What’s Up in Dede’s Bakery?

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Can you image Chocolate Pan de Cristal? It’s real and I can’t wait.

It’s time for out temples annual Gala this year themed as an “Evening In The Garden,”when I am making ganache coated brownies and almond butter, gluten free, chocolate chip and chocolate/chocolate chip cookies

I now make my own puff pastry and want to make Vol Au Vants filled with home made fig preserves paired with a nice sharp cheese.

 

 

 

 

Raspberry Parfait with Crème Chiboust

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The idea for this parfait jumped into my head a couple of weeks ago. I knew I wanted the bottom to be creme patisserie, topped with fresh raspberry sauce. I was unsure of the upper layer until last week. It is creme chiboust, to add a lighter component. I considered adding a chocolate component and QC suggested crumbled graham crackers, which I did but made chocolate graham crackers to add a crunch. It is topped off with brûléed Italian meringue.

Make the chocolate graham crackers early to they have time to cool and crisp up, Make the creme patisserie early also so it has time to cool to room temperature. (To make 10 five ounce cups, as pictured, requires two recipes of creme patisserie.)

Chill the cup between adding each layer.

The raspberry sauce can be made a week in advance. Make sure it is thick enough not to run up the sides of the container when the creme chiboust is added. The viscosity of a thin jam is perfect.

Raspberry Parfait with Crème Chiboust

INGREDIENTS:
Raspberry Dessert Sauce (Can make 1 week in advance)
• 1 Tbl water
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 375g (¾ c) fresh or frozen raspberries
• 50g ( ¼ c) granulated sugar
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice (do not leave out)
• optional: ½ tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Graham Crackers – KAB (Can make 1 week in advance)
• 60g ( ½ c) All-Purpose Flour
• 85g ((¾ ca) Whole Wheat Flour
• ½ tsp table salt
• ½ cup (42g) Dutch-process cocoa
• 1 ¼ cups (142g) confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 113g (8 Tbl ) unsalted butter, cold, cut into pats
• 43g (2 Tbl) honey
• 28g (2 Tbl) milk, cold
Creme Patisserie:
• 240 mL full-fat milk 1 c
• 4 egg yolks from large eggs (save the egg whites from these eggs for the meringue)
• 30 g butter 2 Tbl
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• 25 g sugar ~ 2 generous Tbl
• 30 g cornstarch – 4 Tbl
• 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
Italian meringue:
• 4 egg whites at room temperature
• 150 g white sugar – ¾ cup
• 80 g water – ⅓ cup

METHOD
Chocolate Graham Crackers

  1. Preheat your oven to 325°F with racks in the upper and lower thirds. Have two baking sheets and parchment paper to line them at the ready.
  2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flours, salt, cocoa, sugar, and baking powder. With a pastry blender, two knives, or your fingertips, cut the butter into the flour mixture until evenly crumbly.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk the honey and milk, stirring until the honey dissolves. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and toss lightly with a fork until the dough comes together. Add additional milk, if necessary.
  4. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and fold it over gently 10 to 12 times, until smooth.
  5. Divide the dough in half, about 250 grams each. Work with half the dough at a time, keeping the remaining dough covered.
  6. Working with one piece at a time, transfer the dough to a sheet of parchment and shape into a flattened square. Place another piece of parchment over top and roll the dough to about 1/16″ thick; aim to roll it into a rectangle a bit larger than 10″ x 14″. Prick the dough evenly with a dough docker or fork.
  7. Use the parchment to transfer the sheet of dough to a baking sheet, then gently peel off the top sheet. Repeat with the remaining piece of dough.
  8. Bake the crackers for 15 to 20 minutes, rotating the baking sheets top to bottom and front to back halfway through, or until you begin to smell chocolate. Remove them from the oven, and immediately cut them into rectangles with a pizza wheel or knife. Transfer them to a rack to cool.
  9. Store the cooled crackers tightly wrapped for up to a week, or freeze for up to one month.

Raspberry Dessert Sauce

  1. Whisk the cornstarch and water together until all the cornstarch has dissolved. Combine cornstarch mixture, raspberries, granulated sugar, and lemon juice in a small saucepan over medium heat. Using a silicone spatula, stir the mixture while lightly mashing the raspberries as they begin to heat.
  2. Bring to a boil and let it boil for 3 full minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan from heat and—if desired for a richer flavor—stir in vanilla extract, and if desired, a few fresh raspberries.
  3. OPTIONAL (SKIP for a thicker sauce) Press the warm sauce through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds, if desired. I use the back of a spoon to press the liquid through the strainer, held over a bowl. It takes a couple minutes to really squeeze it all out.
  4. Feel free to serve warm over warm desserts, but it should be cooled to really thicken up. Cool the sauce completely at room temperature or in the refrigerator. The sauce will thicken slightly as it cools, but the strained version is still liquid and perfect for drizzling.

Creme Patisserie

  1. Whisk eggs and milk together and add to all other ingredients (except vanilla) to a medium saucepan.
  2. Bring to boil whisking constantly
  3. Cook until thickened (it will look lumpy, its ok)
  4. Sieve lumpy mixture into a bowl and add vanilla, mix thoroughly
  5. When incorporated, cover with plastic directly on the crème patisserie and cool about an hour.
    Alternatively, slide the piping tip you would use to fill the pâte à choux into the piping bag but don’t cut off the tip. Spoon the hot batter directly into the piping bag and seal the end. When the crème patisserie is cool, cut the tip off, force the bag around the piping tip and squeeze the crème pat to fill the end.

Italian meringue

  1. In a medium-sized saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Heat over low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Once the sugar has dissolved, turn the heat to medium-high and allow the syrup to come to a boil without stirring.
  2. In the meantime, add the egg whites to a medium-sized, heatproof bowl and mix (with a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment) until foamy and the whites are almost able to hold soft peaks.
  3. Once the syrup is boiling, clip on a candy (or sugar) thermometer.
  4. Cook until the syrup reaches 116°C/240°F, then take the pan off the heat and slowly drizzle the hot syrup into the bowl with the foamy egg whites, mixing continuously to prevent the eggs from scrambling. Don’t pour the syrup onto the whisk, or the syrup may splatter against the sides of the bowl (or into your face!). Instead, aim for a spot close to the whisk.
  5. Once all the syrup has been added, keep mixing until the bottom of the bowl feels cool to the touch and the meringue has cooled down to body temperature.
  6. Use immediately or keep in the fridge (covered) until ready to use. It’s a very stable meringue, so it won’t start weeping, leaking or collapsing.

Creme Chiboust

  1. Add about ⅓ of the meringue mix into the room temperature custard, and mix to loosen up the custard base.
  2. Add the rest of the meringue and fold it in until there are no more white streaks in the custard. Be gentle when you fold in the meringue because if you mix it too vigorously, you will lose the air and it may deflate too much.
  3. It’s very important to use the creme chiboust while it’s at room temperature, since it will set in the fridge. If you do want to keep the creme chiboust in the fridge, you will need to whisk it again before using. However, keep in mind that this will deflate the mixture AND not set as well again.

RED RASPBERRY WHITE CHOCOLATE HAND PIES

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I saw an online picture of Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry Raspberry Hand Pies and needed an excuse to try to make covered pastry without the fork-crimp marks. (As if I ever need an excuse.)

A couple of weeks again I made some Vol au Vents and did not fork-crimp the edges to make the “boat” that would hold the fillings.

I applied the same method on these pastries. Egg wash the edges of the bottom piece, add the filling and place cover on top and press all around the edges. Because the bottom will be larger due to the cover needing to bend over the filling, Tuck any excess puff pastry back into the seam and press it down again.

The recipe specified excessive filling. Next time I will cut the cream cheese etc in half and there may still be too much. (The recipe below was modified.) The alternative, of course, is to make twice as many hand pies.

I also used two batches of Sally’s Rough Puff Pastry rather than the original baker’s source, sorry Pep.

RED RASPBERRY WHITE CHOCOLATE HAND PIES

INGREDIENTS
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbl water
• 2 Tbl all-purpose flour
• 1 package puff pastry
• 56 g ( 1/4 of an 8-ounce package) cream cheese, softened
• 1 Tbl granulated sugar or decorating sugar
• 42g ( 1/4 c) white chocolate chips
• ~170 g (6 oz) raspberries
• ~3 Tbl coarse white sugar or decorating sugar

METHOD

  1. Heat the oven to 400°F. Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork.
  2. Sprinkle the flour on the work surface. Unfold 1 pastry sheet on the work surface. Roll the pastry sheet into a 12-inch square. Using a round cutter, cut into 16 (3-inch) circles. I gather the scraps, squeeze them into a ball and re-roll. I know it will lose some rise, but not enough to care. I ended up with 19 circles. Enough to make 9 pastries and fold the odd one in half, fill with desired berry mixture and seat. It’s a great way to test the final bake.
  3. Stir the cream cheese and granulated sugar in a medium bowl until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the white chocolate chips.
  4. Brush the edges of 12 pastry circles with the egg mixture. Place about 1 tablespoon cream cheese mixture in the center of each. Top each with about 3 raspberries or the equivalent amount of black or blue berries. Place the remaining pastry circles over the filling. Press the edges firmly to seal. Crimp the edges with a fork. Brush the pastries with the egg mixture and sprinkle with the coarse sugar. Using a sharp knife, cut small slits in the tops of the filled pastries. Place the pastries onto 2 baking sheets.
  5. Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown. Remove the pastries from the baking sheets and let cool on wire racks for 10 minutes.

Happy Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel Mother’s Day

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The primary recipes for this months Sally’s Baking Challenge is Frosted Strawberry Cookies and the alternate is Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel. She had me a “chocolate.”

These muffins may be a bit chocolate forward, i.e., the chocolate overpowers the banana, Next time I will cut the amount of chocolate back by a third or so. Nonetheless, these muffins are delicious, moist and definitely a keeper.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel

Yield: 12 muffins

INGREDIENTS
Streusel
• 2 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 50g ( ¼ c) packed light or dark brown sugar
• 135g ( ¾ c) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Muffins
• 208g (1 and ⅔ c) all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 85g (6 Tbl) RT unsalted butter
• 100g ( ½ c) granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 345g (1½ c) mashed bananas (about 4 medium or 3 large bananas)
• 60g ( ¼ c) plain yogurt or sour cream

METHOD

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners. Set aside.
  2. Mix all the streusel ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside.
  3. Whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  4. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed in a large bowl until creamed, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the egg and beat until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the mashed bananas and yogurt, and then beat on high speed until combined; mixture will look curdled and that’s ok.
  5. Add the dry ingredients and beat on low speed until combined. Batter is thick. Do not overmix.
  6. Layer a large spoonful (about 1½ Tablespoons, 20ml scoop) of batter into each muffin cup. Sprinkle with 1 scant Tablespoon of streusel. Layer another large spoonful of batter over each, using up the remaining batter, then finish by sprinkling remaining streusel on top of each muffin. The 12 muffin cups should be filled all the way to the very top. With a toothpick or knife, gently swirl the streusel topping with the batter.
  7. Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F, then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. Bake for an additional 15–16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 20–21 minutes. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan, and then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling, or enjoy warm.
  8. Muffins stay fresh covered at room temperature for a few days, then transfer to the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Notes

  1. Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: For longer storage, freeze the muffins for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then warm up in the microwave if desired.
  2. Frozen Bananas: You can use thawed frozen bananas in this muffin recipe. Thawed bananas are extra wet, so drain off as much of the excess liquid as you can before mashing.
  3. Yogurt or Sour Cream: You can use either regular or Greek plain yogurt in this recipe (any fat content) or sour cream. In a pinch, 1/4 cup (60ml) buttermilk may be substituted.
  4. Why the initial high oven temperature? Like I do for most muffin recipes, bake the muffins for 5 minutes at a very hot temperature. Then, keeping the muffins in the oven, switch to a lower temperature for the remaining bake time. This initial high temperature will quickly lift the muffin tops so they’re extra high, then the centers will bake during the lower temperature bake time.

Olive Bread Sticks

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I don’t know what prompted my desire for olive bread sticks, but here we are again. These bread sticks are SO good. They are a bit of a pain (the forming and cutting and placing on the cookie sheet) to make, but worth it.

Learning from my previous bake I cut the whole, pitted olives in half as the previous ones were just too big.

The pain part
The payoff part

AND… as long as the oven was on, I used a long, thin Dutch oven to make a nice sized artisan loaf for sandwiches, (and to eat slathered with butter.)

Olive Bread Sticks

(Paul Hollywood Method and Recipe)

  • INGREDIENTS
  • 500g bread flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 10g salt
  • 10g instant yeast
  • 400ml tepid water
  • 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for oiling
  • 500 g/1 lb jar pitted green olives in brine, drained fine semolina, for dusting (optional)
  • 6g (4 Tbl) finely chopped rosemary (optional)
  • 3g (2 Tbl) capers (optional)


METHOD

  1. Oil proofing bucket
  2. Put the flour into the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the salt to one side of the bowl and the yeast to the other. Add three-quarters of the water and begin mixing on a slow speed. As the dough starts to come together, gradually add the remaining water.
  3. Mix for a further 5-8 minutes on a medium speed. The dough should now be wet and stretch easily when pulled. Add the olive oil and mix for a further two minutes. Add the olives, (rosemary and capers, optional) mix until well-distributed.
  4. Put the dough into the oiled containers and leave until it has at least tripled in size – for approximately an hour.
  5. Line two baking trays with parchment or silicone paper and preheat the oven to 425F Convection. My oven automatically drops the temp to 400F when using Convection.
  6. Dust the work surface heavily with flour – add some semolina too, if you have some. Carefully tip the dough onto the surface. It will be very loose and flowing – but don’t worry. Rather than knocking it back, handle it gently so that you keep as much air in the dough as possible.
  7. Heavily dust the top of the dough with flour and then stretch it out gently to a rough rectangle. Starting at one long edge, cut the dough into approximately 18 strips. Stretch each piece out until 8-10in long. Place the strips onto the prepared baking trays, spacing them apart to allow for oven rise.
  8. Bake the dough sticks for 10-15 minutes until the tops are a golden brown.
  9. Cool on wire rack. I use a brush to remove some of the excess flour.

30 Minute Rolls

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I watched a woman on a FB reel make “30 Minute Rolls.” (Sorry, I don’t remember her name). I required two or three viewings of the reel before I was confident that I accurately transcribed the ingredients and method. (I did.) As is my preference, I converted the volume measurements to weights,.

Today, we wanted chicken salad sandwiches for lunch but the artisan bread I made a few days ago is now perfect for french toast or grilled cheese sandwiches but not un-toasted sandwiches. Anyway, any excuse to bake bread is a good excuse.

As per the FB reel instructions I made 90g rolls which yielded eight 4” diameter rolls. For hamburger rolls I would probably try six 123g rolls.

Unfortunately, I didn’t note the exact time I started baking, but I estimate the rolls were out of the oven and cooling in about 45 minutes.

Besides requiring only 30-ish minutes… they are soft, fresh and fantastic!!

30 Minute Rolls

INGREDIENTS
• 236g (1 c) warm water
• 6g (2 Tbl) yeast
• 12g (1 Tbl) sugar
• 1 egg
• 50g (1/4 c) vegetable oil
• 6g (1 tsp) salt
• 360g (3 c) AP flour
• 1 egg for egg wash
• 2 Tbl butter for brushing

METHOD

  1. Mix yeast, water and sugar in a stand mixer with paddle attachment for 3 minutes until it’s mixed and the yeast is activated and foamy.
  2. Add egg, oil and flour and mix using dough hook until it comes together
  3. Dump dough onto counter and knead until it it a bit smoother
  4. Cut into desired portions, suggesting 8 (92g) for ~4” rolls and 6 (123g) rolls for a larger (~5”) hamburger rolls.
  5. The dough was very sticky so I floured the bench top and patted each piece of dough in it before the next step.
  6. Stretch and fold each portion into a ball, pinch the seam together and roll on the counter
  7. Cover with a warm tea towel.
  8. Preheat oven to 400⁰ F as the dough is resting
  9. Move rolls to a parchment paper covered baking sheet and brush with egg wash
  10. Bake 12-14 minutes, until the tops are nicely browned. Internal temperature should be 195⁰ F
  11. Remove from oven and brush with butter while still hot.

Brie and Fig Vol au Vents

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Sally’s rough puff pastry is so good. It’s flaky and rises perfectly I constantly look for places to use it. Recently, I envisioned a vol au vent (I don’t believe I ever made them before) using last year’s fig jam before this year’s crop ripens.

I needed something to pair with the fig, and eventually settled on brie. Have you ever tried to cut brie into a 0.25” thick by 1.5” diameter disk? It ain’t easy. I chilled the 1” thick wheel of brie then cut it into two ~0.5” disks before punching it 1.5” cylinders which then had to be cut in half to achieve the required size.

Then, there needed to be something to top it off and I decided on cream cheese frosting top with coarsely chopped pistachios for a little crunch. I am not convinced that is the best choice but was itching to make this pastry.

Any suggestions or an alternative to the cream cheese are welcome.

I rolled out the puff pastry dough on a silicon pastry mat. (Whenever I use this I put a couple of scram pieces of silicon under it to keep it from sliding on the counter.)

When the puff pastry was ready I rolled each piece (I made two) into a 10”x15” rectangle. One recipe makes almost exactly this size a sheet of puff pastry.

I cut 8 circles of 3” then cut a 2” hole in each. (FYI: I used the left over disk to make pseudo pain au chocolates. Waste not, want even more.) The “donuts” were dampened with water on one side and gently placed on a disk and patted down gently.

Bake the pastry “cups” and when done, use a fork to remove the “puffed up” center, return to the oven for 3-5 minutes then completely cool. Place a brie disk into each and fill to the top with fig jam. Pipe a bit of frosting on top and sprinkle some coarse chopped pistachios to finish. Ta da!

Fig Jam

Makes ~ 13 half pint jars

INGREDIENTS (Double recipe in parentheses)

• 3 pounds fresh figs (washed, stems removed) (6#)
• 400g (2 c) granulated sugar (800g; 4 cups)
• 118g (½ c) water (236g; 1 c)
• 1 (2 Tbl) lemon (juice and finely grated zest) (4 Tbl)

METHOD

  1. In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the figs, sugar, water,lemon juice, and lemon zest.
  2. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Cover and simmer over low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
  3. Remove the cover, attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan making sure the bottom of the thermometer doesn’t touch the pan’s bottom, and continue simmering, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens. When the mixture gets quite thick, begin to stir constantly to keep from scorching.
  4. Cook to 220 F and remove from the heat. Or test a small amount on a very cold saucer by putting the saucer in the freezer for a few minutes, put a little of the fig mixture on it, then returning it to the freezer for 1 minute. When a good gel stage is reached (220 F), the surface of the fruit mixture will wrinkle slightly when pushed with a finger.
  5. While figs are cooking, prepare the jars and lids. Put the glass jars in a boiling water canner about half-filled with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and keep jars in the water.
  6. Put water in a separate saucepan, bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and add the jar lids. Keep in the hot water until ready to use. Do not boil.
  7. Fill the jars with the hot fig jam mixture, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Wipe jar rims and threads with a wet paper towel. Place lids on jars using tongs or a jar magnet then screw on the rings.
  8. Place on a rack in the hot water in the canner. Lower into the water and add enough hot or boiling water to bring the water level to 1 to 2 inches above the jars. Bring jars to a boil for 10 minutes.

Using canning tongs, remove the jars to a clean towel on a flat work surface. Listen for the popping sound which indicates a good seal and tighten the rings.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

INGREDIENTS (I made a half recipe)

• 1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup butter softened
• 226g (2 cups) powdered sugar
• ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp salt

METHOD

Beat together cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and salt until the proper viscosity is achieved.

Blueberry Pie Bars

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The Sally’s Baking Addiction alternate bake this month was Blueberry Pie Bars. (Think pies you can eat by hand.)

The result was delicious, hand held, and easier to make than you might think.

Blueberry Pie Bars Recipe – Sally

 INGREDIENTS

Crust + Topping

  • 188g (1½ c) AP flour
  • 85g (1c+2 Tbl) old-fashioned whole rolled oats, divided
  • 100g ( ½ c) packed light or dark brown sugar
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp lemon zest
  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 142g (10 Tbl) unsalted butter, melted

Filling

  • 640g (4 ½ c) blueberries, fresh is best*
  • 100g ( ½ c) granulated sugar
  • 15g (2 Tbl) cornstarch
  • 1 Tbl lemon juice
  • 2 tsp lemon zest

 

METHOD

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides to easily lift the bars out of the pan. Set aside.
  2. Whisk the flour, 1 cup (85g) oats, brown sugar, baking powder, lemon zest, cinnamon, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the melted butter and stir until the mixture resembles moist crumbly sand and no dry spots remain. You will have a little more than 3 cups of crust mixture, or about 520g. Press 2/3 of the mixture (about 2 cups/345g—doesn’t have to be exact) into the prepared baking pan. Press it into the pan with your hands, a large spoon or spatula, or the bottom of a measuring cup to form a crust. Bake for 10 minutes, and then remove from the oven to slightly cool.
  3. Place the blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat on the stove and stir gently to combine. Cook and stir for 2–3 minutes until the cornstarch and sugar begin to dissolve and the berries look evenly wet. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon zest.
  4. Pour/spread the filling over the warm crust. Stir 2 Tablespoons oats into the remaining crumble mixture, then sprinkle it all over the filling, and lightly press it down with the back of a large spoon or flat spatula.
  5. Bake for about 45–55 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and the blueberry filling is bubbling around the edges.
  6. Remove from the oven and allow the bars to cool completely in the pan set on a wire rack. Feel free to cover and refrigerate the cooled bars for up to 1 day before cutting into squares.
  7. Lift the cooled bars out of the pan using the overhang on the sides and cut into squares.
  8. Cover and store leftover blueberry pie bars at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Notes

  1. Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can refrigerate the cooled bars before cutting into squares, see step 6. Baked and cooled bars freeze well up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature, if desired, before serving.
  2. Can I Bake This in a 9×13-inch Pan? You can, but I have had better results baking a smaller batch, as written, in the 9-inch pan. If you want to make a larger batch, double each ingredient (only use 8 cups of blueberries) and bake in a 9×13-inch pan. Increase crust pre-bake time to 18 minutes. Increase the bake time after adding the filling & crumble topping to 1 hour, or until filling is bubbling.
  3. Fresh Blueberries: It’s best to use fresh blueberries in this recipe. If you’d like to use frozen, follow the recipe as written and sub in frozen blueberries (do not thaw). Keep in mind that the filling will be much juicier.

 

The Long and Short(bread) of it

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I spent the last few days out of the bakery and took a short(bread) cut to return this afternoon.

I made variations of these cookies before (search abatteroldsuitecase.com for “shortbread”.)

I also included the recipe for making tempered chocolate for coating the cookies

Shortbread Cookies

INGREDIENTS (Half Recipe in parentheses)
• 336 g = 3 sticks, 36 Tbl (170g = 1½ sticks) unsalted butter, at RT
• 200 g = 1 c (100g = ½ c) sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
• 1 tsp (½ tsp) pure vanilla extract
• 420 g = 3 ½ c (210g = 1¾ c) all-purpose flour
• ¼ tsp (⅛ tsp) salt
• 175-200 g semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• Optional: 3 Tbl fresh orange zest

METHOD

  1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla, (and zest if using.)
  2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into two flat rectangles ~ ¾ inch thick each. Do not overwork it and the flour will hydrate some in the freezer. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
  3. Roll the dough ~1/2-inch thick and cut into desired shapes. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and dock with a fork (and optionally sprinkle with sugar.)
  4. Preheat the oven to 350⁰F. Refrigerate cut cookies while the oven heats. (~ 15 minutes)
  5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.
  6. If chocolate coating, when the cookies are cool, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
    a. Temper the chocolate as described below
    b. Drag ½ of each cookie with just enough chocolate to coat it.
    c. Optional: dust still warm chocolate lightly with zest

Tempering Chocolate with Mycryo

INGREDIENTS

Weigh 1% of the mycryo butter so it’s ready to add.
• 100g/3.5oz chocolate + 1/2 tsp (1g) Mycryo cocoa butter
• 200g/7oz chocolate + 1 tsp (2g) Mycryo cocoa butter
• 1kg/35.27oz chocolate + 5 tsp (10g) Mycryo cocoa butter.

METHOD

  1. Melt chocolate to 122-126°F (microwave or bain-marie). Leave the chocolate to cool to 93-95° F (or 91-93° F for milk, white or colored chocolate) at ambient temperature.
  2. When cooled, sprinkle the 1% Mycryo® cocoa butter as per table above and wait a few seconds as it melts then stir in to combine.
  3. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the chocolate off the sides and fold into the middle.
  4. Stir well and continue to stir well frequently
  5. Use immediately. To keep the chocolate in temper, maintain it within working temperatures: 88°F–91°F for dark chocolate, and 82°F–84°F for milk/white/colored chocolate.
  6. If the chocolate starts hardening, then heat it up and stir well until it warms back up to working temperature and the chocolate is smooth again. (Do this carefully, putting it in the microwave in 5 second bursts, stir vigorously and repeat until desired temperature is achieved.)

My Second, First Holy Communion Cake

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Our granddaughter Vivian’s First Holy Communion was this morning with a celebratory meal after. I finished her choice of a confetti cake two hours before services. Its design is much like her sister Graces except I made the chalice by cutting tempered chocolate and dusting with gold and/or silver sparkling dust.

I see all the imperfections, but will keep quiet.

Crusting gold buttercream was a bit of a challenge but mixing the appropriate quantities of yellow, brown and red food colorings yielded an acceptable shade. I wanted crusting so the sugar decoration would not melt (it did slightly) and I wanted the boarder piping to keep its form

Transform regular butter cream by substituting half the butter for and equal volume of vegetable shortening.

Note: volume, not weight. By weight half the butter weighs 113g and the vegetable shortening is 93g.

P.S. This is undoubtedly my last communion cake.

First Holy Communion Confetti Cake

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I have been looking for a new, soft and moist white cake. Thankfully, our younger granddaughter asked for a confetti cake for her First Holy Communion cake on Saturday. I made Sally’s Confetti Cake for practice this morning. The final cake will be crumb coated and frosted with a standard buttercream or perhaps a marshmallow fondant.

The final cake will need to feed about 70 people so I will make a double layer 11”x15” sheet cake. Layering the cake could be tricky as the cake is very fragile. The bake time will be adjusted, but as I bake by internal temperature that shouldn’t be an issue.

(I added a picture of her sister’s Communion cake from 2 years ago so you can see the final result.)