Somewhere, Under the Rainbow

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Frances sent me a picture of these cupcakes thinking I might like the design and might make them. She was right, I did and I did. Sadly, she is not eating any added sugar at the moment… sigh. I also had a new white cake recipe I wanted to try and the confluence of these two irresistible forces resulted in an almost perfect cupcake. However, my unpaid, full time, in-house taste tester felt the cupcake was sweet and adding the buttercream frosting just put her over the edge. You know, the typical shakes, cold sweats and hyperactivity of a pure sugar high. The white cake recipe is a keeper though. Maybe a cream cheese frosting…

Land o’Lakes published the rainbow piping concept. I read it but then I did it my way

Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew (get it?)
But through it all, when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out (never!)
I faced it all and I stood tall
And did it my way

Buttercream Frosting

Previously if I wanted multi-colored piping I will fill small piping bags with different colored frosting, snip the ends off and cram them into a large bag. This worked fair at best. This technique is far superior, and maybe even easier. I use Wiltons Icing Colors. They are concentrated and you don’t need much for very vibrant colors.

Once the colored frosting is piped into rows on a piece of food wrap, roll the wrap up and snip off the end. Put the rolled frosting into a large piping bag with a large star end.

Run a little of the frosting out until the mixture comes out evenly distributed, then pipe the rainbows, surrounding the marshmallow clouds.

Thank you Land o’Lakes, this was a great technique.

THE BEST BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 cups of powdered sugar (or 1 box)
  • 1 Cup (2 sticks) of softened butter
  • 2-3 teaspoons of vanilla
  • 1-2 tablespoons of milk
  • Violet food coloring

METHOD

  1. Add powdered sugar to mixing bowl.
  2. Add softened sticks of butter
  3. Add vanilla. If you want white buttercream use clear imitation vanilla. Also, adding a little violet food coloring (like the end of a toothpicks worth) will help lighten the yellowish color due to the butter.
  4. Add 1 tbsp of milk.
  5. Beat on low until powdered sugar is incorporated. Then move mixer up to medium-high speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When completely mixed the frosting may appear dry.
  6. Add more milk, a little bit at a time until frosting is the proper consistency.

White Cup Cakes –

I don’t remember where I saw this recipe but it is a basic white cake with whipped egg whites (meringue) gently folded into the batter. I made a half recipe just to try it. This made 15 medium sized cupcakes. Either follow the instructions and make cakes, or do what I did, or both, and make a lot of cupcakes!

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3 cups cake flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 5 egg whites

METHOD

  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease 3 (8-inch) round cake pans; line bottoms with parchment paper, and grease and flour paper.
  2. Stir together milk and vanilla.
  3. Beat butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Sift together flour and baking powder; add to butter mixture alternately with milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition.
  4. Beat egg whites at medium speed until stiff peaks form; gently fold into batter. Pour batter into prepared pans.
  5. Bake at 350° for 20 to 23 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks; discard parchment paper. Cool completely (about 40 minutes).
  6. Spread Vanilla Buttercream Frosting between layers (about 1 cup per layer) and on top and sides of cake.

Sorry, a Bit Groggy This Morning

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Purim is almost here. This story is from the Book of Esther and is yet another tale of “they tried to kill us, they failed, let’s eat” and in this case, “let’s drink.” This batch of hamantaschen was practice for the 4 dozen I am making next weekend for Temple Or Rishon’s Purim celebration.  When the story is read aloud, every time Haman’s name is spoken a grager (pronounced grogger, hence the poor headline pun) is sounded.

Thanks to Tori Avery for an excellent recipe and instructions. I made a few additions, but it is hamentaschen99.9% pure Tori. I added another filling to Tori’s fig and caramel apple, when Fran found a cannoli-chocolate chip filling. Talk about a cultural melting pot!

HAMANTASCHEN

INGREDIENTS

  • 170g (¾ cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 150g (⅔ cup) sugar
  • 55g (1 egg,) room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 4g (1 tsp) grated orange zest
  • 200g (2¼) cups flour
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1-5 tsp water (if needed)

METHOD

  1. Slice room temperature butter into small chunks and place in a large mixing bowl.
  2. Add sugar to the bowl. Use an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugar together for a few minutes till light and fluffy.
  3. Add the egg, vanilla, and orange zest to the bowl. Beat again till creamy and well mixed.
  4. Mix with the electric mixer on low speed till a crumbly dough forms.
  5. Begin to knead dough with hands till a smooth dough ball forms. Try not to overwork the dough, only knead till the dough is the right consistency. If the crumbles are too dry to form a smooth dough, add water slowly, 1 teaspoon at a time, using your hands to knead the liquid into the dough. Knead and add liquid until the dough is smooth and slightly tacky to the touch (not sticky), with a consistency that is right for rolling out. It can easily go from the right consistency to too wet/sticky, so add water very slowly. If the dough seems too wet, knead in a little flour till it reaches the right texture.
  6. Form the dough into a flat disk about 1” thick and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator to chill for 3 hours to overnight.
  7. Before you begin to assemble the hamantaschen, choose and make your filling and have it on hand to work with. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly flour a smooth, clean surface. Unwrap the dough disk and place it on the floured surface. The dough will be very firm after chilling.
  8. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to ¼ inch thick. At the beginning, it will be tough to roll out– you may need to pound it a bit. A heavy rolling pin works best. As you roll, cracks may form on the edges of the dough. Repair any large cracks with your fingers and continue rolling.
  9. When the dough reaches ¼ inch thickness, scrape the dough up with a pastry scraper, lightly reflour the surface, and flip the dough over. Continue rolling the dough out very thin (less than 1/8 of an inch thick). The thinner you roll the dough, the more delicate and crisp the cookies will turn out– just make sure that the dough is still thick enough to hold the filling and its shape! If you prefer a thicker, more doughy texture to your cookies (less delicate), keep the dough closer to ¼ inch thick. Lightly flour the rolling pin occasionally to prevent sticking.
  10. Use a 3-inch cookie cutter (not smaller) or the 3-inch rim of a glass to cut circles out of the dough, cutting as many as you can from the dough.
  11. Gather the scraps and roll them out again. Cut circles. Repeat process again if needed until you’ve cut as many circles as you can from the dough. You should end up with around 35 circles (unless you’ve kept your dough on the thicker side, which will result in less cookies). (I ended up with 25 circles, less than ¼ of an inch thick.)
  12. Place a teaspoon of filling (whichever filling you choose) into the center of each circle. Do not use more than a teaspoon of filling, or you run the risk of your hamantaschen opening and filling spilling out during baking. Cover unused circles with a lightly damp towel to prevent them from drying out while you are filling.
  13. Assemble the hamantaschen in three steps. First, grasp the left side of the circle and fold it towards the center to make a flap that covers the left third of the circle.
  14. Grasp the right side of the circle and fold it towards the center, overlapping the upper part of the left side flap to create a triangular tip at the top of the circle. A small triangle of filling should still be visible in the center.
  15. Grasp the bottom part of the circle and fold it upward to create a third flap and complete the triangle. When you fold this flap up, be sure to tuck the left side of this new flap underneath the left side of the triangle, while letting the right side of this new flap overlap the right side of the triangle. This way, each side of your triangle has a corner that folds over and a corner that folds under– it creates a “pinwheel” effect. This method if folding is not only pretty– it will help to keep the cookies from opening while they bake.
  16. Pinch each corner of the triangle gently but firmly to secure the shape. If any cracks have formed at the places where the dough is creased, use the warmth of your fingers to smooth them out.
  17. Repeat this process for the remaining circles.
  18. After your hamantaschen are all filled, place them on a lightly greased baking sheet, evenly spaced.
  19. Place them in the oven and let them bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, till the cookies are cooked through and lightly golden.
  20. Cool the cookies on a wire rack. Store them in a tightly sealed plastic bag or Tupperware.

CARAMEL APPLE HAMANTASCHEN FILLING

INGREDIENTS

  • 1½ lbs. Granny Smith apples (about 4 medium apples)
  • 170g (¾ cup) sugar
  • ⅓ cup dulce de leche
  • Salt to taste

Dulce De Leche (makes 1¼ cups)

  • 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
  • 1/8 tsp salt (or more to taste)

METHOD

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Pour can of sweetened condensed milk into a ceramic pie plate or dish. Sprinkle the milk lightly with about 1/8 tsp of salt (for a more salted caramel flavor, use 1/4 tsp salt).
  2. Cover tightly with foil. Place the filled pie plate into a large roasting pan and fill the roasting pan with water till it reaches about halfway up the sides of the pie plate.
  3. Place the roasting pan into the oven. Let the mixture cook slowly for 75-90 minutes, check the water level every half hour to make sure it hasn’t dried out too much. Add water as needed.
  4. At 75 minutes, begin checking the color of the dulce de leche. When it reaches a rich light brown caramel color, you’ll know it’s ready. The longer you let it cook, the thicker and darker it will become.
  5. Take the pie plate and roasting pan out of the oven. Carefully remove the pie plate from the hot roasting pan. Take off the foil.
  6. Whisk the dulce de leche mixture. Use warm, or allow to cool to room temperature depending on your intended use.
  7. Store in the refrigerator. The sauce will keep for up to 4 weeks when refrigerated.
  8. Peel and core the apples. Shred them into fine shreds using a hand grater or food processor shredding attachment.
  9. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and 3/4 cup of water. Bring to a boil.
  10. Add the shredded apples to the boiling water and return to a boil.
  11. Reduce heat to medium and let the mixture simmer for 25-35 minutes, stirring occasionally, till most of the liquid evaporates and the mixture resembles a very thick applesauce. When the mixture is ready, it will start to sizzle lightly in the pan and clump together when you stir it. Don’t let the mixture burn, but do let it get quite thick.
  12. Stir in the dulce de leche; add salt to taste. The salt adds depth and gives the flavor of a salted caramel. It also offsets the sweetness a bit.
  13. Note that the filling is quite sweet on its own (it may initially taste “too sweet”), but it bakes to perfection when used for filling hamantaschen. Let the mixture cool.
  14. Refrigerate mixture for at least 1 hour before using it to fill hamantaschen; this will thicken it and make it easier to manage when filling.
  15. Use about 1 tsp of filling per cookie.

FIG HAMANTASCHEN FILLING

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 ½ scant cups chopped, stemmed, dried black figs (about 9 ounces)
  • 3/4 cup (177 ml) pomegranate juice
  • ⅓ cup (66 grams) sugar
  • Finely grated zest of 1 orange
  • 1 star anise, or ¼ tsp crushed fennel seeds
  • 1 cup water

METHOD

  1. In a saucepan, combine the figs, juice, sugar, zest, star anise (or fennel), and 1 cup of water and bring to a boil.
  2. Simmer over low heat until the figs are softened and the liquid is syrupy and is reduced to about 1/2 cup.
  3. Let the figs cool in their syrup, then puree in a food processor until smooth. [If you dislike the taste of star anise, you should remove it before pureeing, but if you do, leave it in.

CANNOLI FILLING:

  • ¼ cup ricotta cheese
  • 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • ½ cup mini chocolate chips

METHOD

  1. Make the cannoli filling: In the bowl of a mixer, beat all ingredients except the chocolate chips till light and fluffy.
  2. Fold in the chocolate chips and refrigerate, covered, till needed.

It’s Good To Be King Cake,

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If Just For A While.

For the end of Mardi Gras I thought it appropriate to make a more or less “traditional King Cake.” I say more or less as I have never had a King Cake and am unsure of the “traditional” texture and flavor. When cut, this cake resembled a cinnamon roll, which is no surprise as it is a yeast dough, twice risen and rolled with cinnamon and sugar. It actually tasted more like a cinnamon roll than a “cake”. Next year, I may try a more cakey recipe.

I thought the glaze was a little too acidic. Maybe I should have used a cream cheese based glaze, or just cut the citrus juice in half. To help the colored sugar adhere I would also give a very light spray of water over the glazed cake prior to dusting. Too much water may melt the colored sugar.

INGREDIENTS

  • 8 oz sour cream
  • 2½ Tbsp sugar
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 tsp active dry yeast
  • ¼ cup warm water (100 – 110 F)
  • ½ Tbsp sugar
  • 1 large egg, slightly beaten
  • 3 to 3½ cups bread flour
  • Purple, green and gold tinted sparkling sugar sprinkles

 CINNAMON FILLING

  • 2½ Tbsp butter, softened
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon

CREAMY GLAZE

  • 1 ½ Tbsp butter, melted
  • 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • ¼ tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 to 2 Tbsp milk
  • ¼ cup warm water (100 – 110 F)
  • ½ Tbsp sugar

METHOD

  1. Cook first 4 ingredients in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring often, until butter melts. Set aside and cool mixture to 100 to 110 F
  2. Stir together yeast, ¼ cup warm water, and ½ Tblsp sugar in a 1 cup glass measuring cup; let stand 5 minutes
  3. Beat sour cream mixture, yeast mixture, eggs and 1 cup flour at medium speed until smooth.
  4. Reduce speed to low, changed to dough hook and gradually add enough remaining flour 2 – 2 ½ cups until a smooth dough forms
  5. Knead with dough hook until smooth and elastic (about 12 min)
  6. Place in an oiled bowl and flip to grease top
  7. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled
  8. Punch down dough, divide in half
  9. Roll into a 22”x12” rectangle
  10. Spread 2 Tbsp softened butter evenly on each rectangle, leaving a 1” border.
  11. Stir together ¼ cup sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle evenly on each rectangle
  12. Roll up each rectangle, jelly roll style, starting with the long edge.
  13. Place seam side down on lightly greased baking sheet.
  14. Bring ends together to form an oval ring moistening and pinching edges together to seal

METHOD – GLAZE

  1. Stir together first 4 ingredients
  2. Stir in 2 Tbsp milk, adding additional milk 1 tsp at a time until spreading consistency

PREPARATION AND ASSEMBLE

  1. Cover and let rise in a warm place 20 – 30 min until doubled
  2. Bake at 375 F for 14 – 16 min or until golden
  3. Slightly cool cake in pan on wire rack (about 10 min.)
  4. Drizzle creamy glaze evenly over warm cake, sprinkle with colored sugar, alternating colors
finished-cake

Finished King Cake

OPTION: Cream Cheese-filled King Cake

  1. Prepare 22×12” dough rectangle as directed
  2. Omit 2 Tblsp butter and cinnamon. Increase ¼ cup sugar to ⅓ cup
  3. Beat 1/3 cup sugar with 8 oz softened cream cheese, ½ large egg and 2 tsp vanilla extract at medium
  4. Spread mixture evenly on dough rectangle, leaving 1 inch border

Yeah I’ll be king when dogs get wings
Can I help it if I still dream time to time

What the Focaccia Are You Talking About?

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Or, you say tomato and I say potato.

I was flipping through Paul Hollywood’s bread book and saw his focaccia bread, both the Focaccia Pugliese with Tomatoes and Garlic and Potato Focaccia Pugliese. I never made focaccia before and felt these two might be a good beginning. Plus, I craftily asked Fran to put an extra potato in the shopping cart yesterday.

Pugliese is very similar to ciabatta with large holes in the crumb and a very chewy texture. It was interesting that some recipes called for no, or at least minimal kneading, others require typical 7-10 minutes of kneading and still others want extensive kneading, even during the rise to develop even more gluten for a chewier texture.  I chose minimal and it developed an excellent, chewy loaf with a good crunchy crust. The stand mixer really does not care how long you knead.focaccia

My strategy was to make one recipe of bread dough, divide it in half and use one for the tomato and the other for the potato.

img_0023I also made 2 dozen chocolate dipped short bread cookies, but they were not part of this post. Just a picture for proof.

BREAD INGREDIENTS

  • 4 cups bread flour
  • 1 tbl salt
  • 2 tsp fast acting yeast
  • 1 1/4 cup water

TOMATO TOPPING INGREDIENTS

  • Thin slices of tomato (I used about 1/2 tomato)
  • 1 tsp crushed garlic
  • Sea Salt – as needed
  • Parmesan Cheese – as needed
  • Olive oil – as needed

POTATO TOPPING

  • Thin slices of potato (I used about 1/3 a potato, new potatoes would be better if you had them.)
  • 3-4 sprigs of rosemary from your backyard garden, which you still have to cover every
    night to protect from the frost.
  • Sea Salt – as needed
  • Olive oil – as needed

METHOD

  1. Add all the bread ingredients to a stand mixer equipped with the bread hook. Mix to form a good dough. If you were going to knead the dough keep the mixer running at speed 4 for 7-8 minutes until the dough becomes smooth and elastic.
  2. Cover the mixer bowl and place in the proofing drawer of your beautiful double wall oven. It’s nice having two ovens. I used the top oven to bake the 3 baguettes I made first while proofing the focaccia, (focaccias, focaccii?) the lower.
  3. After and hour of proofing and the dough has at least doubled in size, remove from
    the oven and gently tip onto a lightly floured surface.
  4. Cut the dough in half and place each half on a parchment paper covered large baking sheet, or two smaller sheets.
  5. Gently, using your fingers form each piece of dough into a rough circle about 1/2″ thick.
  6. Punch your fingers into the dough making a rough wavy surface.
  7. Arrange the potato slices, rosemary and sea salt on one and sprinkle and rub
    with olive oil.
  8. Arrange the tomato slices on the other piece of dough and sprinkle with sea salt, garlic, olive oil and cheese.
  9. Push the tomato and potato sliced down inside the dough as much as possible so the dough will rise up around, engulfing the slices.
  10. Place the doughs back in the proofing oven for another hour, or until at least doubled.
  11. Preheat the oven to 425 F convection and bake for 20-25 min until golden brown.
  12. Best eaten warm, but damn, not bad after it has cooled either.

Orange Chocolate Tart

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Once again I was watching GBBO and was inspired. Of course my neighbor’s orange tree, file-feb-17-10-17-08-amconveniently planted near our fence such that some of it’s fruit hung over my side, helped me decide to try this new pastry. I hadn’t made a sweet tart where the filling, not just the pastry crust, was baked. This tart had a clean, fresh, sweet taste and excellent texture.

CHOCOLATE ORANGE TART

INGREDIENTS

  • For the chocolate filling
    • 75g butter
    • 115g dark chocolate (no more than 60% cocoa solids), finely chopped
    • 115g caster sugar
    • 55g AP flour
    • 4 medium eggs
  • For the orange filling
    • 25g butter
    • 50g white chocolate
    • 1 orange, finely grated zest only
    • 35g caster sugar
    • 25g AP flour
    • 2 medium egg yolks

METHOD

  1. Grease a 9in fluted tart tin with butter.
  2. For the pastry, measure the flour, icing sugar and butter into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and a tablespoon of cold water and mix until it comes together to form a soft dough.
  3. Wrap the dough in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
  4. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.
  5. Dust the work surface with flour then roll out the pastry as thinly as you can to a circle about 2in larger than your flan tin.
  6. Line the tin with the pastry. Don’t worry if the pastry breaks a little, it is easy to patch up. Chill for 15 minutes.
  7. Prick the base of the pastry with a fork, line the pastry case with baking paper or foil and fill with baking beans. Bake the pastry blind for 10 minutes, or until just lightly golden-brown. Remove the paper and beans and return the tart to the oven to cook for a further 5-7 minutes, or until pale golden-brown and the base is cooked.
  8. To make the 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.
  9. To make the orange filling, 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.
  10. Place the pastry case on a baking tray. Pour the chocolate mixture into the pastry case. Drizzle or pipe the orange filling over the chocolate filling to create a swirl effect. Draw a tooth stick through the filling to create a marbled effect.
  11. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until just set around the edges, but still slightly wobbly in the centre.
  12. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly, until warm but not piping hot, then serve. It is actually very good cold also.

Blame It On Rio, or Richard Cadbury

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Salted Chocolate Covered Caramels

It wasn’t until 1861, when his light bulb turned on (notice the anachronism?) and he decided there was an untapped marketing opportunity selling his chocolates in heart shaped boxes for Valentine’s Day. He didn’t know it, but modern science has linked the chemical phenylethylamine in chocolate to feelings of excitement, attraction and even pleasure. heart-pastry

Last year, I went pure pastry, making heart shaped Mille-feuille.

This year, having learned how to temper chocolate for my Hot Chocolate Cake, and decided to make these candies. I found and followed an online recipe, but found it lacking. The caramel was a little too soft and the chocolate did not completely set. The tempering instructions were a little vague without specifying the suggested heating and cooling temperatures. I made adjustments based on what I learned from previous temperingimg_0004 and also increased the temperature of the caramel to slightly increase the hardness of the caramel.

The result was these soft, chewy, melt in your mouth chocolate caramels. Complementing the candies were 2 dozen chocolateimg_0005 dipped, heart shaped, shortbread cookies.

Michaels had some pink gift boxes for St. Valentine’s Day (10 boxes for $3.90 with img_0009coupon) for a nice presentation.

Helpful note: you will be busy while making this, therefore, have all equipment ready and ingredients measured
out prior to starting.

Makes approximately 24 heart shaped caramels.

INGREDIENTS

  • CARAMELS

    • 113g unsalted butter (1 stick)
    • 120 ml heavy cream or heavy whipping cream (36-40% butterfat content)
    • 3 tablespoons water
    • 85g (¼C) light corn syrup
    • 200g sugar

  • CHOCOLATE COATING

    • 225g high quality chocolate, milk, dark, or white
    • course sea salt as needed

METHOD

PREPARE PAN AND INGREDIENTSred-heart-shaped-silicone-mold

  1. Lightly grease a heart shaped silicone mold. I tried the first time with a spray but the caramels came out greasy. I then changed to a light coating of vegetable shortening with better results.
  2. Cut butter into 8 pieces then combine with heavy cream in a small microwave-safe bowl. Heat in the microwave 30 second bursts until hot and butter has melted.
  3. Set aside.

MAKE CARAMEL

  1. In a small saucepan combine the water and corn syrup.
  2. Carefully add the sugar so you don’t splatter the sugar up the sides of the pan. Gently stir the sugar into the water and corn syrup, just moistening the sugar.
  3. Heat on medium until the sugar has come to a boil.
  4. Cover with a lid for 1 minute to melt any sugar adhering to the side of the pan. Any sugar on the side of the pan will cause the caramel to crystalize and be grainy.
  5. Continue cooking until the sugar reaches a temperature of 320o F and the sugar turns a light amber color around the edges of the pan.
  6. When the sugar reaches 320o F, slowly pour about ¼ of the butter and cream mixture then stir, using a small silicone spatula to incorporate it. Be careful, the sugar mixture will boil violently as you add the butter. Repeat with the remaining cream and butter, about ¼ at a time. Add the sugar mixture slowly and carefully to keep the mixture from bubbling over the sides of the saucepan.
  7. The temperature will drop when you add the cream and butter. Continue cooking for another 5 to 10 minutes, until the caramel reaches a temperature of 245o
  8. The moment the caramel reaches your desired temperature, pour into the greased mold. I poured the hot caramel into a heat proof 2 cup measuring cup, then into the mold. It was easier to control than straight from the sauce pan
  9. Cool until firm. (I refrigerated the caramel hearts.)

TEMPERING CHOCOLATE

  1. Finely chop 225g of good quality semi-sweet chocolate. (I prefer dark chocolate.) The smaller amount of chocolate, the more difficult it is to control the temperature changes, but this amount was enough to coat the caramels.
  2. Place about 150g of the chocolate in a double boiler or metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Place a candy thermometer or digital thermometer in the chocolate and stir frequently with a rubber spatula.
  3. Do not let the temperature of the chocolate exceed 120°F for dark chocolate or 105°F for milk or white chocolate. When the chocolate has fully melted, remove the bowl from heat. Wipe the bottom of the bowl to get rid of any condensation as any water in the molten chocolate will cause it to seize.
  4. Stir in the remaining chocolate a little at a time. Let it melt before adding more.
  5. Let the chocolate cool to about 82°F. If it is warmer, keep stirring and let it cool some more. If it is cooler, begin reheating in the next step.
  6. Once the chocolate is 82°F, place it back over simmering water. For dark chocolate, reheat to 88°F to 91°F. For milk and white chocolate, reheat to 85°F to 87°F. Remove the bowl from heat once you have reached the right temperature.
  7. Spread a small spoonful of chocolate on a piece of wax paper. If it looks dull or streaky, re-temper the chocolate, starting with step 2. If it dries quickly with a glossy finish and no streaks, the chocolate is in temper.
  8. Keeping chocolate in temper
    1. Once melted chocolate has been tempered, it must be used before it cools and sets. If it cools to about 84°F to 86°F and is still fairly liquid, it can be reheated to a liquid consistency.
    2. If it has completely cooled and solidified, it should be re-tempered. Heat it for 5 to 10 seconds at a time, stirring and checking the temperature before reheating. For dark chocolate, reheat to 88°F to 91°F. For milk and white chocolate, reheat to 87°F to 88°F. If you keep your chocolate within these temperature ranges, it will stay in temper and be liquid enough to use.

COATING CARAMELS WITH CHOCOLATE

  1. One at a time drop the cool caramel into the tempered chocolate
  2. Use one fork to flip the caramel assuring both sides and the edges are coated.
  3. Use the second fork to lift the coated caramel out of the chocolate and flip onto the other fork to drain some of the chocolate off the heart.
  4. Carefully place the chocolate on a piece of waxed paper and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
  5. Cool and eat.

 

Savor the Moment

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I like sweets and I love chocolate. I prefer foods where the ingredients list includes sugar, in large quantities. However, sometimes the moment requires other ingredients. Sometimes the bounty of the garden needs to be included in foods, savory foods and you know… they aren’t bad, not bad at all. I made a variety of test veggie savory pastries for our upcoming party. (Sadly, this time of year, very little came from my garden.)

I used, in various combinations, olives, roasted red peppers, asparagus, tomato, several herbs and gorgonzola,  cream, and parmesan cheeses. For these tart shells I used my standard tart recipe formed using small deep tart molds. Once the pastries were assembled I broiled them just long enough to melt, or at least soften the cheese. I apologize for not having a photo of the finished pastries. They… disappeared somehow after they were removed from the oven. Odd.

Asparagus and cream cheese pastry: Steamed asparagus was marinated in a mixture of balsamic vinegar, chives, parsley and tarragon then drained and patted dry.  Softened cream cheese coated the bottom of the shell, about 1/4″ thick, salt and pepper to taste and cut spears of asparagus laid across the top.

Olive and roasted red pepper pastry: A layer of crumbed gorgonzola cheese covered the bottom of the shell. A large olive was placed in the middle of the shell, on top of the cheese. A roasted red pepper was sliced lengthwise to about 1/2″ wide and wrapped around the olive.

Tomato and cheese pastry: Fill the bottom of the shell with a 1/4″ thick layer of shredded parmesan cheese. Place a thin slice of cherry tomato on top of the cheese, coat with a little more parmesan cheese and top with a piece of fresh basil. (From my garden 🙂 )

Party Tarty

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In preparation of our family dinner in a week, and in celebration of receiving my new tart pan I made a “practice” berry tart. It consists of a tart shell, using the same recipe as used before, creme patisserie, as before and strawberries and blue berries. I did make the creme pat a bit firmer (doubled the corn starch) to assure it will cut properly (like a pumpkin pie) and support the weight of the berries.

To keep the bottom of the tart from becoming soggy (no one likes a soggy bottom), paint it with a thin coat of melted butter and refrigerate until it has set (about 15 min.)  I also brushed the entire tart with melted apple jelly to give it that extra shine. The finished tart can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. The baked, unfilled tart shell can be wrapped in plastic and frozen for 2-3 months.

completed-tart

 

Happy New Year!!

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With Chinese New Year (year of the rooster) fast approaching, and as we are hosting a family dinner the same img_0003night I thought it appropriate to have some Chinese desserts. I saw both fortune cookies (ok not a dessert per se, but usually served after the meal) and black sesame macarons on the cooking shows we regularly watch.
I made “un-fortune” cookies the other day and the macarons today. For the uninformed, “un-fortune” cookies are fortune cookies without the little paper fortune tucked inside. I neglected to document the making of these cookies so will  omit them from img_0002this post, intending to document it the next time I make them. I found black sesame seeds at a specialty market near home and ground them to make a coarse powder. This gave the macaron a different texture than simply using fine almond powder.

The photos are bizarre. They are all color photos, but the gray coloring of the macarons and filling make everything monochrome.

Here is Stephanie Chen’s recipe with only three modifications. First, she didn’t indicate where to add the black sesame powder so I just mixed it in with the dry ingredients prior to img_0001adding the egg white. Second, she didn’t say when to add the black food coloring, so I added it after mixing the hot sugar mixture to the soft peak egg white and lastly I didn’t have any champagne so I just skipped it. The honey butter cream was awesome anyway.

INGREDIENTS

Macarons

  • 280 g ground almond meal, sifted at least twice
  • 240 g powdered sugar
  • 40g toasted ground black sesame powder
  • 100 g egg whites- for whipping, room temp
  • 100 g egg whites – for mixing into dry ingredients
  • Pinch of cream of tartar
  • 200 g granulated caster sugar
  • 80 g water
  • deep black americolor food coloring

Honey Champagne Buttercream

  • 56 g unsalted butter
  • 1 cup of powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons of clear clover honey
  • 2-3 tablespoons of good quality champagne (or more depending on consistency)

METHOD

Make the Black Sesame macarons:

  1. Prep 2 baking sheets with parchment paper with drawn circles. Separate your egg whites and clean all your appliances to ensure there are NO traces of yolk, oil, fat, etc.
  2. In separate bowls, sift the almond meal at least TWICE and sift the powdered sugar once. Whisk the two together and break up any lumps. Pour in half of the egg whites and fold them gently until the mixture is thick and paste like.
  3. In a stand mixer bowl fitted with a whisk attachment, add the other half of egg whites and leave it there.
  4. Start making the simple syrup. In a small saucepan, combine the granulated sugar and water together till they dissolve over a medium heat. Add candy thermometer.
  5. Start to mix the egg whites until they get to a soft peak. If they get there too soon before the sugar is ready then slow the mixer down. The egg whites will need some volume before adding the sugar.
  6. When the syrup hits 240 degrees F / 118 C, remove from heat and carefully pour into the side of the bowl while mixer is running. Make sure the mixture is being poured right where the egg and side of the bowl meet.
  7. Add food coloring to darken the mixture to a medium gray color.
  8. Whip on high until the bowl is cooled and glossy stiff peaks have formed.
  9. Add half of the meringue to the almond mixture and gently fold until combined and smooth. Then Add the rest of the meringue until batter is smooth and ribbons form. Do NOT over fold or mix.
  10. Preheat oven to 300 F / 148 C. Fill piping bag. Might want to secure the parchment paper down with a little of the macaron mixture.
  11. Pipe small rounds with the bag perpendicular to the baking sheet and make sure they’re the same size by counting how long you pipe them out. When you’re done, tap the trays on the table to get rid of the air bubbles.
  12. Add a few toasted black sesames to each of the cookies.
  13. Let the piped macs sit out until a shell is formed. Should be 20-30 minutes (maybe less).
  14. Bake one sheet at a time for 15-18 minutes. Rotate the tray after 7 minutes. Test the macs by wiggling the top of the shell back and forth. If the shell moves from the feet then they need another minute or two. Perfect macs should be a little wiggly but overall firm.
  15. When done, remove parchment paper from the sheet and let cool for 30 minutes on cooling rack. Gently peel the parchment paper off when they are cooled. (Be sure they are fully cooked. The cookie will pull apart when removing from the parchment paper if not.)

Honey Champagne Buttercream Filling

METHOD

  1. In a stand mixer bowl, beat the butter using a whisk attachment for 2 minutes until light and airy.
  2. Slowly add the powdered sugar and whisk until it’s all incorporated. Then add honey and champagne with the mixer on. Keep whisking for another minute until everything is incorporated.
  3. Add more champagne until the right consistency is met for a firm, pipeable filling.

Jocondularity, Jocondularity, Jocondularity. (M*A*S*H Father Mulcahey Omage)

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The weather was, and still is, unusually cold the past few weeks here in the Sierra Nevada foothills. A cup of hot chocolate is a welcome, warming treat. A Hot Chocolate Joconde cake ain’t too shabby either.  I made a variation of Amanda Faber’s (The Great American Baking Show champion) Hot Chocolate Cake. First I reduced the recipe by 1/3rd to suit my family’s and tasters (who happen to be the same people) appetites and thinking marshmallow pairs properly with hot chocolate, I substituted mint marshmallow frosting for the mint vanilla butter cream. The first modification was a good choice, although it added a couple of challenges, the second did not work as well as I hoped. The marshmallow frosting did not set firm which resulted in smeared lines between the layers. It looked ok for a few jaconde-servings-close-upminutes, but the frosting started to flow a short time later. The other issue was tempering a small amount of chocolate. Because the cake was 1/3rd the original size I cut the
chocolate glaze to about 1/3rd as well. That mean starting with 40g of bittersweet chocolate and adding 20 g to temper. Accurately measuring and stabilizing the temperature of small amounts of chocolate and controlling the temperature is a challenge. I think I was lucky as the resultant glaze was well tempered and glossy.

Peppermint Hot Chocolate Cake Amanda Faber – The following is the full recipe as posted by the GABS with comments by me reflecting any modifications.

INGREDIENTS

Chocolate Joconde

  • 171g almond flour
  • 171g confectioners sugar
  • 171g all-purpose flour
  • 45g unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 9 large eggs
  • 3 large egg yolk
  • 6 large egg whites
  • 96g granulated sugar
  • 84g (2tbsp) unsalted butter, melted

Peppermint Buttercream

  • 1/2c water
  • 150g granulated sugar
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 226g unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1tsp pure peppermint extract

Chocolate Glaze

  • 80g unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 200g bittersweet chocolate chips, divided

Chocolate Milk Soak

  • 1tsp cocoa powder
  • 1/2c water
  • 115g granulated sugar
  • 1/2tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2tsp pure chocolate extract
  • 1tbsp heavy whipping cream

METHOD

Chocolate Joconde – Remember I only made 1/3rd of this recipe, so only made one pan of sponge

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 400° F/205° C .
  2. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the almond flour, confectioners sugar, flour, and cocoa.
  3. Add eggs and egg yolk. Mix on high for 5 minutes. Set aside.
  4. Put a new bowl on the stand mixer and change to a whisk attachment. Whisk the egg whites with the granulated sugar until soft peaks.
  5. Fold half of the egg whites in to the other mixture. Then, stir in the melted butter.
  6. Fold in the rest of the egg whites.
  7. Using a scale with a bowl on top divided batter evenly among 3 sheet pans. Spread with off-set spatula to smooth.
  8. Bake one at a time for ~7 minutes.
  9. When the sponge is removed from the oven, slice around the edges to loosen.
  10. Invert the cake on to a large cutting board covered with a piece of parchment paper. Cool.

Peppermint Buttercream – I didn’t make this frosting. I used the marshmallow below

  1. In a heavy-bottomed sauce pan over high heat, boil the water and sugar until 238° F/114° C.
  2. In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks for one minute.
  3. Once the sugar has reached the proper temperature, stream it in to the stand mixer with eggs while it is running.
  4. Beat until completely cooled, 5-7 minutes.
  5. Beat in the butter little by little until thick and smooth.
  6. Add in the peppermint extract.

Chocolate Glaze – using 60 g of chocolate rather than 200 g was challenging

  1. Over a bain-marie, gently melt the butter and 170g of the chocolate. Stir constantly to keep an even temperature.
  2. Once melted and smooth, stir in the remaining 30g of chocolate.
  3. Cool until room temperature but still liquid. Reheat if necessary.

Chocolate Milk Soak

  1. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan over a medium-high heat, stir the cocoa powder, water, and sugar until the sugar is dissolved.
  2. Stir in the vanilla extract, chocolate extract, and heavy whipping cream.

ASSEMBLY

  1. Assembly the cake on a large cutting board.
  2. Soak the first cake with the chocolate milk soak. Cover with a thin layer of buttercream. Repeat with remain two layers. The top layer of buttercream should be very, very thin. You should see the cake through it in all places. It’s only there to make it smooth.
  3. Pour on the chocolate glaze. Spread it to be smooth. It’s okay if it runs off.
  4. Chill the cake for ~10-15 minutes.
  5. Cut in to 12 equal pieces, probably about 4×1.5 inches.
  6. Garnish each cake bar with a marshmallow and a mint leaf. (I had the mint leaf, but not marshmallows so I skipped this. It was for tasting anyway.)

SUBSTITUTED MINT MARSHMALLOW FROSTING

INGREDIENTS

  • 5 tablespoons cool water, plus more for the double boiler
  • 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 egg whites, room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  1. Pour some water, about 2 inches deep, into a saucepan to create a makeshift double boiler. Put the pan on the stove and bring the water to a gentle simmer. Dip the instant-read thermometer into the simmering water to clean any impurities off the end and to test that the thermometer works.
  2. In a clean, large mixing bowl, combine the 5 tablespoons of cool water, cream of tartar, sugar, egg whites and corn syrup. Gently lower the bowl over the simmering water. Turn off the heat under the pot. Use an electric hand beater to whip the whites over the water. Do not leave the egg white mixture unattended or stop beating any time during this process.
  3. After about 3 minutes, remove the bowl from the heat, set the beater down and quickly take the temperature of the egg whites. You want them to reach 140 degrees F. If you measure the temperature before they reach that point, immediately put the bowl of whites back over the water and resume beating until they are finished, an additional 2 to 3 minutes.
  4. Remove the bowl from the water and fold in the vanilla extract. It should look like marshmallow fluffiness. Set the frosting aside to allow the mixture to cool. Frost the cake by, as my father used to say, “glopping” the frosting all over the top and the sides. Serve immediately