visit! {








