Tom Waits wrote: “Well, I wish I was in New Orleans, I can see it in my dreams, Arm-in-arm down Burgundy, a bottle and my friends and me.”
I wrote: “I made beignets this morning and ate nearly enough to be sick, but not enough to be sick of them. I promised myself I would give them a try after I bought my deep fryer. Why, oh why did I wait so long?“
These were spot on for Cafe du Monde beignets. QC just sort of sighed when she ate hers. One of my Neighborhood QC Cadre said: “Oh my!!!! Unimaginably delicious.”
Beignets
INGREDIENTS • 3/4 c warm water between 110⁰F • 100 g (1/2 c) granulated sugar • 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 envelope) • 1 large egg room temperature • 120ml (1/2 c) room temperature milk • 10 ml (2 tsp) vanilla extract • 450 g (3 3/4 c) All Purpose flour • 1 tsp salt • 42 g (3 Tbl) room temperature unsalted butter • vegetable oil for deep frying or peanut oil • 60 g (1/2 c) powdered sugar
METHOD
Add the warm water to the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl if making this by hand or an electric mixer. Add the yeast and half the sugar then set aside for about 5 minutes to the yeast can get to work.
Measure out 3 ¾ cups of flour and mix with the teaspoon of salt and set aside.
Once the yeast mixture is bubbly, pour in the milk, vanilla, remaining sugar, and add the egg. Whisk together then add half the flour mixture and whisk together until smooth.
Attach a dough hook then add the remaining flour and begin mixing on medium speed, once the dough comes together add the butter and keep mixing until the dough is smooth and will pull away from the bowl, about 4 minutes. This dough is enriched and sticky but if it seems too wet you can mix in an extra ¼ cup of flour.
Transfer the dough to a large, lightly oiled bowl then cover and allow to rise in a warm place for at least two hours, you can also store the dough in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours. (Dough weighs 926 g.)
Add about 3 inches of oil to a large pot fitted with a candy thermometer and place over medium-high heat. Cover a wire cooling rack with a few layers of paper towels.
Once risen, roll the dough into a ½ inch thick rectangle on a well floured surface. Cut into 2-2 ½ inch squares using a pizza cutter.
Once the oil reaches 360⁰F add the beignets 3-4 at a time; fry until the bottom is puffed and golden ( 1 – 1½ minutes,) flip over and remove with a spider or slotted spoon once the bottom is golden too.
Place onto the paper towels then dust with powdered sugar and enjoy!
I am always pleased when asked to prepare some items for a party, large or small. Tonight is our annual temple baseball themed gala with an expected attendance of 100 people. I started this tradition in 2018, but missed a couple of years due to Covid etc.
Tonight Dede’ Bakery and Confectionary is serving chocolate/raspberry baseball field brownies, gluten free raspberry mousse tarts with baseball decorated cookies and key lime profiteroles with no baseball association whatsoever. (I just like them.)
GLUTEN FREE TARTS INGREDIENTS • 100 g cold butter cut into small cubes • 60 g icing sugar • 200 g Kim’s Bread flour blend • ½ tsp vanilla • ¼ tsp salt • 2 eggs – 1 for the dough and the other 1 reserved for an egg wash
METHOD
Mix dry Ingredients.
Lightly beat egg then add the melted butter.
Add wet to dry ingredients. Form into a dough ball.
Wrap the dough ball in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Roll to a 1/8” thick sheet between two pieces of parchment paper or plastic.
Cut rounds of the dough about an inch larger than the tart pans
Gently press the dough circles into the tart pans pressing into any flutes
Patch any breaks with extra dough
Dock the bottom of the crust. Wrap and keep in freezer at least 30 minutes.
Pre-bake the tart crust 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven at 350 deg.
Depending on recipe, you may want to protect the crust of the tart with foil
Cool to room temperature
Fill with raspberry mousse.
Top with a raspberry and white sugar cookies with red baseball seams.
Combine raspberries and 2 Tbl confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl and add to a food processor and pulse until berries are reduced
Sieve the mixture allowing enough time for most of the raspberry juice to drip into a bowl, (enough to make 200ml (2/3 c) puree)
Add 1 Tbl vanilla pudding, softened cream cheese and 1/4 cup sweetener, raspberry powder and ouzo and beat until well combined (3-4 minutes on high.) Mix in red food coloring in 2 or 3 aliquots until desired color is attained.
In a large bowl, whip the heavy cream, vanilla pudding mix and confectioners sugar.
Add red food coloring (in several small amounts until desired color is attained) and whip to firm peaks.
Fold the raspberry mixture into the whipped cream until combined. Divide the mousse among 6 dessert cups, cover, or fill a piping bag and chill until set, about 1 hour.
KIM’S GLUTEN FREE BREAD FLOUR BLEND Yield: 700g (5 c) INGREDIENTS • 285g Bob’s Red Mill potato starch • 250g superfine white rice flour (DON’T use regular rice flour, ie Bob’s Red Mill) • 75g Tapioca flour • 75g Whey protein isolate or egg white protein. • 15g Xanthan gum METHOD
Weigh all ingredients and add to a stand mixer bowl
Mix on low, with bowl covered for 30 seconds
CHOCOLATE AND RASPBERRY BROWNIE BARS I made a 1 ½ recipe and used an 11×15 pan.
INGREDIENTS Brownies • 4 large eggs • 1 ¼ c dark cocoa • 1 tsp salt • 1 tsp baking powder • 2 tsp vanilla extract • 2 ¼ c sugar • 1 c unsalted butter, melted • 1 ½ c All-Purpose Flour • 1 c chocolate chips • 1 c Raspberry Jammy Bits • 3 Tbl seedless raspberry jam • 1 Tbl water Chocolate Ganache Glaze • 1 Tbl cup heavy cream • 1 Tbl light corn syrup (20g) • 2 ⅔ c (400g) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped • 1 Tbl vanilla extract
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9″ x 13″ pan. To make very even bars, line the pan with aluminum foil before baking, leaving foil sticking up above the edges of the pan.
Crack the 4 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 the batter into the prepared pan and smooth.
Bake the brownies for about 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean (205 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 seedless raspberry jam with the water and stir until smooth. (I use 2 tsp of apple jelly, mixed with 1 tsp water and heated to melt the jelly.) Brush over the warm brownies. Set aside to cool for an hour or longer before topping with the ganache.
To make the ganache, heat the cream and corn syrup until they begin to steam. 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.
Pour 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.
Remove the brownies from the pan using the aluminum foil sling. Heat a knife in hot water, wipe dry and use to cut the brownies. Repeat with each cut.
KEY LIME PROFITEROLES INGREDIENTS Whipped Cream Key Lime Curd: • ½ c white sugar • 2 Tbl cornstarch • ¼ tsp kosher salt • 1 large egg, plus 2 large egg yolks • 2 tsp lime zest • ⅔ c key lime juice • ⅔ c sweetened condensed milk • 2 Tbl butter • ¾ c heavy whipping
Choux Pastry: • ½ c (65 grams) AP flour • ½ tsp granulated white sugar • ¼ tsp salt • 4 tbsp (55 grams) unsalted butter, cut into pieces • ½ c (120 ml) water • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten White Chocolate Raspberry Ganache • 150 g confectioner’s sugar • 50 g heavy cream • 1 Tbl freeze-dried raspberry powder • Red food coloring • Coarse decorating sugar
METHOD
Preheat oven to 400° F (200° C) and place rack in center of oven.
In a bowl whisk the flour with the sugar and salt.
Place the butter and water in a saucepan over medium high heat and bring to a boil.
Remove from heat and, with a wooden spoon, add the flour mixture, all at once, and stir until combined. It will look like mashed potatoes. Return saucepan to the heat and stir constantly until the dough comes away from the sides of the pan and forms a thick smooth ball (about 1-2 minutes). The dough will film the bottom and sides of the saucepan and make cleaning a pain.
Transfer the dough to an electric mixer and beat on low speed to release the steam from the dough (about 1 minute).
Once the dough is lukewarm start adding the lightly beaten eggs (dough will separate and then come together) and continue to mix until you have a smooth thick paste (dough will fall from a spoon in a thick ribbon).
Place the dough in a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip and pipe oblongs of dough (about 3/4 inch (2 cm) wide) onto the parchment lined baking sheet. (When piping hold the bag at a 45-degree angle.) If desired, with a pastry brush, gently brush the tops of the dough with the lightly beaten egg.
Bake for 15 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 350o F (180o C).
Remove from oven, pierce an end of each éclair with a small skewer to release the interior steam.
Continue to bake for a further 25 minutes or until the shells are a nice amber color and when split, are almost dry inside. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
Warm white chocolate to soften (30 seconds in a 1000W microwave)
Heat whipping cream to steam, but not boil and pour over the softened white chocolate
Let sit 3-4 minutes then add freeze dried raspberry, red food coloring and beat with a spoon until the mixture is smooth
After filling the profiteroles with the key lime curd dip the top into the warm ganache and sprinkle with decoration sugar. ROYAL ICING Makes ~3 cups of royal icing, (¼ recipe decorated 48 1” diameter cookies) INGREDIENTS • 4 cups (480g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted • 3 Tablespoons meringue powder (not plain egg white powder) • 9–10 Tablespoons room temperature water METHOD
Sift confectioners’ sugar and meringue powder, into a large bowl and add 9 Tablespoons of water. Add half the water after sifting 2 cups of sugar. Add the remaining water or more, checking flow consistency of the icing is what you want for piping etc.
Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat icing ingredients together on high speed for 1.5 – 2 minutes.
When lifting the whisk up off the icing, the icing should drizzle down and smooth out within 5-10 seconds. If it’s too thick, beat in more water 1 Tablespoon at a time. I usually need 10 Tablespoons but on particularly dry days, I use up to 12-14 Tablespoons. Keep in mind that the longer you beat the royal icing, the thicker it becomes. If your royal icing is too thin, just keep beating it to introduce more air OR you can add more confectioners’ sugar.
When applied to cookies or confections in a thin layer, icing completely dries in about 2 hours at room temperature. If icing consistency is too thin and runny, it will take longer to dry. If the icing is applied very thick on cookies, it will also take longer to dry. If you’re layering royal icing onto cookies for specific designs and need it to set quickly, place cookies in the refrigerator to help speed it up.
I made some chocolate-orange-custard tarts last week. Honestly, they tasted pretty good, but if I saw them in a patisserie I would give them a pass.
I remade them today but without the baked custard, chocolate and orange bases. (Truthfully, maybe a little over baked in my case.) Version 2.0 used a new method to make the tart case, and creme patisserie, chocolate ganache and a new orange drizzle.
The tart base was made using a food processor to mix the butter, sugar, salt and 1/4th of the flour. It’s basically the same method I use to make berry drop scones. Using the food processor is easier and quicker than cutting the butter into the sugar with your hands.
I use the “Martha Stewart” creme patisserie method and a standard eclair ganache recipe and method. The orange drizzle is simple the zest of one orange, 70 grams of confectioners sugar and enough fresh orange juice to make a pipeable paste.
There are a lot of steps in this recipe (none of them very difficult,) but believe me, it is well worth the effort.
CremePat – Chocolate – Orange Tart
Yield: Five 4” tarts.
INGREDIENTS Tart Shell • 100 g cold butter cut into small cubes • 60 g icing sugar • ½ tsp vanilla • ¼ tsp salt • 2 egg – 1 for the dough and the other 1 reserved for an egg wash • 200 g all-purpose flour Chocolate Ganache • 150 g dark chocolate finely chopped • 150 g heavy cream • 2 Tbl corn syrup • 1 tsp vanilla Orange Crème • 1 orange, juiced and zested • 35g confectioners sugar Crème Patisserie • 1 c (175 ml) whole/full fat milk (¾ c 2% plus ¼ c heavy cream) • 2 (40g) large egg yolks • ¼ c (13 grams) granulated/caster sugar • ⅛ c corn starch • 1 Tbl butter • ½ tsp vanilla extract
METHOD Tart Shell
In a food processor pulse sugar, salt and 50g AP flour
Pulse in cubed butter and vanilla
Transfer to a mixing bowl and add egg and mix until incorporated
Stir in flour. Mix by hand like you are kneading bread until incorporated
Cover with plastic and refrigerate for 30 min
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Butter or spray tartlet pans, or use non-stick pans
Roll dough to about ⅛” thick
Lay over tart mold and press into all crevices
Prick holes in bottom and sides of formed dough
Fill tarts with pastry weights. (For mini tartlet pans I put beans in a cupcake paper. For large pans use crumpled parchment paper filled with pie weights.)
Paint edges of the tartlet with the egg wash.
Bake in preheated oven 350° F (175 C) for 12 min
Remove from oven, remove weights, then roll top to cut off excess
Return to oven and bake 8 more minutes to dry the bottoms
Immediately remove from pans and cool on a wire
Chocolate Ganache
Heat the cream to just below boiling.
Place the chopped chocolate in a heat proof bowl
Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let it sit for a couple of minutes
Add the corn syrup and vanilla and mix until smooth
Pour the chocolate into a sealed piping bag. (No piping tip required.)
Let the mixture cool to the desired viscosity.
Orange Crème
Place the confectioners’ sugar and zest in a small bowl. Add the orange juice one drop at a time while stirring, until the desired viscosity is attained.
Pour into a piping bag with a small circular piping tip inserted. (Do not cut the end off yet.)
Crème Patisserie
Whisk eggs and milk together then add to all other ingredients (except vanilla) to a medium saucepan.
Bring to boil, whisking constantly
Cook until it begins to thicken (it will look lumpy, its ok)
Sieve lumpy mixture into a bowl and add vanilla, mix thoroughly
Transfer to a sealed piping bag to cool. (No piping tip required.)
ASSEMBLY
Pipe a ¼” layer of CremePat into each tart shell and smooth
Pipe a ⅛” layer of chocolate crème on the CremePat layer and smooth
Pipe concentric ⅛“wide circles of orange cream and feather the orange cream with a toothpick
I was watching YouTube for ideas on how to shape pastries and boy! there are a lot of them. These three are pretty popular and I thought they would be a good place to start.
I bought some berries that were on sale from a local supermarket. (Truthfully, they should have paid me to take them away.) Out of a 6 oz container I was fortunate enough to find a half dozen berries to use as garnish. The rest were made into jam.
First CutBoth Cuts and First FoldFolded, Egg-washed and Jam AddedFlower and Pin-Wheel Designs
While I now make my own puff pastry I had a box of Pepperidge Farm puff pastry in the freezer and I wanted to use it up.
I don’t actually have a recipe for this so here it is in a nutshell: Cut the puff pastry in 4 squares. Fold a square in have to form a triangle and cut as necessary to make the desired design. Fold and pinch any overlaps to reduce the chance of separation.
The jam is made with equal parts berry and sugar, cooked until the temperature reaches 220° F. When cooled and gelled, add a rough teaspoon to each pastry. Coat the pastry with an egg wash. (I used an egg-white wash as I had some left over in the fridge.)
Bake 12-16 minutes until the pastry is a nice brown. Let them cool then dust with some confectioners sugar.
My neighbors gave me a BIG bag of oranges from their trees. The navel oranges in the markets have been very disappointing this year, but these are wonderful.
Usually I give them something made with their oranges in appreciation of their generosity. This time I made chocolate/orange tarts with a vanilla custard base. They tasted good, but looked poor to fair. They baked well with all the components done perfectly. The problem is the top, and therefore the appearance has no “snap.” They would not catch your eye in a patisserie (I will re-make them on the next rained out golf day.)
A 1/8” layer of vanilla custard was poured into the bottom of each tart shell. The tart was baked for 10 minutes at 450° F to set the custard. A layer of chocolate filling was piped over the custard followed by a spiral of the orange crème. A toothpick was used to feather the orange crème.
Before BakingAfter Baking
Chocolate Orange Tart with Vanilla Custard
Yield: Five 4” tarts. INGREDIENTS Tart Shell • 100 g cold butter cut into small cubes • 60 g icing sugar • ½ tsp vanilla • ¼ tsp salt • 2 egg – 1 for the dough and the other 1 egg white reserved for an egg wash • 200 g all-purpose flour Chocolate Filling • 75g butter • 115g dark chocolate (no more than 60% cocoa solids), finely chopped • 115g caster sugar • 55g AP flour • 4 medium eggs Orange Crème • 25g butter • 50g white chocolate • 1 orange, finely grated zest only • 35g caster sugar • 25g AP flour • 2 medium egg yolks Cream Custard • 1 ½ cups (350 ml) whole/full fat milk (1 ¼ c 2% plus ¼ c heavy cream) • 6 large egg yolks • ¼ cup (45 grams) granulated/caster sugar • 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg • ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract METHOD Tart Shell
Mix butter with sugar
Add salt then vanilla
Add egg and mix until incorporated
Stir in flour. Mix by hand like you are kneading bread until incorporated
Pre-heat oven to 350° F
Cover with plastic and refrigerate for 30 min
Butter tartlet pans, or use non-stick pans
Roll dough to about ⅛” thick
Lay over tart mold and press into all crevices
Roll top to cut off excess
Prick holes in bottom and sides of formed dough
Fill tarts with pastry weights. For mini tartlet pans I put beans in a cupcake paper. For large pans use crumpled parchment paper filled with beans. Remove 5 minutes before the end of the bake.
Paint edges of the tartlet with the egg wash.
Bake in preheated oven 350° F (175 C) for 15 min
Immediately remove from pans and cool on a wire
Chocolate Filling
Melt the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar and flour. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and leave to stand.
Orange Crème
Melt the butter and white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the orange zest, sugar and flour. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time and pour the mixture into a jug. Cream Custard
Add the milk to a saucepan over medium heat. Just heat until it starts to lightly simmer, do not boil. Turn off the heat.
Add egg yolks and sugar to a separate mixing bowl, vigorously whisk (or use a hand blender) until pale and bubbly. Remove the milk from the heat and very slowly drizzle into the egg yolks while whisking. Whisk in the vanilla if using. Transfer the mix to a container with a spout.
ASSEMBLY
Pipe a ¼” layer of custard into each tar shell and smooth
Pipe a ½“ layer of chocolate crème on the mousseline layer and smooth
Pipe concentric ⅛“ wide circles of orange cream and feather the orange cream with a toothpick
Bake tarts 14-16 minutes at 350°F. (Start checking at 10 minutes.)
You can take the boy out of science, but you can’t take science out of the boy.
Blackberries were on sale this week and, of course, I couldn’t resist. I had no idea how to use them, but knew something would come to me.
I also had some plain yogurt left over from a Blueberry Cake I made recently and wanted to use it up. I also had a pie crust frozen in the freezer left over from a Banana Cream Pie and a piece of puff pastry that was ending its useful life.
I decided to make Berry Hand Pies – half with pie crust (for the first time) and half with puff pastry. I also made half of each with fillings made with yogurt or cream cheese.
I preferred the puff pastry version while QC liked the pie crust variety. Both the yogurt based and cream cheese based filled were equally delicious.
Berry Hand Pie
INGREDIENTS • 1 egg • 1 tablespoon water • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour • 1 sheet Trader Joe’s 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
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 4 -inch circles as you can.
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.
You may remember from a previous post that a friend gave me a dozen small lemons from her tree and I made Lemon-Honey Madeleine cookies for her in return. That prompted her to give me two dozen more lemons. I made some gluten free tartlet shells for QC’s mahjong group (one of whom is gluten intolerant) and 5” tart shells for the neighbor QC Corps.
I did a search for different meringue/tart piping ideas and liked this one. After torching, I sprinkled some lemon zest on the top and will ultimately add a blueberry to each small tartlet and two or three to each large one.
Key Lemon Pie and Tarts
INGREDIENTS Filling • 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk 1 can • 4 large egg yolks • 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3-4 lemons) • 2 teaspoons fine lemon zest no white • 1 graham cracker crust gluten-free if desired • optional whipped cream lemon zest and lemon slice(s) for garnish Graham Cracker Crust • 1 ½ cups finely crushed regular or cinnamon graham crackers (24 squares) • 1/3 cup butter, melted • 1 beaten egg white • 3 tablespoons sugar
METHOD Filling
Zest, then juice lemons, to get 2 teaspoons of zest and 1/2 cup of juice.
Whisk together sweetened condensed milk, egg yolks, zest and lemon juice (add half at a time) until well combined.
Pour filling into prepared crust and bake for 15 minutes at 350 F. Cool pie completely on rack, then chill for a minimum of 1-2 hours (filling will continue to set as it cools). Store covered.
Optionally, before serving, top with whipped cream rosettes, lemon zest and lemon slice(s)
Graham Cracker Crust
Heat oven to 350°F.
In a food processor pulse the crushed graham crackers several times, then add the rest of the ingredients until well mixed.
Reserve 3 tablespoons crumb mixture for garnishing top of pie before serving, if desired. Press remaining mixture firmly and evenly against bottom and side of pie plate.
Bake at 350 F for 10 min. Set aside to cool
OPTIONAL Tartlet Shell INGREDIENTS • 50 g cold butter cut into small cubes • 100 g all-purpose flour • 30 g icing sugar • ¼ tsp vanilla • ⅛ tsp salt • 1 egg – ½ for the dough and the other ½ reserved for an egg wash
METHOD
Mix butter with sugar
Add salt then vanilla
Add egg and beat until incorporated. It may not be smooth.
Stir in flour. Mix by hand until incorporated
Cover with plastic and refrigerate for 30 min
Butter or spray tartlet pans, or use non-stick pans
Roll dough to ~ ⅛” thick, then lay over tart mold and press into all crevices and roll top to cut off excess. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes
Prick holes in bottom and sides of formed dough
Fill tarts with pastry weights (I put weights in a cupcake paper for small tartlets and crumpled and form fitted to the larger tart molds.)
Paint edges of the tartlet with the egg wash.
Bake in preheated oven 350 deg F (175 C) for 15 min (Remove wights and papers 5 minutes before the end of the bake.)
Immediately remove from pans and cool on a wire rack
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.
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.
Once the syrup is boiling, clip on a candy (or sugar) thermometer.
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.
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.
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.
NOTES
Italian meringue can be made two days in advance and stored in the fridge until needed (covered with plastic wrap).
I am trying to remember how these tarts made it into Dede’s baking schedule. I didn’t have any leftover ingredients from another bake, or some ingredient that was about to expire. Most likely a picture caught my attention, and as I have no will power…
I used my go to short crust pastry for the tart shell and a standard Italian meringue to top the tart. The blackberry/yuzu curd was a new recipe but again, pretty standard. The final result was an outstanding synergy between all the parts. A real keeper.
Blackberry/Yuzu Meringue Tarts
INGREDIENTS Plain flour, for rolling
Shortcrust pastry • 100 g cold butter cut into small cubes • 60 g icing sugar • ½ tsp vanilla • ¼ tsp salt • 2 egg – 1 for the dough and the other 1 reserved for an egg wash • 200 g all-purpose flour Meringue • 150g (or ¾ cup) granulated sugar • 60ml (or ¼ cup) water • 60g (or ¼ cup) egg whites (about 2 large egg whites) Curd • 450g blackberries • 2 Tbl yuzu juice • 4 Tbl corn starch • 325g caster sugar • 100g unsalted butter, cubed • 4 egg yolk • 1 large egg
METHOD
For the Shortbread Pastry – Cut the butter into the sugar a. Add salt then vanilla b. Add egg and mix until incorporated c. Stir in flour. Mix by hand like you are kneading bread until incorporated
For the pastry case – Roll out the pastry to ¼” thick. Gently push the pastry into the tart case leaving a little overhanging the edges. a. Trim the excess pastry but leave a little overhang. Chill for 30 minutes. b. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line the pastry with baking parchment, fill with baking beads and blind bake for 20 minutes. Remove the paper and beans; bake for a further 5-6 minutes, until golden. Set aside to cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF.
For the curd – put the berries and yuzu juice in a food processor, blend until smooth. Pass through a sieve into a large bowl (you should have 1 ½ c). Discard the seeds. a. In a large, heavy-based pan, mix the corn starch and sugar, then stir in the blackberry mixture. Cook over a medium heat, stirring with a balloon whisk, until thick and smooth. b. When it starts to bubble, take it off the heat and whisk in the butter until melted. Leave to cool slightly, then whisk in the egg yolks and the whole egg. Return the mixture to the heat, whisking for 5-8 minutes until it becomes a very thick dropping consistency. Set aside.
For the meringue – a. 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. b. 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. c. Once the syrup is boiling, clip on a candy (or sugar) thermometer. d. 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. e. 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. f. 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.
Assembly – a. Fill the tart case with the warm curd and let cool. b. Pipe the meringue as stars covering about half of the top and add a raspberry or other decoration.
Covid sucks. No sense in beating around the bush, Covid just plain sucks. It totally disrupted our holiday today, and tomorrow and…
We were invited to a family dinner tonight and I was asked if I could bring my dinner rolls and one of my desserts, to which I said “Of course!” I decided to make rolls in the shape of a Christmas tree and eclairs suitable for a Christmas dinner.
When I contacted our relative and begged off due to possible Covid exposure she said I shouldn’t bring the rolls and dessert. I told her how I was looking forward to baking and making them and would be very disappointed to not be able to. (I dropped them off this afternoon.)
I know her husband loves the my eclairs so I modified my usual ones to be “Christmasy.” I glazed a few with my normal dark chocolate and made colored white chocolate for the rest, I reserved some of the white chocolate glaze and colored it using oil based food coloring. I “painted” the faces etc and realized in the future I need to make the eclairs larger to have a larger “canvas” to paint on. I call this “Tim Burton’s Eclairs for Christmas” eclairs.
Christmas Tree Dinner Rolls
INGREDIENTS • 488 g (2 cups) warm milk • 2 tablespoons instant dry yeast • 50 g white granulated sugar • 2 teaspoons salt • 6 tablespoons salted butter softened • 2 large eggs • 750-850 g (6-7c) all-purpose flour • 1 tablespoon melted butter • 1 egg and 1 Tbl water for an egg wash • ½ c fresh cranberries – choose the most uniform • Several sprigs fresh rosemary. • ½ c water • 1 ½ c sugar, divided 1:½
METHOD
In the Pro600 stand mixer bowl, combine and mix all ingredients except the flour. (This is to remind me to use my larger mixer.)
Add in 5 ½ cups of flour. Using a dough hook, turn the mixer on and increase speed slowly to keep the flour from flying all over. Slowly add the remaining flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. (I watch the bottom of the bowl and add flour until the dough just comes clean from the bottom.) Once the dough clears, knead for 8 minutes. The dough mixture should be sticky and soft.
Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl. (I dump the dough on the counter, spray the stand mixer bowl with some olive oil and return the dough, cover and let rise 45 – 60 minutes, until doubled.)
Form the the dough into into 45g balls.
Arrange the balls into 8 rows, 3 for the base of the tree, then 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Reserved one ball to shape the star. (I used a star cookie cutter.)
Cover and let rise 45 – 60 min.
Preheat oven to 375⁰F 15 minutes before the end of the final proof.
Mix egg and water to make an egg wash and lightly brush the rolls.
Bake the rolls for 12 to 14 minutes, until lightly browned.
Remove rolls from oven and brush with melted butter. Best when served warm. To cool, let rest in the pan for 15 minutes then transfer to a wire rack. Once cooled completely, store in a plastic bag.
Sparkling sugar cranberries and Rosemary
Wash cranberries and put in a heat proof bowl
Bring the water and 1 c sugar to a simmer
Let the mixture cool for 5 minutes then pour over the cranberries
Cool for 1-2 hours in the fridge.
Strain the berries and let dry
Roll in granulated sugar, spread on parchment paper and let dry
You would think having been out of the chemistry laboratory since 1978 (please don’t do the math) I would lose some of my scientific method mentality, but I haven’t.
I made rough puff pastry for the first time this week. Also for the first time, I bought an exorbitantly expensive commercial puff pastry (Dufour’s.) For price comparison, the Dufour was $11.99 for two sheets about 8”x9”. Trader Joe’s at $4.99 are only available in October and November. (Buy a bunch and stock up… I do!) Pepperidge Farms is $6.25 for 2 sheets, and my rough puff pastry is $1.65 for an equivalent size and number of sheets. Yes, not a typo, $1.65. It does take a little elbow grease to roll the cold dough out, but aside from the sore wrist, it is nearly free.
As for performance: Trader Joe’s puffs the least, which for a number of applications is an advantage. Dufour’s puffs more than Trader Joe’s but not as much as Dede’s Rough Puff, which in turn was less than Pepperidge Farms. All four tasted excellent, but as humble as I am capable of being, my rough puff was outstanding. It was as flavorful, puffed as much and was as easy to roll as any of the other three.
(I have made so many pastries with both Trader Joe’s and Pepperidge Farms I didn’t include them in today’s head to head analysis.)
Pre-measured ingredientsFirst row of chocolate in the Pain Au Chocolate stripsSecond row of chocolate rolled into a stripRolled Pain Au Chocolat ready to chill, then egg wash and sprinkle with decorating sugar and bakedPan Au ChocolateRolled puff pastry with circle cutter and rollerCut puff pastry and cream cheese/white chocolate fillingFilling on the bottom of the pieFilled pies with blackberryCrimping the edgesFinished hand pie and pain au chocolatBlackberry Hand Pies and Pain Au Chocolate. (Dafour’s in the back, Dede’s in the front.)
Pain au Chocolate
INGREDIENTS
Puff pastry
Chocolate
Confectioner’s sugar
1 egg
METHOD
Roll out puff pastry
Dust with confectioner’s sugar
Cut into 2” wide (cut 5 long strips, then cut each in half)
Lay chocolate at one end, roll one time, press down gently and roll again, press gently again
Add second row of chocolate and roll one last time, press gently
Chill overnight or at least 2 hours.
Make egg wash with 1 egg and 1 Tbl water. Beat well with a fork.
Brush with egg wash
Paint the inner end of the roll to seal the end. Press firmly.
Bake 360 deg 20-25 min on parchment lined baking sheet
Berry Hand Pie
INGREDIENTS
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed but cool.
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons granulated sugar or decorating sugar
½ cup white chocolate chips
6 ounces berries
3 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 24 (2½ -inch) circles.
Brush the edges of 12 pastry circles with the egg mixture. Place about ½ tablespoon cream cheese mixture in the center of each. Top each with about one small or two halves of a large berry. Place the remaining pastry circles over the filling. Press the edges firmly to seal. Crimp the edges with a fork. If you don’t seal them adequately the filling 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.
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