Tiramisu with Chocolate Ganache & Drambuie

 

The February Daring Bakers Challenge

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.


This divine Italian dessert translates to mean ‘pick me up’, supposedly referring to the ‘kick’ provided by the strong coffee, sugar and alcohol in it!


On the other hand, a slight mistake in spelling it as "Tiramuso" could end up meaning that you were "pulling a sulky face"! Classic tiramisu is made of alternate layers of espresso soaked ladyfinger biscuits and a cream made from mascarpone cheese and zabaglione (an egg custard). The perfect Tiramisu is a balance of flavors of a sweet zabaglione, strong coffee, marsala wine, creamy mascarpone cheese and the dusting of unsweetened cocoa. Tiramisu is said to have its origins in Treviso (Italy), and there are quite a few stories about how it came to be created.


One story traces the tiramisu as far back as the Renaissance claiming that it was first made in honour of the visit of Grand Duke Cosimo di Medici to Tuscany. Yet another one points to the tiramisu being an adaptation of the "Zuppa Inglese" referring to the sponge cake and cream layered English Trifle.


However, experts in this area generally agree that the tiramisu as we know it today, was born in the ‘70s. Some believe that the Tiramisu was created in the the Le Beccherie (a restaurant in Treviso). Others suggest that Tiramisu was first made in 1971 by an Italian baker named Carminantonio Iannaccone in a small bakery in Treviso, Italy. 

Thank you Deeba and Aparna for a wonderful Daring Baker challenge this month. I love challenges that expand my skills...even if gaining this skill set exasperates me. I thoroughly enjoyed making the tiramisu.

I served it at a dinner party we had with some folks from my husband's work. Mr. Go Go and our guests thought it was simply fabulous, especially with the addition of the Drambuie. 

Me...well...I thought it was okay, but I'm not that big on egg custard desserts. I love to make them though, because of the all the slow stirring. It's very soothing.  Although making the zabaglione took me to the mind numbing stage. After 30 minutes of stirring, I couldn't get the temperature high enough nor would the mixture thicken. In aggravation, I dumped it into a small saucepot, stirred like a speed demon and two minutes later it was finally ready.

Now the ganache is another story. It's just scrumptious, especially with a touch of Drambuie added to it. There was some left in the bowl after I layered my dessert glasses and I quietly scraped the mixing bowl clean all by myself.

Enjoy!



Preparation Time:

Tiramisu is made up of several components which can be made separately and ahead of time and put together the day before serving. Making tiramisu from scratch requires about 2 to 3 days (including refrigeration) from when you start making the mascarpone to the time the tiramisu is served. The zabaglione & pastry cream also need 4 hours to an overnight for chilling, as does the main dessert. The flavours mature after an overnight rest, and the dessert can be kept refrigerated for 2-3 days. Once assembled, the tiramisu can be frozen till you need to serve it, in case you are not serving it immediately.

Equipment:
A double boiler (a stainless steel bowl that fits inside a large saucepan without touching the bottom will do)
Two or three large mixing bowls
Whisk
A medium sized heavy bottomed pan
Fine meshed strainer (to remove lumps from pastry cream, if any)
Electric mixer, hand held
Serving dish (or dishes) of choice (8" by 8" should be fine)
Spatula for folding and spoons as required
Plastic wrap/ clingfilm
Baking sheets
Parchment paper or nonstick liners
Pastry bag (can be disposable)
Plain 3/4" pastry bag tip or cut the end of pastry bag to this size or a Ziploc bag
Oven
Cooling rack
Thin-bladed spatula for removing ladyfinger biscuits from the baking sheets
Instant-read thermometer (optional)
Strainer
Cheesecloth or cotton napkin for draining mascarpone
Fine-mesh strainer for shaking cocoa powder on tiramisu


Ingredients



Zabaglione


2 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar/50gms
1/4 cup/60ml Coffee
1/4 teaspoon/ 1.25ml Drambuie
 
Vanilla Pastry Cream

1/4 cup/55gms sugar
1 tablespoon/8gms sweet rice flour
1/2 teaspoon/ 2.5ml vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup/175ml whole milk
 
Whipped Cream:

1 cup/235ml chilled heavy cream (we used 25%)
1/4 cup/55gms sugar
1/2 teaspoon/ 2.5ml vanilla extract 


Tiramisu:

1/3 cup/75gms mascarpone cheese
36 savoiardi/ ladyfinger biscuits (you may use less)
chocolate ganache
zabaglione
vanilla pastry cream
whipping cream

Zabaglione:

Heat water in a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, place a pot with about an inch of water in it on the stove. Place a heat-proof bowl in the pot making sure the bottom does not touch the water.

In a large mixing bowl (or stainless steel mixing bowl), mix together the egg yolks, sugar, the coffee and vanilla extract. Whisk together until the yolks are fully blended and the mixture looks smooth.

Transfer the mixture to the top of a double boiler or place your bowl over the pan/ pot with simmering water. Cook the egg mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 8 minutes or until it resembles thick custard. It may bubble a bit as it reaches that consistency.

Let cool to room temperature and transfer the zabaglione to a bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

Pastry Cream:
 
Mix together the sugar, flour and vanilla extract in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. To this add the egg yolk and half the milk. Whisk until smooth.

Now place the saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring constantly to prevent the mixture from curdling.

Add the remaining milk a little at a time, still stirring constantly. After about 12 minutes the mixture will be thick, free of lumps and beginning to bubble. (If you have a few lumps, don’t worry. You can push the cream through a fine-mesh strainer.)

Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic film and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

Whipped Cream:
 
Combine the cream, sugar and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric hand mixer or immersion blender until the mixture holds stiff peaks. Set aside.

Have ready a rectangular serving dish (about 8" by 8" should do) or one of your choice.

In a large bowl, beat the mascarpone cheese with a spoon to break down the lumps and make it smooth. This will make it easier to fold. Add the prepared and chilled zabaglione and pastry cream, blending until just combined. Gently fold in the whipped cream. Set this cream mixture aside.

Assembling the tiramisu:

Working quickly, dip each of the ladyfinger buttons in the chocolate ganache. They should be moist but not soggy. Drop the dipped ladyfinger into the bottom of your serving glass. 

Spoon one-third of the cream mixture on top of the ladyfinger buttons, then use a rubber spatula or spreading knife to cover the top evenly, all the way to the edges. Repeat to create 2 more layers, using more ladyfinger buttons and the cream mixture for each layer. Clean any spilled cream mixture; cover carefully with plastic wrap and refrigerate the tiramisu overnight. Top with a layer of whipped cream, if desired.

To serve, carefully remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle the tiramisu with cocoa powder using a fine-mesh strainer or decorate as you please. Cut into individual portions and serve.

Chocolate Ganache

2 ounces dark chocolate
2 ounces milk chocolate
1/2 cup whipping or heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla cognac or drambuie


Break up the chocolate pieces and place into a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, heat the whipping or heavy cream on medium high until it comes to a boil.  Remove the saucepan from the heat and slowly pour the cream into the chocolate bowl.  Stir the chocolate mixture until it becomes glossy. Allow the ganache to cool before spooning onto the ladyfingers/savoiardi biscuits.

 

Mascarpone Cheese
This recipe makes 12oz/ 340gm of mascarpone cheese

500 ml whipping (36 %) pasteurized (not ultra-pasteurized), preferably organic cream
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a wide skillet. Reduce the heat to medium-low so the water is barely simmering. Pour the cream into a medium heat-resistant bowl, then place the bowl into the skillet. Heat the cream, stirring often, to 190 F. If you do not have a thermometer, wait until small bubbles keep trying to push up to the surface.

It will take about 15 minutes of delicate heating. Add the lemon juice and continue heating the mixture, stirring gently, until the cream curdles. Do not expect the same action as you see during ricotta cheese making. All that the whipping cream will do is become thicker, like a well-done crème anglaise. It will cover a back of your wooden spoon thickly. You will see just a few clear whey streaks when you stir. Remove the bowl from the water and let cool for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, line a sieve with four layers of dampened cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Transfer the mixture into the lined sieve. Do not squeeze the cheese in the cheesecloth or press on its surface (be patient, it will firm up after refrigeration time). Once cooled completely, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (in the sieve) overnight or up to 24 hours.

Vera’s notes: The first time I made mascarpone I had all doubts if it’d been cooked enough, because of its custard-like texture. Have no fear, it will firm up beautifully in the fridge, and will yet remain lusciously creamy.

Keep refrigerated and use within 3 to 4 days.

Ladyfingers/Savoiardi Biscuits
This recipe makes approximately 24 big ladyfingers or 45 small (2 1/2" to 3" long) ladyfingers or lots of little ladyfinger buttons.

3 eggs, separated
6 tablespoons /75gms granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup sweet rice flour
1/4 cup arrowroot starch
2 Tb cornstarch
1 tsp chia seed meal
1/4 tsp agar agar powder
6 tablespoons /50gms confectioner's sugar
1 1/2 Tb cocoa powder

Preheat your oven to 350 F (175 C) degrees, then lightly brush 2 baking sheets with oil or softened butter and line with parchment paper.

Beat the egg whites using a hand held electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gradually add granulate sugar and continue beating until the egg whites become stiff again, glossy and smooth.

In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly with a fork and fold them into the meringue, using a wooden spoon. Sift the flour over this mixture and fold gently until just mixed. It is important to fold very gently and not overdo the folding. Otherwise the batter would deflate and lose volume resulting in ladyfingers which are flat and not spongy.

Fit a pastry bag with a plain tip (or just snip the end off; you could also use a Ziploc bag) and fill with the batter. Chill the batter in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before piping the batter.  Pipe the batter into 5" long and 3/4" wide strips leaving about 1" space in between the strips.

Sprinkle half the confectioner's sugar over the ladyfingers and wait for 5 minutes. The sugar will pearl or look wet and glisten. Now sprinkle the remaining sugar. This helps to give the ladyfingers their characteristic crispness. Hold the parchment paper in place with your thumb and lift one side of the baking sheet and gently tap it on the work surface to remove excess sprinkled sugar.

Bake the ladyfingers for 10 minutes, then rotate the sheets and bake for another 5 minutes or so until the puff up, turn lightly golden brown and are still soft.

Allow them to cool slightly on the sheets for about 5 minutes and then remove the ladyfingers from the baking sheet with a metal spatula while still hot, and cool on a rack.

Store them in an airtight container till required. They should keep for 2 to 3 weeks.

Chocolate Gingerbread House

The December Daring Baker's Challenge

The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.

My family and I had a wonderful time making this recipe together. We printed off the gluten free candy list from Celiac Central and went shopping together. My parents were with us for the holiday and helped us with the candy hunt. Then on our big construction night, my Dad made us all dinner. My Mom, who is still in stroke recovery mode, was our cheerleader and helped us out with the candy.

When we began the baking process, we started a few days before the construction of the house. On day one, we made the gingerbread house pieces. Even though I over baked the gingerbread, I allowed the pieces to air dry for day two and constructed the cardboard base. I layered one end of the base with additional layers, so the house would look like it was on a slight hill. Then on day three, I made the royal icing and constructed the house. 

Just remember when you start making your gingerbread and start constructing your house, each process will take well over three hours. The gingerbread took me 6 hours and the house construction took 7 hours. For a ball park figure, I'd plan on between 7 to 14 hours to make the house from start to finish.

Recipe

Chocolate Gingerbread

1 1/4 cup brown rice flour
3/4 cup sweet rice flour
3/4 cup arrowroot starch
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp chia seed powder
1/4 tsp agar agar powder
1 cube crystallized ginger, minced
2 tsp cinnamon, ground
1 tsp cloves, ground
1 Tb baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
5 Tb butter, softened
1/3 cup vegetable shortening
1 egg, room temperature
1/2 cup molasses
2 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
approx. 1/4 cup water, if needed

Royal Icing

3 egg whites, room temperature
6 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 Tb lemon juice

Making Gingerbread House Pieces

 1. In a large bowl, cream the butter, vegetable shortening and sugar until blended. In another large bowl, dump in the cinnamon, ginger, cloves, baking soda, baking powder, flours, chia seed meal, agar agar powder and salt. Stir together thoroughly. In a small bowl, mix together the egg, molasses and chocolate. Slowly add the dry mixture into the mixing bowl containing the butter blend. Alternate adding the egg mixture into the butter blend. Mix until you have a stiff dough. If the dough won't form into a ball, add water, a tablespoon at a time.

2. Divide the gingerbread dough into 4 balls. Place a sheet of parchment paper on the counter and place one of the dough balls in the center. Cover the dough with another sheet of parchment paper and roll out the dough until it is 1/4 inch thick. Place your gingerbread house template or house cutters on the dough. Cut the outside edge of the template or press down the house cutters. Remove the excess dough between the house pieces.  Leave the house pieces on the parchment paper and slip the parchment paper on to a cookie sheet.  Place the sheet in the refrigerator to chill while you work on the rest of the dough.  Continue until all the house pieces are cut out.  Any excess dough can be cut into cookies for decoration.

Tip: If your gingerbread dough won't form into a ball because it's still a bit too dry, put water on the palms of your hands. Then roll the dough until the water is absorbed. This works really well when trying to work the scraps back into a ball.

3. Preheat the oven to 350'F (190'C). Bake for 25 minutes until the cookie dough feels firm. The house pieces will be over baked, but shouldn't be burned.  Cookie pieces can be baked the same way or for a softer cookie bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Leave to cool on the baking sheet.

4. Transfer all the house pieces to one tray and lightly cover with a sheet of parchment paper.  Allow the pieces to air dry for one day before construction of the house.

Making Royal Icing

1. Beat the egg whites until a soft peak forms.  Then gradually add the powdered sugar until you get the desired slightly firm consistency. Pipe on pieces and allow to dry before assembling.

2. If you aren't using it all at once you can keep it in a small bowl, loosely covered with a damp towel for a few hours until ready to use. You may have to beat it slightly to get it an even consistency if the top sets up a bit. Piped on the house, this will set up hard over time.

Constructing the Gingerbread House

1. Begin with the house back and one side. Pipe the icing on each piece and hold the two pieces together. Move on to the second side and the house front. If the sides don't hold together, have another person to hold them up for you until you can get the other sides added. If your royal icing is stiff enough, it should hold together pretty quickly. Allow the sides to dry before putting on the roof.

2. Go back and repair any decorations that might have gotten dinged while assembling.

3.  Decorate your landscape to your heart's content. Then enjoy!  But don't forget to take pictures so you can remember all the fun you had building your gingerbread house.

Sugar Plum Vols-au-Vent

Sugar Plum Vols-au-Vent with Honey Custard and Pistachio Millet Pastry

A Daring Baker's September Challenge

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

Puff pastry is in the ‘laminated dough” family, along with Danish dough and croissant dough. A laminated dough consists of a large block of butter (called the “beurrage”) that is enclosed in dough (called the “détrempe”). This dough/butter packet is called a “paton,” and is rolled and folded repeatedly (a process known as “turning”) to create the crisp, flaky, parallel layers you see when baked. Unlike Danish or croissant however, puff pastry dough contains no yeast in the détrempe, and relies solely aeration to achieve its high rise. The turning process creates hundreds of layers of butter and dough, with air trapped between each one. In the hot oven, water in the dough and the melting butter creates steam, which expands in the trapped air pockets, forcing the pastry to rise.

 Equipment Needed:

-rolling pin
-pastry brush

-parchment paper

-set of round cutters (optional, but recommended)
-sharp chef’s knife
-fork
-oven
-cooling rack

Prep Times:

-about 4-5 hours to prepare the puff pastry dough (much of this time is inactive, while you wait for the dough to chill between turns…it can be stretched out over an even longer period of time if that better suits your schedule)

-about 1.5 hours to shape, chill and bake the vols-au-vent after your puff pastry dough is complete

Forming and Baking the Vols-au-Vent

Yield: 8 vols-au-vent with extra dough left over


In addition to the equipment listed above, you will need:

-well-chilled puff pastry dough (recipe below)
-egg wash (1 egg or yolk beaten with a small amount of water)
-your filling of choice

Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.

Using a knife or metal bench scraper, divided your chilled puff pastry dough into three equal pieces. Work with one piece of the dough, and leave the rest wrapped and chilled. (If you are looking to make more vols-au-vent than the yield stated above, you can roll and cut the remaining two pieces of dough as well…if not, then leave refrigerated for the time being or prepare it for longer-term freezer storage.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the piece of dough into a rectangle about 1/8 to 1/4-inch (3-6 mm) thick. Transfer it to the baking sheet and refrigerate for about 10 minutes before proceeding with the cutting.
(This assumes you will be using round cutters, but if you do not have them, it is possible to cut square vols-au-vents using a sharp chef’s knife.) For smaller, hors d'oeuvre sized vols-au-vent, use a 1.5” round cutter to cut out 8-10 circles. For larger sized vols-au-vent, fit for a main course or dessert, use a 4” cutter to cut out about 4 circles. Make clean, sharp cuts and try not to twist your cutters back and forth or drag your knife through the dough. Half of these rounds will be for the bases, and the other half will be for the sides. (Save any scrap by stacking—not wadding up—the pieces…they can be re-rolled and used if you need extra dough. If you do need to re-roll scrap to get enough disks, be sure to use any rounds cut from it for the bases, not the ring-shaped sides.)

Using a ¾-inch cutter for small vols-au-vent, or a 2- to 2.5-inch round cutter for large, cut centers from half of the rounds to make rings. These rings will become the sides of the vols-au-vent, while the solid disks will be the bottoms. You can either save the center cut-outs to bake off as little “caps” for you vols-au-vent, or put them in the scrap pile.


Dock the solid bottom rounds with a fork (prick them lightly, making sure not to go all the way through the pastry) and lightly brush them with egg wash. Place the rings directly on top of the bottom rounds and very lightly press them to adhere. Brush the top rings lightly with egg wash, trying not to drip any down the sides (which may inhibit rise). If you are using the little “caps,” dock and egg wash them as well.

Refrigerate the assembled vols-au-vent on the lined baking sheet while you pre-heat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). (You could also cover and refrigerate them for a few hours at this point.)

Once the oven is heated, remove the sheet from the refrigerator and place another sheet of parchment over top of the shells. This will help them rise evenly. Bake the shells until they have risen and begin to brown, about 10-15 minutes depending on their size. Reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF (180ºC), and remove the parchment sheet from the top of the vols-au-vent. If the centers have risen up inside the vols-au-vent, you can gently press them down. Continue baking (with no sheet on top) until the layers are golden, about 15-20 minutes more. (If you are baking the center “caps” they will likely be finished well ahead of the shells, so keep an eye on them and remove them from the oven when browned.)

Remove to a rack to cool. Cool to room temperature for cold fillings or to warm for hot fillings.Fill and serve.

*For additional rise on the larger-sized vols-au-vents, you can stack one or two additional ring layers on top of each other (using egg wash to "glue"). This will give higher sides to larger vols-au-vents, but is not advisable for the smaller ones, whose bases may not be large enough to support the extra weight.

*Although they are at their best filled and eaten soon after baking, baked vols-au-vent shells can be stored airtight for a day.

*Shaped, unbaked vols-au-vent can be wrapped and frozen for up to a month (bake from frozen, egg-washing them first).

Michel Richard’s Puff Pastry Dough

From: Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan
Yield: 1 1/4 lbs dough


There is a wonderful on-line video from the PBS show “Baking with Julia” that accompanies the book. In it, Michel Richard and Julia Child demonstrate making puff pastry dough (although they go on to use it in other applications). They do seem to give slightly different ingredient measurements verbally than the ones in the book…Stephanie listed the recipe as it appears printed in the book. http://video.pbs.org/video/1174110297/search/Pastry

Protein Content:
Original Recipe: 25.679 g
GF Recipe: 25.58 g
Note: protein content follows each flour or meal



Ingredients:

56 g sweet rice flour (3.36 g)
54 g arrowroot starch (.162 g)
68 g pistachio meal (14.008 g)
70 g millet flour  (8.05 g)
3/4 tsp sea salt
4 g chia seed meal
3 g agar agar powder
10 ml agave syrup
3/4 cups (5 fl oz/ 150 ml) ice water
2 sticks (8oz/227 g) very cold unsalted butter
 plus extra arrowroot starch for dusting work surface

Mixing the Dough:

Check the capacity of your food processor before you start. If it cannot hold the full quantity of ingredients, make the dough into two batches and combine them.

Put the dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir together.  Add the water and agave syrup all at once, stirring until a soft ball forms. You may need to add extra arrowroot starch to get a soft ball.The dough will be very moist and pliable and will hold together when squeezed between your fingers.

Meanwhile, place the butter between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and beat it with a rolling pin until it flattens into a square that's about 1" thick. Take care that the butter remains cool and firm: if it has softened or become oily, chill it before continuing.

Incorporating the Butter:

Unwrap the dough and place it on a work surface or sheet of parchment paper dusted with arrowroot starch (A cool piece of marble is the ideal surface for puff pastry) with your rolling pin (preferably a French rolling pin without handles), press on the dough to flatten it and then roll it into a 10" square. Keep the top and bottom of the dough well floured to prevent sticking and lift the dough and move it around frequently. Starting from the center of the square, roll out over each corner to create a thick center pad with "ears," or flaps.

Place the cold butter in the middle of the dough and fold the ears over the butter, stretching them as needed so that they overlap slightly and encase the butter completely. You should now have a package that is 8" square.

To make great puff pastry, it is important to keep the dough cold at all times. There are specified times for chilling the dough, but if your room is warm, or you work slowly, or you find that for no particular reason the butter starts to ooze out of the pastry, cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it . You can stop at any point in the process and continue at your convenience or when the dough is properly chilled.

Making the Turns:

Gently but firmly press the rolling pin against the top and bottom edges of the square (this will help keep it square). Then, keeping the work surface and the top of the dough well floured to prevent sticking, roll the dough into a rectangle that is three times as long as the square you started with, about 24" (don't worry about the width of the rectangle: if you get the 24", everything else will work itself out.) With this first roll, it is particularly important that the butter be rolled evenly along the length and width of the rectangle; check when you start rolling that the butter is moving along well, and roll a bit harder or more evenly, if necessary, to get a smooth, even dough-butter sandwich (use your arm-strength!).

With a pastry brush, brush off the excess flour from the top of the dough, and fold the rectangle up from the bottom and down from the top in thirds, like a business letter, brushing off the excess flour. You have completed one turn.

Rotate the dough so that the closed fold is to your left, like the spine of a book. Repeat the rolling and folding process, rolling the dough to a length of 24" and then folding it in thirds. This is the second turn.

Chilling the Dough:

If the dough is still cool and no butter is oozing out, you can give the dough another two turns now. If the condition of the dough is iffy, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. Each time you refrigerate the dough, mark the number of turns you've completed by indenting the dough with your fingertips. It is best to refrigerate the dough for 30 to 60 minutes between each set of two turns.

The total number of turns needed is six. If you prefer, you can give the dough just four turns now, chill it overnight, and do the last two turns the next day. Puff pastry is extremely flexible in this regard. However, no matter how you arrange your schedule, you should plan to chill the dough for at least an hour before cutting or shaping it.

Honey Custard

1 8-ounce pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
5 Tb honey
3 Tb sugar
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and set out a 9-inch pie pan. Place the cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer, along with 5 Tb honey and 3 Tb sugar, beat until smooth.  Add in the cream, egg and vanilla and blend again.  Pour the mixture into the pie pan and bake for 20 minutes or until it sets.  Place on a rack to cool completely before filling the vols-au-vent.

Note: This recipe is from the October 1995 edition of Bon Apetit and can be found in it's entirety and without my tweaks on the Epicurious.com website, as Honey Custard in Phyllo Pastry.

Sugar Plums

40 g chopped whole almonds, for sprinkling
60 g finely chopped dried figs, raisins, golden raisins & cranberries
2 to 3 Tb honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
tiny pinch grated orange zest
tiny pinch ground allspice
tiny pinch grated nutmeg
confectioner's sugar, for dusting

In a small bowl combine the dried fruits, honey, vanilla extract, orange zest and spices. Mix together and allow to sit and soak until needed.

Fruit & Amaretto Bakewell Tart

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.
Bakewell tarts…er…puddings combine a number of dessert elements but still let you show off your area’s seasonal fruits.

The history of the bakewell tart is provided by the awesome Jasmine. Her write up was simply too wonderful not to share it with you.

This was a fabulous dessert that I served for Father's Day. We relaxed on the patio after playing golf and enjoyed a cool glass of iced tea along with these wonderful tarts.

Bakewell Tart History and Lore

Flan-like desserts that combine either sweet egg custard over candied fruit or feature spiced ground almonds in a pastry shell have Mediaeval roots. The term “Bakewell pudding” was first penned in 1826 by Meg Dods; 20 years later Eliza Acton published a recipe that featured a baked rich egg custard overtop 2cm of jam and noted, “This pudding is famous not only in Derbyshire, but in several of our northern counties where it is usually served on all holiday occasions.”

By the latter half of the 1800s, the egg custard evolved into a frangipane-like filling; since then the quantity of jam decreased while the almond filling increased.

This tart, like many of the world's great foods has its own mythic beginnings…or several mythic beginnings. Legend has it in 1820 (or was it in the 1860s?) Mrs. Greaves, landlady of The White Horse Inn in Bakewell, Derbyshire (England), asked her cook to produce a pudding for her guests. Either her instructions could have been clearer or he should have paid better attention to what she said because what he made was not what she asked for. The cook spread the jam on top of the frangipane mixture rather than the other way around. Or maybe instead of a sweet rich shortcrust pastry case to hold the jam for a strawberry tart, he made a regular pastry and mixed the eggs and sugar separately and poured that over the jam—it depends upon which legend you follow.

Regardless of what the venerable Mrs. Greaves’ cook did or didn’t do, lore has it that her guests loved it and an ensuing pastry-clad industry was born. The town of Bakewell has since played host to many a sweet tooth in hopes of tasting the tart in its natural setting.

Bakewell tarts are a classic English dessert, abounding in supermarket baking sections and in ready-made, mass-produced forms, some sporting a thick sugary icing and glazed cherry on top for decorative effect.

Enjoy it with a cup of tea or coffee or just eat it sneaky slice by sneaky slice until, to your chagrin, you realise the whole tart has somehow disappeared despite you never having pulled out a plate, fork or napkin with which to eat it.

Is it a tart or is it a pudding?

Someone once said something like “The Bakewell pudding is a dessert. The Bakewell tart is that girl over there.”

It’s a debate that rages on and we aren’t taking sides on this one. But we will say that many people call this pudding a tart.

While we’re at it...The etymology of pudding is a rather interesting and slightly convoluted one.* The naming confusion may come from the British manner of referring to the dessert course as ‘pudding’ (as well as referring to fat babies by the same name, though we don’t think that is what was the inspiration in this case). And so any dessert is a pudding until another name comes along and adds clarity to what it really is.

Bakewell Tart…er…pudding

Makes 2 small tarts

Prep time: less than 10 minutes (plus time for the individual elements)

Resting time: 15 minutes

Baking time: 30 minutes

Equipment needed: 23cm (9”) tart pan or pie tin (preferably with ridged edges), rolling pin

Assembling the tart

Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

Sweet shortcrust pastry

Prep time: 15-20 minutes

Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)

Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film

56 g (2 oz) brown rice, sweet rice & arrowroot flour, almond meal (14 g each)

8 g (1/4 oz) sugar

1 g (1/8 tsp) salt

27 g (1 oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)

1 (1) egg yolks

1.25 ml (1/4 tsp) Amaretto

3 - 8 ml (1/4 - 1/2 Tb) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Frangipane

Prep time: 10-15 minutes

Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula

31 g (1.12 oz) unsalted butter, softened

31 g (1.12 oz) icing sugar

1 (1) eggs

4 ml (3/4 tsp) Amaretto

31 g (1.125 oz) ground almonds

8 g (1/4 oz) brown rice flour (2 g), sweet rice flour (4 g), arrowroot starch (2 g)

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.

Cherry Blueberry Vodka Strudel

Daring Baker's May Challenge

I was delighted to discover that our challenge this month was from the mouth watering book, "Kaffeehaus." This is one of my favorite cook books as it's filled with so many fabulous foods that I loved when we visited Vienna. I have to admit that I have spent quite a few hours just oogling the beautiful images.

The strudel was a delight to make. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the cherry blueberry vodka filling. I made a maple whipped cream to go with the warmed strudel. It was an excellent way to start Mother's Day.

The May Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book "Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafes of Vienna, Budapest and Prague," by Rick Rodgers.

Recipe

Filling

1 Tb/15 ml vodka

4 oz/114 g pkg frozen cherries, pitted

4 oz/114 g pkg frozen blueberries

1/2 cup/115 g cane sugar

2 Tb/28 g cornstarch

1/2 cup/118 ml fresh gluten free bread crumbs

3 Tb/43 g butter, melted

Dough

3 1/2 Tb/50 g chestnut flour

3 1/2 Tb/50 g brown rice flour

3 1/2 Tb/50 g arrowroot starch

3 1/2 Tb/50 g sweet rice flour

1 1/4 tsp/6 g chia seed meal

3/8 tsp/2 g agar agar powder

1/4 tsp/1 g sea salt

5 tsp/24 g butter, grated & frozen

1/4 cup/52 ml water

3 tsp/15 ml vegetable oil

3/8 tsp/2 ml cider vinegar

Filling Instructions

Place the cherries (and liquid), blueberries (and liquid), sugar, and cornstarch into a sauce pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool completely before using.

Dough Instructions

1. Combine the flours, chia seed meal, agar agar powder and salt into a bowl and blend together. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup, then add to the bowl. It should make a soft dough, if it doesn't add just enough water to fix it.

2. Lay out 2 sheets of parchment paper. On one sprinkle sweet rice flour over the sheet and place the dough in the center. Sprinkle the dough with sweet rice flour and cover with the 2nd sheet of parchment paper. Roll out the dough until it is around 15" x 12". Gently ease the parment paper off the top of the dough and sprinkle the dough with sweet rice flour. Replace the top sheet and flip the dough over and repeat.

Making the Strudel

1. Put an oven rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (200 degrees C). Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. Using a silicone brush, spread the melted butter over the dough. Sprinkle the dough with the bread crumbs. Sprinkle the frozen grated butter over the dough. Spread the filling about 3" (8 cm) from the short edge of the dough in a 6" (15 cm) wide strip. Using the parchment paper to help you, raise the paper so that the edge of the dough folds over the filling. Continue easing the dough over so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Leave the strudel on the parchment paper that it was rolled on, transfer the strudel onto the cookie sheet. Trim off the excess parchment paper that the dough had been rolled on. Tuck the ends of the dough under the strudel. Brush the top with melted butter and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.

3. Bake for 30 minutes or until the dough is a golden brown. Cool for about 30 minutes before slicing. Best the day it is made, but will keep nicely in the refrigerator.

Want More?

You can find me on Twitter @ glutenagogo.

French Yule Log

A Daring Bakers December Challenge

Our fabulous challenge for December is a French Yule Log from Flore at Plaisir Gourmand. [http://plaisirgourmand.perso.cegetel.net/index.html]. Our fabulous hostesses are Hilda of Saffron & Blueberry (http://saffronandblueberry.blogspot.com/) and Marion of (Il en faut peu pour etre heureux (http://ilenfautpeupour.canalblog.com/).

This is a show stopping recipe that is perfect for the holidays. My extended family thoroughly enjoyed the Yule Log, including the sugared slices of star fruit. The side decorations of praline turned out to be slightly addictive, causing more than one person to revisit the log and sneak a piece off the side. Thanks Hilda & Marion for a wonderful holiday dessert!

This recipe comes almost entirely, except for one small labeled portion and some of the variations courtesy of our dear Daring Baker Fairy Tartelette, from the website: Florilège Gourmand (address above) which belongs to Flore and is unreal. Her website is in French and different portions of the recipe have been pulled from the recipes in the entremets section.

1) Dacquoise Biscuit
2) Mousse
3) Ganache Insert
4) Praline (Crisp) Insert
5) Creme Brulee Insert
6) Icing

The assembly will essentially be a Dacquoise Biscuit at the bottom, and the inserts inter-layered with mousse, with an icing finish.


Element #1 Dacquoise Biscuit (Almond Cake)

Preparation time: 10 mn + 15 mn for baking

Equipment: 2 mixing bowls, hand or stand mixer with whisk attachment, spatula, baking pan such as a 10”x15” jelly-roll pan, parchment paper

Note: You can use the Dacquoise for the bottom of your Yule Log only, or as bottom and top layers, or if using a Yule log mold (half-pipe) to line your entire mold with the biscuit. Take care to spread the Dacquoise accordingly. Try to bake the Dacquoise the same day you assemble the log to keep it as moist as possible.

Ingredients:
2.8 oz (3/4cup + 1Tbsp / 80g) almond meal
1.75 oz (1/2 cup / 50g) confectioner’s (caster) sugar
2Tbsp (15g) brown rice flour & sweet rice flour blend (1 Tb each)
3.5oz (100g / ~100ml) about 3 medium egg whites
1.75 oz (4 Tbsp / 50g) granulated sugar

Finely mix the almond meal and the caster sugar. (If you have a mixer, you can use it by pulsing the ingredients together for no longer than 30 seconds). Sift the flour into the mix. Beat the eggs whites, gradually adding the granulated sugar until stiff. Pour the almond meal mixture into the egg whites and blend delicately with a spatula. Grease a piece of parchment paper and line your baking pan with it. Spread the batter on a piece of parchment paper to an area slightly larger than your desired shape (circle, long strip etc...) and to a height of 1/3 inches (8mm). Bake at 350°F (180°C) for approximately 15 minutes (depends on your oven), until golden. Let cool and cut to the desired shape.

Element #2 Dark Chocolate Mousse

Preparation time: 20mn

Equipment: stand or hand mixer with whisk attachment, thermometer, double boiler or equivalent, spatula

Note: You will see that a Pate a Bombe is mentioned in this recipe. A Pate a Bombe is a term used for egg yolks beaten with a sugar syrup, then aerated. It is the base used for many mousse and buttercream recipes. It makes mousses and buttercreams more stable, particularly if they are to be frozen, so that they do not melt as quickly or collapse under the weight of heavier items such as the crème brulee insert.

Gelatin is the gelifying agent in all of the following recipes, but if you would like to use agar-agar, here are the equivalencies: 8g powdered gelatin = 1 (0.25 oz) envelope powdered gelatin = 1 Tbsp powdered gelatin = 1 Tbsp Agar-Agar. 1 Tbsp. of agar-agar flakes is equal to 1 tsp. of agar-agar powder.

Ingredients:
2.5 sheets gelatin or 5g / 2+1/4 tsp powdered gelatin
1.5 oz (3 Tbsp / 40g) granulated sugar
1 ½ tsp (10g) glucose or thick corn syrup
0.5 oz (15g) water
50g egg yolks (about 3 medium)
6.2 oz (175g) dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1.5 cups (350g) heavy cream (35% fat content) or MimicCream

Soften the gelatin in cold water. (If using powdered gelatin, follow the directions on the package.)
2. Make a Pate a Bombe: Beat the egg yolks until very light in colour (approximately 5 minutes until almost white).
2a. Cook the sugar, glucose syrup and water on medium heat for approximately 3 minutes (if you have a candy thermometer, the mixture should reach 244°F (118°C). If you do not have a candy thermometer, test the sugar temperature by dipping the tip of a knife into the syrup then into a bowl of ice water, if it forms a soft ball in the water then you have reached the correct temperature.
2b. Add the sugar syrup to the beaten yolks carefully by pouring it into the mixture in a thin stream while continuing to beat the yolks. You can do this by hand but it’s easier to do this with an electric mixer.
2c. Continue beating until cool (approximately 5 minutes). The batter should become thick and foamy.
3. In a double boiler (or one small saucepan in a larger one), heat 2 tablespoons (30g) of cream to boiling. Add the chopped chocolate and stir until melted and smooth.
4. Pour the melted chocolate over the softened gelatin, mixing well. Let the gelatin and chocolate cool slightly and then stir in ½ cup (100g) of cream to temper. Add the Pate a Bombe.
5. Add in the rest of the cream (220g) mixing gently with a spatula.

Element #3 Dark Chocolate Ganache Insert

Preparation time: 10mn

Equipment: pan, whisk.
If you have plunging mixer (a vertical hand mixer used to make soups and other liquids), it comes in handy.

Note: Because the ganache hardens as it cools, you should make it right before you intend to use it to facilitate piping it onto the log during assembly. Please be careful when caramelizing the sugar and then adding the cream. It may splatter and boil.

Ingredients:
1.75 oz (4 Tbsp / 50g) granulated sugar
4.5oz (2/3 cup – 1 Tbsp/ 135g) heavy cream (35% fat content) or MimicCream
5 oz (135g) dark chocolate, finely chopped
3Tbsp + 1/2tsp (45g) unsalted butter softened

Make a caramel: Using the dry method, melt the sugar by spreading it in an even layer in a small saucepan with high sides. Heat over medium-high heat, watching it carefully as the sugar begins to melt. Never stir the mixture. As the sugar starts to melt, swirl the pan occasionally to allow the sugar to melt evenly. Cook to dark amber color (for most of you that means darker than last month’s challenge). While the sugar is melting, heat the cream until boiling. Pour cream into the caramel and stir thoroughly. Be very careful as it may splatter and boil. Pour the hot caramel-milk mixture over the dark chocolate. Wait 30 seconds and stir until smooth. Add the softened butter and whip hard and fast (if you have a plunging mixer use it). The chocolate should be smooth and shiny.

Element #4 Praline Feuillete (Crisp) Insert

Preparation time: 10 mn (+ optional 15mn if you make lace crepes)

Equipment: Small saucepan, baking sheet (if you make lace crepes).
Double boiler (or one small saucepan in another), wax paper, rolling pin (or use an empty bottle of olive oil).

Note: Feuillete means layered (as in with leaves) so a Praline Feuillete is a Praline version of a delicate crisp. There are non-praline variations below. The crunch in this crisp comes from an ingredient which is called gavottes in French. Gavottes are lace-thin crepes. To our knowledge they are not available outside of France, so you have the option of making your own using the recipe below or you can simply substitute rice krispies or corn flakes or Special K for them.

To make 2.1oz / 60g of gavottes (lace crepes - recipe by Ferich Mounia):
1/3 cup (80ml) whole milk
2/3 Tbsp (8g) unsalted butter
1/3 cup – 2tsp (35g) all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp / 0.5 oz (15g) beaten egg
1 tsp (3.5g) granulated sugar
½ tsp vegetable oil
Heat the milk and butter together until butter is completely melted. Remove from the heat.
Sift flour into milk-butter mixture while beating, add egg and granulated sugar. Make sure there are no lumps.
Grease a baking sheet and spread batter thinly over it.
Bake at 430°F (220°C) for a few minutes until the crepe is golden and crispy. Let cool.

Ingredients for the Praline Feuillete:

3.5 oz (100g) milk chocolate
1 2/3 Tbsp (25g) butter
2 Tbsp (1 oz / 30g) praline
2.1oz (60g) lace crepes(gavottes) or corn flakes or pulverized Gorilla Munch

Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler. Add the praline and the coarsely crushed lace crepes. Mix quickly to thoroughly coat with the chocolate. Spread between two sheets of wax paper to a size slightly larger than your desired shape. Refrigerate until hard.

Element #5 Vanilla Crème Brulée Insert

Preparation time: 15mn + 1h infusing + 1h baking

Equipment: Small saucepan, mixing bowl, baking mold, wax paper

Note: The vanilla crème brulée can be flavored differently by simply replacing the vanilla with something else e.g. cardamom, lavender, etc...

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (115g) heavy cream (35% fat content) or MimicCream
½ cup (115g) star fruit puree
4 medium-sized (72g) egg yolks
0.75 oz (2 Tbsp / 25g) granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Heat the milk, cream, and scraped vanilla bean to just boiling. Remove from the stove and let the vanilla infuse for about 1 hour. Whisk together the sugar and egg yolks (but do not beat until white). Pour the vanilla-infused milk over the sugar/yolk mixture. Mix well. Wipe with a very wet cloth and then cover your baking mold (whatever shape is going to fit on the inside of your Yule log/cake) with parchment paper. Pour the cream into the mold and bake at 210°F (100°C) for about 1 hour or until firm on the edges and slightly wobbly in the center.

Tartelette says:You can bake it without a water bath since it is going to go inside the log (the aesthetics of it won't matter as much since it will be covered with other things)....BUT I would recommend a water bath for the following reasons:
- you will get a much nicer mouth feel when it is done
- you will be able to control its baking point and desired consistency much better
- it bakes for such a long time that I fear it will get overdone without a water bath
Now...since it is baked in a pan and it is sometimes difficult to find another large pan to set it in for a water bath, even a small amount of water in your water bath will help the heat be distributed evenly in the baking process. Even as little as 1 inch will help.
Let cool and put in the freezer for at least 1 hour to firm up and facilitate the final assembly.

Element #6 Dark Chocolate Icing

Preparation time: 25 minutes (10mn if you don’t count softening the gelatin)

Equipment: Small bowl, small saucepan

Note: Because the icing gelifies quickly, you should make it at the last minute.
For other gelatin equivalencies or gelatin to agar-agar equivalencies, look at the notes for the mousse component.

Ingredients:
4g / ½ Tbsp powdered gelatin or 2 sheets gelatin
¼ cup (60g) heavy cream (35 % fat content) or MimicCream
2.1 oz (5 Tbsp / 60g) granulated sugar
¼ cup (50g) water
1/3 cup (30g) unsweetened cocoa powder

1. Soften the gelatin in cold water for 15 minutes.
Boil the rest of the ingredients and cook an additional 3 minutes after boiling.
Add to the chocolate mixture. Mix well.
Let cool while checking the texture regularly. As soon as the mixture is smooth and coats a spoon well (it is starting to gelify), use immediately.

How To Assemble your French Yule Log

Depending on whether your mold is going to hold the assembly upside down until you unmold it or right side up, this order will be different.

THIS IS FOR UNMOLDING FROM UPSIDE DOWN TO RIGHT SIDE UP.

You will want to tap your mold gently on the countertop after each time you pipe mousse in to get rid of any air bubbles.

1) Line your mold or pan, whatever its shape, with rhodoid (clear hard plastic, I usually use transparencies cut to the desired shape, it’s easier to find than cellulose acetate which is what rhodoid translates to in English) OR plastic film. Rhodoid will give you a smoother shape but you may have a hard time using it depending on the kind of mold you’re using.

You have two choices for Step 2, you can either have Dacquoise on the top and bottom of your log as in version A or you can have Dacquoise simply on the bottom of your log. Reverse this order to make the Yule log from the bottom to the top.

2) Cut the Dacquoise into a shape fitting your mold and set it in there. If you are using an actual Yule mold which is in the shape of a half-pipe, you want the Dacquoise to cover the entire half-pipe portion of the mold.
3) Pipe one third of the Mousse component on the Dacquoise.
4) Take the Creme Brulee Insert out of the freezer at the last minute and set on top of the mousse. Press down gently to slightly ensconce it in the mousse.
5) Pipe second third of the Mousse component around and on top of the Creme Brulee Insert.
6) Cut the Praline/Crisp Insert to a size slightly smaller than your mold so that it can be surrounded by mousse. Lay it on top of the mousse you just piped into the mold.
7) Pipe the last third of the Mousse component on top of the Praline Insert.
8) Freeze for a few hours to set. Take out of the freezer.
9) Pipe the Ganache Insert onto the frozen mousse leaving a slight eidge so that ganache doesn’t seep out when you set the Dacquoise on top.
10) Close with the last strip of Dacquoise.
Freeze until the next day.


THE NEXT DAY...

Unmold the cake/log/whatever and set on a wire rack over a shallow pan. Cover the cake with the icing. Let set. Return to the freezer. Transfer to the refrigerator no longer than ½ hour before serving as it may start to melt quickly depending on the elements you chose.

Caramelized Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting

A November Daring Baker's Challenge

This month's challenge is for a wonderfully moist and flavorful cake. It is fabulous eaten plain or with the caramelized butter frosting. This recipe is from Shuna Fish Lydon of the blog Eggbeater and her recipe can be found on the website Bay Area Bites. Our hostesses for November are: Dolores of Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity, Alex of Blondie & Brownie (she's Brownie of the duo), and Jenny of Foray into Food. My family thoroughly enjoyed this cake and actually preferred it without the frosting. This recipe is a keeper.

Recipe

CAKE

10 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature

1 1/4 Cups granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)

2 eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp chia seed meal

1/2 cup chestnut flour

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup sweet rice flour

1/2 cup arrowroot starch

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup milk, at room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 350F and butter or grease one tall (2 – 2.5 inch deep) 9-inch cake pan or a large tube pan.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and salt, and cream the mixture until light and fluffy. Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl. Scrape down bowl and increase speed. Add eggs/vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform. Sift flours, chia seed meal and baking powder together in a bowl.

3. Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dry ingredients. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time. Add another third of the dry ingredients, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dry ingredients. {This is called the dry, wet, dry, wet, dry method in cake making. It is often employed when there is a high proportion of liquid in the batter.} Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds, making sure batter is uniform.

4. Turn batter into prepared cake pan. Place cake pan on cookie sheet or 1/2 sheet pan. Set first timer for 30 minutes, rotate pan and set timer for another 15-20 minutes. Your own oven will set the pace. Bake until sides pull away from the pan and skewer inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool cake completely before icing it. Cake will keep for three days outside of the refrigerator.

CARAMEL SYRUP

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

1 cup water (for "stopping" the caramelization process)

1. In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly and is dark amber in color. When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back.

2. Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}

Note: For safety reasons, have ready a bowl of ice water to plunge your hands into if any caramel should land on your skin.

CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

12 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 pound confectioner’s sugar, sifted

4-6 tablespoons heavy cream or almond milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2-4 tablespoons caramel syrup

Kosher or sea salt to taste

1. Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool. Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl.

2. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add confectioner's sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to take any more, add a bit of cream and or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture looks smooth and all confectioner's sugar has been incorporated. Add salt to taste.

Note: Caramelized butter frosting will keep in fridge for up to a month. To smooth out from cold, microwave a bit, then mix with paddle attachment until smooth and light.

Apricot & Nectarine Eclairs

The August Daring Baker's Challenge

This month's challenge is hosted by Meeta and Tony. They choose the the Chocolate Eclair recipe from Pierre Herme. The recipe is from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme written by Dorie Greenspan. The complete recipe can be found on either Tony or Meeta's blog.

This recipe is composed of three parts: pate a choux or cream puff dough, pastry cream and chocolate glaze. I used a blend of chestnut flour and almond meal for the cream puff dough. While my eclairs puffed up beautifully, although the interior cavity didn't run the length of the eclair. I simply slit the side of the eclair, so I could fill it. For the pastry cream, I added a minced apricot and nectarine. It was a delicious and addictive cream, with most of it eaten before we stopped and filled a few of the eclairs. Lastly, I topped the eclair off with the chocolate glaze.

This is a great recipe and one my family thoroughly enjoyed. My daughter's favorite part was eating little scoops of the glaze, once it had cooled in the refrigerator. My husband preferred the complete eclair and my son liked the plain eclair without chocolate of cream filling. I found my caloric downfall in the apricot nectarine filling.

Happy Labor Day!

Amaretto Gateau with Midori Pistachio Praline Buttercream

A July Daring Bakers Challenge


This month's Daring Baker's Challenge was hosted by Chris of Mele Cotte. The recipe is for the Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream from Great Cakes by Carol Walter.

This is the second version of this cake that I made while on vacation with my family this month. The first one was devoured by my family before I had even finished making the buttercream. It was wonderful to know how delicious the cake was, but I really wanted to taste this cake all put together.

I waited until everyone was tired out from an afternoon spent in the hot Florida sun. While they were recovering, I hit the kitchen and whipped up another version of this cake. The gateau is made of almond meal and flavored with Amaretto. Then I brushed an Amaretto sugar syrup on each layer before spreading out the buttercream. The bottom layer of Swiss buttercream is pistachio praline flavored with Midori, a honeydew liquour. The top layer of buttercream is only flavored with Midori. The top layer of cake is covered with a lime curd glaze and then topped with chocolate ganache flavored with vanilla cognac. I had to use so much Midori liquour to get a nice flavor that we were jokingly calling this cake a "Snockered Gateau."

My family and I are on our way home and I'm having trouble with my internet connection. As soon as I can, I'll post my version of this recipe. If you would like to take a look the recipe now, visit Christ at Mele Cotte for the complete recipe.

Thanks Chris for a fabulous challenge. We thoroughly enjoyed eating this cake and it was a dream to make.

Perfect Party Cake - Coconut & Kahlua Carob

A March Daring Baker's Challenge: Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake

The hostess for this month's challenge is the lovely Morven from Food Art and Random Thoughts, she chose the Perfect Party Cake from Dorie Greenspan's book From My Home To Yours. The original recipe for the Perfect Party Cake was given to Dorie by her good friend Nick Malgieri. This is a versatile cake that has a tight crumb and a light fluffy frosting. Dorie's version of this cake is lemon, but it can easily be made in any other flavor that you like.

A week into the challenge, Carrie of Ginger Lemon Girl and I decided to bake together with Esther of The Lilac Kitchen hanging out with us on email. Esther is the proud new Mama of a healthy baby boy and she wasn't up to hours on her feet in the kitchen baking. When I was choosing from the gluten free flours, I wanted the cake to be white so I selected coconut flour as the base and I chose white chocolate for the buttercream. My goal was to create a white cake that was flavorful for my son, who is a huge fan of all things flavored vanilla and white chocolate.

The cake went together easily and rose beautifully while it baked. The frosting whipped up to a frothy foam. I made two smaller cakes and filled one with mixed berry preserves. The recipe made a large quantity of frosting that I swirled around the cake in fluffy peaks.

How did the cakes taste? Overall my family thought the cake was very sweet. Their favorite bites were of the cake without the frosting. They thought that the frosting tasted good, but was way too sweet. My children weren't crazy about the fluffiness of the frosting, they prefer a stiffer frosting.

Since I felt the same way, I decided to bake this cake again and use a different sweetener and make the cake without any dairy as well. Since I had recently gotten an order from Barry Farms that contained some sweet potato flour and sorghum syrup, I decided to use these ingredients as part of my recipe.

I made the second version of the cake for Easter Supper and my family thought it tasted like a mild brownie or chocolate muffin. They enjoyed the texture and flavor of the frosting, it was firmer and lightly sweet. We had agreed that I would only frost the top of the cake, so that there was only a touch of frosting. They liked the flavor of the cake and frosting. My daughter wants me to make this frosting again, since it isn't too sweet.

Recipe

1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup sweet rice flour
1/2 cup arrowroot starch
2 tsp chia seed meal
1 Tb baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup almond milk
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cup cane sugar
4 Tb vegetable shortening
4 Tb coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract


Buttercream Frosting

1 cup cane sugar
4 large egg whites
8 Tb vegetable shortening
8 Tb coconut oil
8 Tb ghee
1 oz white chocolate, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract

Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a low sided pan with parchment paper and set out 4 - 5 inch cake rings. Line the cake ring sides with parchment paper for 2 smaller cakes. Or line two 9 inch cake pans with parchment paper for 1 larger cake.

2. In a large bowl, dump in the flours, baking powder, sea salt and chia seed. Stir the mixture, until the baking powder is well incorporated.

3. In a medium bowl, pour in the almond milk and egg whites, then whisk them together.

4. In a mixing bowl, plop in the vegetable shortening, coconut oil and sugar. Then beat for 3 minutes on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy.

5. Pour in the vanilla extract and one third of the flour mixture, continue beating.

6. Beat in half of the almond milk mixture. Next, beat in half of the remaining flour mixture and until it is incorporated.

7. Add the rest of the almond milk mixture until blended and then pour in the rest of the flour mixture. Then beat for 2 minutes on medium speed to make sure the cake batter is well aerated.

8. Divide the batter between the cake rings or the 9 inch cake pans and smooth the tops.

9. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

10. Place the cookie sheet or cake pans on a cake rack and cool for 5 minutes. Slip the cake rings off the cakes and peel off the liner. Place right side up on a cake rack until they are room temperature. (Dorie notes that the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months.)

Buttercream

1. Place the sugar and egg whites into a heat proof bowl. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water. Begin to whisk constantly, making sure to keep the mixture over the heat for 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved and it will look like shiny marshmallow cream. Remove the bowl from the heat.

2. Using the mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it has cooled, approximately 5 minutes.

3. Add the vegetable shortening, coconut oil, ghee and then beat until smooth.

4. Once the oils are beaten in, beat the buttercream on medium high speed until it is thick and smooth, approximately 6 - 10 minutes.

Dorie's Note: During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate - just keep beating and it will come together again.

5. Then add the vanilla and white chocolate and continue to beat on medium high speed until the frosting is shiny and smooth. Press a piece of plastic on the surface of the buttercream and set aside until you are ready to use it.

Assembling the Cake:

1. Place the first layer of the cake on a cake plate or a cake round. Spread the top of the layer with the Buttercream. If you would like to use a layer of preserves, spread the preserves on first and then gently spread the Buttercream on top.

2. Place the second layer on top of the Buttercream covered first layer.

3. Use the remaining Buttercream to cover the top and sides of the cake. Top with coconut or tiny curls of white chocolate.

Storing the Cake:

1. The cake is best the day it is made, but will store in the refrigerator. Cover it very well and bring to room temperature before serving.

2. This cake can be frozen for up to 2 months covered very well. Defrost the cake in the refrigerator.


Sorghum Cake with Kahlua Sorghum Syrup Buttercream


Cake

1/3 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup sweet potato flour*
1/4 cup carob
1/4 cup + 2 Tb arrowroot starch
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 Tb flax seed meal
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup sorghum syrup**
2 Tb vegetable shortening, melted
2 Tb cocoa butter, melted
1/2 tsp Kahlua
1/2 cup + 2 Tb almond milk

Buttercream

2 Tb sorghum syrup
2 Tb agave syrup
1 egg white
2 Tb vegetable shortening, melted
2 Tb cocoa butter, melted
2 Tb coconut oil, melted
1/2 oz Enjoy Life! chocolate chips, melted
1/2 tsp Kahlua

Recipe Variation Notes: Cake - I used a 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 loaf pan. Buttercream - Step 1: The egg white, sorghum and agave syrup when cooked over the water bath will look like maple syrup and will not thicken. Once it has cooked for 3 minutes, transfer to the mixing bowl and continue with the recipe. Step 4: Beat the frosting for 10 minutes. Then continue with the recipe.

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* Sweet Potato Flour - I purchased the sweet potato flour from Barry Farms.

** Sorghum Syrup - I purchased the sorghum syrup from Barry Farms.

French Bread from Julia Child

A February Daring Baker's Challenge

This month's challenge was thrilling and a little daunting, as we were making artisan style French Bread. To start us off our hostesses are Breadchick of The Sour Dough and Sara of I Like To Cook, selected the classic French bread recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, volume 2, by Julia Child and Simone Beck. My excitement was pretty high when I read that we were going to work on a recipe by Julia Child. I have to many fond memories of watching her cooking show on television as I was growing up and I was in the process of reading her autobiography, My Life in France, written with her grand nephew Paul Prud'Homme. However, I was a little daunted because gluten free bread making isn't quite the same as baking with gluten containing grains and it would be a challenge to get the dough to behave for the challenge.

I started off the challenge by doing a little research. I read Julia Child's Kitchen Wisdom and her book The Way To Cook, as both contain additional tips for making great French bread. Then I read and reread the recipe from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" with all of Sara and Breadchick's helpful hints. Then I found several videos on making French Bread with Julia Child on PBS' website. In these video cuts, Julia is baking with Danielle Forestier, who at the time was the owner of a European-style bakery in Santa Barbara, California called Les Belles Miches and is now at The Feel Good Bakery in Alameda. Danielle is the first American to be awarded the title of Maitre Boulanger by the Chambre de Commerce in Paris. I felt ready to start the gluten bread making challenge.

Taking my own experience with baking gluten free bread into account, the first thing I did was to divide the original recipe in half. When I bake gluten free bread, one of the things I worry about is whether or not the yeast will become exhausted by the end of the first rise which results in a dense and gummy loaf of bread. So to increase the yeast's chances of success, I divide the recipe in half so it doesn't have as much work to do. I kept a tablespoon of agave syrup on hand to counteract the reaction between the fermenting yeast and the gluten free flours which can sometimes give the dough a sour taste that isn't the most pleasant. I added chia seed meal as the binding agent for the flours, since they are gluten free.

The recipe called for using floured towels on which to place the rising bread...well I have to confess...I didn't do it. I thought about it, but I vividly recalled the first time I tried to make gluten free French bread. Everything was going well, my dough was a great consistency just slightly tacky and not very sticky like most gluten free flour doughs tend to be. I floured up a towel, placed my dough on it and put it in a slightly warm spot to rise. When I returned and pulled out the loaf, it looked liked The Blob. The dough and the towel had become a single and cohesive unit, bonded by thread, flour and water into a living gooey thing. I tried out my best Edna Mode imitation and cried, "No towels! I will use parchment paper...flexible, easy to use and remove, dahling."

The dough went together well. The three risings of the bread went well, although it never achieved the height and loft that you can get with a gluten containing grain. It baked up beautifully, the first batch I made would only get slightly golden, but the second batch achieved a lovely golden look. To test out Julia's statement that the bread needs to rest for 2 to 3 hours, the first batch was a trio of fincelles (thin long loaves) and we cut one open right after it was removed from the oven. The lower half of the loaf was still slightly gummy...I thought the bread wasn't going to turn out at all. Then I cut into a loaf after 3 hours and the bread had the most wonderful texture, filled with lots of little air pockets and had the most divine taste. The second batch consisted of round rolls and discs for making pizza.

My family dived into the basket of bread slices and wiped out the first batch within a few minutes. My daughter declared that this was the best bread I had made since I started cooking gluten free. My husband and son merely wanted to know when I was going to make more as I had obviously not made enough the first time. The second batch of bread disappeared almost as quickly with pleas to make more again. What did I think? This is a truly satisfying loaf of gluten free bread, tastier and crunchier than any other gluten free loaf I have made to date. I want to try making this again, so I can try my hand at making a batard.

Recipe

1 package gluten free yeast
2 1/2 Tb warm water (100 degrees Fahrenheit)
1/2 cup fine brown rice flour
1/2 cup gluten free oat flour
1/2 cup arrowroot starch
1/4 cup sweet rice flour
2 tsp chia seed meal
1 1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup + 2 Tb water (70 degrees Fahrenheit)
If Needed: 1 - 1 1/2 Tb agave syrup

1. Step 1: In a small bowl, dump in the yeast and the 2 1/2 Tb of warm water (100 degrees Fahrenheit). Then let it liquefy completely while measuring out the other ingredients. Once the yeast is liquefied, pour it into the flour along with the salt and the rest of the water (1/2 cup + 2 Tb @ 70 degrees Fahrenheit).

2. Stir the mixture together with a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a dough. Make sure all the little bits of flour and dough are gathered together into one ball. The dough should be sticky and not dry. If the mixture is too dry, add one tablespoon of water at a time until the bread is the right consistency. If the mixture is too moist, then add one tablespoon of flour at a time until the right consistency is reached.

3. Step 2: First Rising (3 - 5 hours at around 70 degrees Fahrenheit). Allow the bread to rise in a cool location, yet not drafty location until it has at least doubled in bulk. (I placed a bowl of water in the microwave and warmed it slightly. Then I removed the bowl of water and placed the bowl of dough in the microwave. Then I left it to rise. You can also use your oven after you have turned the oven on until the temperature rises to 75 - 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Then turn the oven off.)

4. Step 3: Deflating and the Second Rising (1 1/2 to 2 hours). Gather the dough together into the center of the bowl and gently deflate it. Gently shape the dough ball again and replace into the bowl. Return it to the location where it was rising. If you are using the oven or the microwave take the same steps in item 3 to warm the oven to 75 - 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

5. Step 4: Cutting and Resting the Dough. Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a sheet of parchment paper. Cut the dough into three equal pieces for slender loaves called fincelles or cut it into six pieces for small round rolls called petits pains. (See the full recipe at Breadchick's The Sour Dough for all the shape variations.) Take each cut piece of dough and flip it over onto the opposite end to fold the dough into two. Set the folded dough aside on the parchment paper for 5 minutes to allow it to rest. While the dough is resting, cut another sheet of parchment paper for the shaped bread to sit on for the third rising. If you are making long loaves make sure you cut a longer piece of parchment paper.

6. Step 5: Forming the loaves: To make the fincelle take a piece of the dough and place it in the center of the parchment paper. Lightly sprinkle flour over the dough so you can shape it without the dough sticking to your hands. Placing both sets of fingers on the dough, gently roll the dough ball back and forth until you have a long roll that is about 1/2 inch in diameter. To make the petits pains take the dough balls and gently roll them back and forth until the obtain a slight oval shape. Place the shaped loaf or roll on the parchment paper you are using for the bread to rise for the third time. Place the fincelle about 2 inches from one edge of the paper. After you shape the second loaf place it about 3 inches away from the first loaf. Then pull up the parchment paper in between the two loaves so that the loaves are in little troughs. Continue this pattern until all the loaves are formed.

7. Step 6: The Third and Final Rise: (1 1/2 - 2 1/2 hours at around 70 degrees Fahrenheit). Allow the loaves to rise in a cool location, yet not drafty location until it has at least doubled in bulk. If you need to raise the temperature of your rising location, follow the steps in item 2.

8. Step 7: Preheating the Oven and Shifting the Loaves: Place your baking stone or terra cotta baking tiles into the oven and preheat to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Make sure the oven rack is in the upper third of the oven. Gently roll your loaves over on the parchment paper and line them back up so that you can make each loaf sit in a trough.

9. Step 8: Slashing the loaves: Each loaf is going to be slashed in several places for the decorative appearance of the bread. These are done with a razor blade or a very sharp knife that cuts through the bread at a depth of less than 1/2 inch. Start the cut at the middle of the blade and draw the knife towards you in one clean sweep. The blade should lie almost parallel to the surface of the dough. For the fincelle make 3 slashes and for the petits pains you can make one slash or a decorative cross.

10. Step 9: Baking - About 25 minutes for Fincelles and 15 minutes for Petits Pains: As soon as you have slashed the loaves, sprinkle the loaves with a fine spray of water or brush the water on. Then slide or lift the parchment paper onto the baking stone. Very carefully lift the parchment paper between each loaf so that they maintain their shape. Place a bowl of water into the oven on the bottom shelf. Place a heated stone into the water so that you will have steam for helping to make a crisp crust. Then lightly spray the interior of the oven with water. Set the timer for 25 minutes, when the timer reaches 3 minutes lightly spray the bread with water. Do this again at 6 minutes and 9 minutes. This helps the crust to brown and allows the yeast action to continue in the bread. Paint the bread lightly with cold water if you want the crust to shine.

11. Step 10: Cooling - 2 to 3 hours. Set the bread out in a basket or in a large bowl so that air can circulate around it. Although it will be just about more than your nose can take...you must wait at least 2 hours. Otherwise the bread will be a little gummy inside since it won't have time to compose itself after cooling completely. Enjoy!