This month’s challenge was to make a Cinnamon Swirl Cheesecake or alternatively an Orange Sweet Roll (which was my entry choice.) While cheesecake is fine, no one bakes one better than my son Dan who makes two for every New Years.
My only comment on Sally’s method is I think chilling the rolled dough for an hour before slicing would make the cutting easier and would not deform the shape.
The taste and texture were outstanding (a word I use too frequently, but is typically appropriate.)
QC and I rarely have desserts out, but last week it was included in our meal, so what’s a person to do? We had “pizookies” at BJ’s and I instantly thought: “You know, this could be even better if….”
I made my chocolate and raspberry brownie tart free standing, not in a tin. I also add raspberry Jammie bits to the batter, raspberry coulis and whole raspberries because, as you might guess, I like raspberries.
The amount of raspberry stood up to the otherwise overwhelming dominant chocolate. I also made the hot fudge, caramel sauce and coulis.
Tart Ring and FoilFoil Wrapped RingBaked Brownie BaseGanache Covered BrownieRaspberry Coulis on Ganache Coated BrownieChocolate and Raspberry Brownie Tart with Raspberry Coulis, Hot Fudge and Caramel Sauce Drizzles.
Chocolate And Raspberry Brownie Tart
INGREDIENTS BROWNIES • 2 large eggs • ½ cup + 2 Tbl dark cocoa • ½ tsp salt • ½ tsp baking powder • 1 tsp vanilla extract • 1 cup + 2 Tbl sugar • ½ cup unsalted butter, melted • ½ cup + 2 Tbl AP flour • ½ cup chocolate chips • ½ cup jammy bits • 1 ½ Tbl honey or seedless raspberry jam • ½ Tbl water CHOCOLATE GANACHE GLAZE • ½ cup heavy cream • 20 g (½ Tbl) light corn syrup • 200 g (1⅓ c) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped • ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease eight 4” tart rings and cover the bottom and outside with aluminum foil. (Spray the sides of the tart ring and foil on the bottom cooking spray.)
Crack the 2 eggs into a bowl, and beat them with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, and vanilla until smooth.
Add the sugar and melted butter, stirring until smooth.
Add the flour, chips, and Jammy Bits, again stirring well. The batter will be very thick.
Spoon 90 g of batter to half fill each tart ring and smooth with a small offset spatula
Bake the brownies for 12-16 minutes, checking the temperature after 8 minutes. The brownies are done when a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean (200 degrees,) or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and the center should look moist, but not uncooked. Do not over bake! Remove them from the oven.
Heat the honey or seedless raspberry jam with 1 Tbl of water and stir until smooth. Brush over the warm brownies. Set aside to cool for an hour or longer before topping with the ganache.
Loosen the brownies from the rings by running a knife around the brownie. Carefully peel the aluminum foil from the brownie and release the brownie from the ring.
To make the ganache, heat the cream and corn syrup until they begin to steam (60 sec in 1000W microwave.) Pour over the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes, add any flavorings, and whisk until smooth. Let cool for 15 minutes or so.
Spread ganache over the brownies while it’s still warm but has begun to thicken — reheat if it thickens too much as you work. Allow several hours for the ganache to set up fully. You may refrigerate the brownies to hasten the setting of the ganache.
Spread a tablespoon of raspberry sauce on the ganache, top with a scoop of ice cream and drizzle sauce(s) of your choice, i.e. hot fudge, raspberry, caramel or marshmallow. Garnish with fresh raspberries.
Hot Fudge
INGREDIENTS
⅔ c heavy cream
144 g (½ c) light corn syrup
70 g (⅓ c) light brown sugar – not packed
¼ c unsweetened natural cocoa powder
¼ tsp salt
170 g dark or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 Tbl unsalted butter
2 tsp vanilla extract METHOD
Bring cream, corn syrup, brown sugar, cocoa powder, optional salt, and half the chopped chocolate to a boil in a 1½-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until chocolate is melted. Reduce heat and cook at a low boil for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Turn off the heat and add butter, vanilla, remaining chocolate, and stir until smooth.
Cool slightly before serving.
Cooled sauce can be stored in a jar with a lid or in airtight container in the refrigerator for many weeks. Reheat sauce before using by placing the desired portion in a microwave-safe bowl and heating for about 10 to 15 seconds, or reheat on the stovetop
Caramel Sauce INGREDIENTS • 112 g (½ c) RT butter • 106 g (½ c) light brown sugar • dash salt • 144g (½ c) light corn syrup • 7 oz (½ can) sweetened condensed milk • 1 tsp vanilla METHOD
Melt the butter in 1½ quart or larger saucepan.
Add the brown sugar and salt and combine. Stir in the corn syrup, mix well.
Gradually add the sweetened condensed milk, stirring constantly. It can take 10-15 minutes to add the milk. Go very slowly!
Cook and stir over medium heat to 220°F for sauce viscosity.
Remove from heat, stir in vanilla.
Store in sealable container when cool
Seedless Raspberry Coulis
INGREDIENTS • 480 g fresh washed and dried raspberries • 200 g (1 c) caster sugar • 60 g (1/4 c) cold water • 2 Tbl lemon juice
METHOD
Add all ingredients to a 1 ½ quart saucepan
Cook while stirring and mashing over medium heat until it thickens (~220 F)
Strain the coulis through a fine mesh sieve.
Pour into an airtight container and cool before sealing
Here’s another nice looking dessert. It had the advantage of using puff pastry and I wanted another excuse to make more Sally’s puff pastry. My first attempt went well so I tried it again. (It went well also.)
The dessert also uses berries, and if you know me, that is a deal maker!
The published recipe used too much jam filling for me. It made the pastry too wet which resulted in a messy final product. I cut the berry jam contents in half for future bakes, as noted below.
Wet mixture prior to first chillingFirst roll after first chillingFirst fold after first chillingAfter 6 “roll and folds” the pastry was smooth and elasticUsing tart pan to cut 2 “circles” of pastryCoat one circle with cream cheeseCoat the cream cheese with cinnamon Cutting pastry into 12 sections, protecting the centerAfter filling and cutting, twist each section. (This is where it got messy.)Baked Puff Pastry Berry Dessert
As I said, the final product was messy but Sally’s puff pastry is perfect. (Find her recipe in the link above.) It is light, flaky and as GBBO demands, has excellent layers.
Puff Pastry Berry Dessert
INGREDIENTS • 800 g puff pastry ( two 400 g sheets = 2 of Sally’s recipes) • 100 g spreadable cheese cream • 3 g cinnamon • 200 g berries • 50 g water • 25 g honey • 20 g cornstarch • 20 g melted butter Note: The quantities of berry jam were halved from the published recipe
METHOD
Cut 2 circles from the puff pastry as big as possible
Spread cream cheese over the entire area of one piece of pastry
Sprinkle with cinnamon
Add berries to 100g of water and boil for 20 minutes
Add honey and corn starch mix well
Preheat oven to 425⁰F
Cover the dough with jam then add the second layer of puff pastry
Place an inverted glass at the center of the tart and cut radially into 12 strips
Somewhere I came across Pastéis de Natas, so I researched online for a suitable recipe. I had 6 left-over egg yolks and an extra sheet of puff pastry. Doing the maths I calculated if I used two more sheets of puff pastry and made 18 tarts I should about run out of left overs.
Well, I was once semester short of graduating with a math minor, but somehow I ended up with two small bowls of custard. This isn’t a problem as it is smooth and delicious. (I have some raspberries that need to be used soon so a nice raspberry coulis could be used here.)
Pastéis de Nata
INGREDIENTS
• 296 g (1⅓ c) granulated sugar • 115 g (½ c) water • ½ tsp cinnamon • 225 g (1 c) whole milk • ½ cup (115ml) double cream • 5 large egg yolks • 1 large egg • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract • 28 g (¼ c) cornstarch/cornflour • 1 pack frozen puff pastry
METHOD
Preheat oven to 500°F. Making the Custard:
In a small pan, add the sugar, water, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a simmer and allow to simmer for 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and set it aside to infuse.
In a separate saucepan, combine milk and cream and place over medium heat. Allow the mixture to come to a simmer, then remove from the heat and set aside to cool down.
To a large bowl, add the egg yolks, whole egg, vanilla extract, and cornflour. Whisk until fully combined and no lumps remain.
Temper the egg mixture by slowly pouring the hot milk to it briskly whisking as you go.
Return this egg mixture to the saucepan and place over low-medium heat. Whisk continually until mixture thickens, around 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Whisk in the cooled cinnamon sugar syrup. Set the custard aside. Assembling the Tarts:
Lightly flour a work surface and cut puff pastry into roughly 14 equal rounds using a 3 ½ inch cookie cutter.
To a lightly greased muffin tin, push each piece of puff pastry down and up into the sides of the muffin holes until evenly distributed.
Pour custard into each muffin tin so each one is three-quarters full. Bake for roughly 15 minutes or until golden brown on top.
Serve warm as is or with a dollop of cream on top, or dusted with confectioners sugar.
I make these drop scones with whatever berries I have on hand. I would rather spend a half hour making scones, than throwing slightly old berries away.
I made some Caramel Coconut Macaroon Thumbprints for Sally’s Baking Addiction April Challenge and had some strawberries left over. (They were BOGO.) Waste not, want more.
Berry Drop Scones
INGREDIENTS
2 ½ cups (312g) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup (67g) sugar
Zest of 1 small lemon (or orange or lime)
½ cup (115g) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
150-175g berries. Use any berries that you like.
1 cup heavy cream + extra if required
Coarse or turbinado sugar for topping
METHOD
Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and zest. Pulse a few times to incorporate.
Add the cubed butter and pulse to incorporate. The mixture should resemble very coarse sand.
Empty the flour mixture into a mixing bowl. Add the cream and stir until just barely incorporated. Add additional cream by the tablespoon to help the dough come together
Gently fold in the berries. (It’s fine if the raspberries or blackberries break up a little – it adds a nice pink stain to the dough.) The dough should just be moist, not wet, but also not crumbly or powdery looking. If it looks too dry, add a tablespoon of cold water.
Spoon the dough into 12 equally sized pieces on the parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle some coarse or turbinado sugar over the top, if desired.
Bake for 16-19 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. The scones should be lightly golden and cooked through. I rotate the pan after 10 minutes
Cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes then carefully remove to a cooling rack.
St. Honoré cake is a pastry dessert named for the French patron saint of bakers and pastry chefs and when created correctly is amazing.
The various components of my cake were delicious. The size of the patisserie cream filled profiteroles were slightly large. I will know better next time. Bake and learn,
The cake is basically a circular (7” diameter) base of puff pastry with a ring of choux pastry about 1/2” thick piped around the perimeter. With the excess choux pastry a dozen or so profiteroles (about 1” to 1.5” diameter. are piped on the same baking sheet. This is baked, then cooled.
While the base is cooling make the cream patisserie and chantilly cream. Fill the profiteroles with cream patisserie and set aside. Using a St Honoré piping tip fill the base with a nice pattern of the traditional piping style.
Make the caramel and use it to stick the profiteroles to the edges of the round base. Add another filled profiterole to the center then drizzle caramel over all the profiteroles.
INGREDIENTS Puff Pastry • 1 sheet of puff pastry • Or home made rough puff pastry Pate a Choux • 1/4 cup unsalted butter • 1/2 cup water • 1/2 tsp granulated sugar • 1/4 tsp salt • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour • 2 eggs Creme patisserie • 1 cup milk • 1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste, or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract • 1/3 cup granulated sugar • 2 tbsp cornstarch • 2 tbsp all-purpose flour • 1 egg • 1 egg yolk Chantilly cream • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream • 2 tbsp powdered sugar • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract Salted Caramel • 2/3 cup granulated sugar • ¼ c water • 1/3 cup heavy cream • 1/2 tsp salt, or more to taste
METHOD Pate a Choux
Preheat the oven to 425°F. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, warm the water, unsalted butter, sugar and salt together. Once the butter has melted, remove the saucepan from the heat.
Pour in the all-purpose flour and stir together to combine. Move the saucepan over to low heat, and stir the now-formed dough/paste until it no longer sticks to the bottom of the pan (about 30 seconds to 1 minute).
Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the eggs, one at a time. It will be slightly difficult to mix the egg into the dough, but just keep vigorously stirring and eventually they’ll become incorporated. Temporarily set this aside. Puff Pastry Base and Pastry Puffs
Cut out a 7″ round from the puff pastry. You can use a bowl, pan, pot lid – whatever you have that will help you cut out a nice 7″ circle (or simply trace it after measuring with a ruler – perfection isn’t necessary!). Place this puff pastry circle on one side of a baking sheet fitted with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
Fill a pastry bag (with no tip) with the pate a choux dough that you created in your saucepan. In one continuous motion, pipe the dough out along the edge of the puff pastry circle (creating a sort of wall for the puff pastry). Now, pipe out approximately 16 small mounds on the open side of the baking sheet, spacing the mounds slightly apart. Smooth out any ridges or pointed tips using your fingers.
Bake the pastry for 10 minutes at 425°F, then WITHOUT opening the oven door, bake the pastry for another 12-16 minutes at 375°F, until they’re a deep golden color. Place the pastry ring and pastry puffs on a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Creme Patisserie
Meanwhile, heat the milk in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar, cornstarch, flour, egg, and egg yolk together.
Once the milk is hot and steam is beginning to rise from it, stir in the vanilla bean paste (if using extract, hold off for now). Then, pour half of the milk into the egg mixture, whisking the egg mixture vigorously as you do. Pour the rest of the milk in, and continue to whisk vigorously.
Transfer the entire batter back into the saucepan and whisk over medium heat. It will take about 5 minutes for the cream to thicken up into a pudding-like consistency. Just keep whisking the whole time.
Once the cream is starting to look like pudding, quickly remove the cream from the heat. If you’re using vanilla extract, stir the extract in now. If there are any lumps in your cream, just whisk the cream really vigorously to smooth them out.
Transfer the cream to a clean bowl and cover the cream with a sheet of plastic wrap placed directly onto the cream (this will prevent a filmy layer from forming). Chill the pastry cream in the refrigerator.
Chantilly Creme
In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the heavy cream on high speed until indentations begin to appear. Pour in the vanilla extract and powdered sugar, then whisk on high speed until a frosting-like consistency is formed.
Caramel
In a medium saucepan, add the sugar and 1/4 cup of water. Do NOT stir the two together. Simply place the saucepan over medium-high heat, and allow the mixture to come to a simmer. Watch the sugar-water bubble for approximately 7 to 8 minutes, watching it go from white-ish/clear to a medium amber color. Do NOT step away from the caramel as it can burn in a matter of seconds.
Once the caramel has reached a medium amber color and is JUST beginning to smoke, quickly remove the caramel from the heat. Carefully pour the heavy cream into the caramel (it will bubble), then stir to combine. Add the salt, and again stir to combine. Assembly
Fit a pastry bag with a long, narrow filling tip. Fill the pastry bag with the creme patisserie and then pipe this into the pastry puffs. Flip the pastry puff upside down so that the flat side is facing you, then dip the top in the salted caramel. Gently give it a shake to pour off excess caramel, then carefully dip the bottom of the pastry puff in caramel too.
Place the pastry puff onto the pate a choux wall that you created on top of the puff pastry circle. The caramel will act like a glue. Continue until you’ve got a ring of pastry puffs.
Scoop the remaining creme patisserie onto the center of the puff pastry. Fill a new pastry bag fitted with whatever tip you like (plain, star, st. honore) with the creme Chantilly, and pipe the creme on top of the pastry cream.
Stick one final pastry puff in the center of the dessert, then drizzle caramel all over. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Traditionally we have pizza on Pi Day, but other, more important obligations interfered with tradition. Instead, I made Berry Hand Pies (Blueberry and Raspberry) and while not pizza, they didn’t disappoint.
Berry hand pies are a piece of cake. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)
Not often, but on rare occasion I have a baking disaster. Yesterday I wanted blueberry muffins and unfortunately used an old recipe. Apparently, there was a major error in the recipe as after two attempts I binned the results (along with the recipe) and headed to my go-to baker, Sally McKenny. (“Binned” is a term from GBBO where whatever didn’t work is tossed in the trash.)
I wisely turned to Sally’s blueberry muffin recipe and they were overwhelmingly endorsed by the QC Cadre. (For any who do not know, the QC Cadre is composed of a number of my neighbors who volunteered to sample and review my bakes.)
I really think every pastry baker needs to know how to make puff pastry. The easiest version is rough puff, which I made a couple of days ago. It is as easy, delicious, flakey and buttery as the Daring Gourmet claims ( find her recipe here: daringgourmet.com).
I had some issues turning and rolling to develop a smooth pastry, but after 8 turns it looked pretty good. Kept in the fridge for a couple of days and rolled out to about 1/8th inch thick this morning it looked great. I cut 3” circles, filled them with a cream cheese, sugar, white chocolate chip mixture and topped with a small raspberry. The edges were egg washed, folded and crimped with a fork before coating the top with more egg wash and sparkling sugar.
Actually, I both over-filled and under-sealed them so they are a mess. (See step #5 regarding my disregard of my own advice.) That in no way affects their taste. Using a 4” cutter might help. As advertised the puff pastry was excellent, the filling (my recipe) was likewise excellent, but then, the combination of chocolate and raspberries is hard to beat.
Ignore the artisan bread in the background. I had to heat up the oven anyway so why not?
Berry Hand Pie
INGREDIENTS • 1 egg • 1 tablespoon water • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour • 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed but cool. • 2 ounces cream cheese, softened • 1 tablespoons granulated sugar or decorating sugar • ¼ cup white chocolate chips • 3 ounces berries • 2 tablespoons coarse white sugar or decorating sugar METHOD
Heat the oven to 400°F. Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork.
Stir the cream cheese and granulated sugar in a medium bowl until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the white chocolate chips.
Cut large berries in half.
Sprinkle the flour on the work surface. Unfold the pastry sheet on the work surface. Roll the pastry sheet into a ~12-inch square. Using a round cutter, cut into as many 3 -inch circles as you can. (Try a 4” cutter and settle for fewer, better looking pastries.)
Brush the edges of the pastry circles with the egg mixture. Place about ½ tablespoon cream cheese mixture in the center of each. (Don’t overfill.) Top each with about one small or two halves of a large berry. Fold the circles in half, pinching the edges together. Crimp both edges with a fork. If you don’t seal them adequately or have to much filling it will leak out of the sides of the finished pastry.
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 a silicone or parchment paper lined baking sheet.
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.
INGREDIENTS Scone • 3 ½ c AP flour, plus extra for dusting • 2 ½ Tbl baking powder • 1 tsp salt • 1 cup heavy cream • 1 cup lemonade • zest of 1 lemon Chantilly Cream • 1 c cold or whipping cream • ½ c powdered sugar • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste • (Option #1 for stabilized chantilly cream – 1/3 cup mascarpone, fridge cold (40%+fat) • (Option #2 for stabilized chantilly cream – 1 Tbl per cup of cream) Raspberry Jam • Equal weights raspberries and sugar • Juice and zest of 1 lemon (2 Tbl)
METHOD Chantilly Cream
At medium high beat the cream, icing sugar, vanilla (plus mascarpone if making stabilized cream). Move the beater around the bowl until the required stiffness is achieved.
Stiffness options – Beat for around 1 ½ minutes if you want soft peaks (kind of dollops) or 2 minutes for stiff peaks (for piping).
Set aside in a piping bag Raspberry Jam
Mix berries, lemon and sugar in a suitable sized pan and heat on medium-low until berries start to release their juice.
Strain the mixture to remove the seeds, return to heat.
Heat to 220°F
Set aside to cool. (Better to make the day prior to using) Scones
Preheat oven to 390°F. Line tray with baking/parchment paper.
Combine the flour, cream and lemonade in a bowl and mix until flour is mostly combined. Do not over mix, it will make the scones dense! The dough should be soft and sticky.
Turn out onto a floured surface and knead gently just 3 – 5 times to bring dough together, then gently pat into a disc shape 1″ thick.
Use a 2.5″ round cutter to cut rounds – press straight up and down (don’t twist), flour cutter in between.
Use a knife or spatula lift (avoid touching sides) and place on tray, slightly touching each other (they help each other rise).
Brush the tops lightly with milk.
Bake for 15 minutes until golden on top. Place on rack to cool. Place tea towel over them to stop the tops from getting crusty.
Serve with copious amounts of Chantilly cream and jam
Notes
Lemonade – Any brand lemonade works fine, or even 7Up. Just needs to be lemony, fizzy and sweet!
“Thickened cream” is a term typically used in Australia and New Zealand that generally refers to a cream that is simply thicker than regular milk or light cream, but not whipped, often used in sauces or as a pouring cream, while “whipped cream” is when the cream has been beaten to incorporate air bubbles, resulting in a light and fluffy texture; essentially, thickened cream is just a thicker liquid cream, not aerated like whipped cream.
Storage – keeps for 3 days in an airtight container but needs to be reheated to serve. Also freezes well, for up to 3 months.