Savarin

“A man who was fond of wine was offered some grapes at dessert after dinner. ‘Much obliged’, said he, pushing the plate aside, ‘I am not accustomed to take my wine in pills’.” – Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Ready for a little taste of France? The April Bakers Challenge is hosted by Natalia of Gatti Fili e Farina and she chose Savarin,a yeasted cake made with a rich dough the soaked in syrup and served with pastry or chantilly cream (which is just pastry cream mixed with whipped cream to lighten it). I bet ice cream would be pretty good, too.

A little history, taken from “What’s cooking America”

Baba (BAH-bah) – Baba is called Babka in Poland and in France. In French, the word baba meaning, “falling over or dizzy.” These are small cakes made from yeast dough containing raisins or currants. They are baked in cylindrical molds and then soaked with sugar syrup usually flavored with rum (originally they were soaked in a sweet fortified wine). After these cakes were soaked in the wine sauce for a day, the dried fruits would fall out of them.

 1600s – It is believed to be a version of a kugelhopf, which was invented in Lemberg in the 1600s. The baba was brought to Paris, France by King Stanislas Leszczynska, the deposed king of Poland and the father-in-law of King Louis XV (1710–1774) of France when he was exiled to Lorraine. According to legend, he found the customary kouglhopf too dry for his liking and dipped the bread in rum. He was so delighted that he named the cake after one of the heroes of his favorite book, Ali Baba from A Thousand and One Nights. Later, his chef refined the sweet bread by using brioche dough and adding raisins to the recipe. The dish was then simply called “baba.”

According to the famous book called Larousse Gastronomique, The Encyclopedia of Food, Wine & Cookery, by Prosper Montagne:

“At the same time a Parisian Maitre Patissier, Julien, by omitting raisins from the dough, giving the cake another shape and changing the syrup in which it was steeped (this syrup remained the secret of his establishment for a long time) created the Brillat-Savarin, which later became simply savarin.”

The Oxford Companion to Food by Alan Davidson says that one of the Julien brothers, from a family of Parisian pastry-makers, set his mind to experimenting with the baba recipe sometime in the 1840s. The result was this rich and tasty dessert, which he named in honor of Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826), celebrated French gourmet and writer on gastronomy.

The dessert became very popular in France, but the people called it Baba Au Rhum and soon dropped the name Savarin. In other parts of the world, the cake is known as simply Savarin. In Turkey this cake is called “father’s cake.”

So what this is saying is that Savarin, Baba Au Rhum, ad Kouglhofp are all in the same family, but seriously, isn’t all food a derivitive of  another in some way?. We just keep re-inventing the same wheel over and over. Thank goodness it’s a  long road…

You will be making an enriched dough for this. What is that? Well, if you have ever made brioche, panettone, or challah then you are already familiar with enriched doughs. It just means that it has eggs and butter so you have to work longer at getting the gluten developed. With a stand mixer that means about 15-20 minutes mixing time, by hand, longer. I cut this recipe in half and made individual cakes with the help of some vintage tins since I wasn’t expecting too may people to drop by this week. I would love to make a single large oe for a dinner party though. Anyway, my friends, Bake On!

Ingredients

2½ cups (600 ml) (12-1/3 oz) (350 gm) bread flour

2 tablespoons (30 ml) water, lukewarm

6 (320 gm) large eggs at room temperature, separated

½ satchel (1½ teaspoons) (4 gm) instant yeast or 15 gm (½ oz) fresh yeast

4 teaspoons (20 ml) (20 gm) sugar

2/3 stick (1/3 cup) (80 ml) (75 gm) butter at room temperature

1 tablespoon (15 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) orange and lemon zest (I used the zest of a blood orange ad 1 tsp of fioro di sicilia)

1 teaspoon (5 ml) (6 gm) salt

¼ cup (60 ml) (2 oz) (55 gm) butter for greasing the work surface, hands, dough scraper & baking pan

Sponge

In a small bowl mix 2 tablespoons  (30 ml) lukewarm water, 3 tablespoons (1 oz) (25 gm) flour and yeast , cover with cling film and let rise 60 minutes

Dough

After 30 minutes put the egg whites in the mixer bowl and start working with the paddle at low-speed adding flour until you have a soft dough that sticks to the bowl (about 2 cups or 270 gm) and work until it comes together , cover with cling film and let rest 30 min

Add the sponge to the mixer bowl along with a tablespoon of flour and start mixing at low-speed (if you wish to add the zest do it now)

When it starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl add one yolk and as soon as the yolk is absorbed add one tablespoon of flour. Add the second yolk , the sugar and as soon as the yolk is absorbed add one tablespoon of flour. Raise the speed a little, add the third yolk and the salt and as soon as the yolk is absorbed add one tablespoon of flour. Keep on adding one yolk at the time and the flour saving a tablespoon of flour for later.

Mix the dough until is elastic and makes threads, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the butter at room temperature and as soon as the butter is adsorbed add the last tablespoon of flour. Keep on mixing till the dough passes the window pane test, about 10 minutes.

Cover the dough with cling film and let it proof until it has tripled in volume 2 to 3 hours.

You can prepare the Pastry cream now if you choose to use it, and refrigerate it.

While you wait prepare your baking pan buttering it very carefully not leaving too much butter on it. Grease your dough scraper, your hands and your work surface and put the dough on it and fold with the Dough Package Fold two or three times around (5 folds twice or three times). Cover with cling foil and let it rest 15 minutes on the counter.Turn the dough upside down and with the help of your buttered dough scraper shape your dough http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta2_h6Qogp0 in a rounded bun.

Make a hole in the center with your thumb and put it in the prepared pan. Cover with cling film and let rise in a warm spot until the dough reaches the top of the pan about 1 hour.

Pre-heat oven to moderate 340°F/170°C/gas mark 3

Bake the Savarin for about 40 minutes until the top is golden brown; meanwhile, prepare the Syrup

When the Savarin is done take it out of the oven, let it cool and remove carefully out of the pan. You have two choices now : you can immerse it in syrup right now or you can let it dry out (so it will lose some of his moisture that will be replaced by the syrup) and soak it later on.

To immerse it in syrup it is a good idea to place it in the mold you baked it in (a spring-form pan one wouldn’t work for this) and keep adding ladles of syrup until you see it along the rim of the pan. Or you can just soak it in a big bowl keeping your ladle on top of it so it doesn’t float. Once the Savarin is really well soaked carefully move it on a cooling rack positioned over a pan to let the excess syrup drip off. The soaked Savarin gains in flavor the next day .Whatever you decide the day you want to serve it, glaze it and fill the hole with your filling of choice and decorate it. You can serve the Savarin with some filling on the side.

Syrup:

1 1/2 cups (350 ml) water

1 1/2 cups (350 ml) blood orange juice

1/2 cup Amaretto, separated in two

3/4 Cup sugar

Boil the water, juice, 1/4 cup Amaretto, and sugar for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the remaining 1/4 cup Amaretto. Cool completely.

Natalia’s Peach Syrup:

1½ cups  (350 ml) peach tea
1½ cups (350 ml) peach juice
1½ cups (350 ml) water
1 cup (240 ml) (8 oz) (225 gm)  sugar
zest of one lemon
one cinnamon stick

Glaze:

2 tablespoons (30 ml) Jam (I used lingonberry for the color, but apple or peach is great)
2 tablespoons water

In a saucepan mix jam and water and warm up. When the savarin is cool and soaked, brush it with the glaze

Storage & Freezing Instructions/Tips:

You can store the dried savarin for 5 days in a closed container. If you have soaked it cover well with cling foil and store it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Additional Information: Folding  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta2_h6Qogp0

Read Full Post »

Matzoh (or, the Daring Bakers go crackers)

I was going to begin this with my usual, “where did month go?” but |I had to change it to, “where is my motivation?”. Don’t get me wrong, I cook and bake everyday (well, I cook everyday and bake 2-3 times a week), it’s just that my desire to write about a recipe is just not there. Maybe it’s the dark winter nights, but by 8pm I just want to crawl into bed with my husband and a good book (I’m reading The Orphan Master’s Son right now). I really only have time to sit at the computer after my little girl goes to sleep and I just have had no motivation to stay in the kitchen and type away. I have been baking up some nice things though… Banana bread with pecans, Cornflake crunch-marshmallow-chocolate chip cookies, Brioche, Ciabatta, Blueberry-meyer lemon fruit crisp with honey-sour cream ice cream, and these…
individual chocolate cakes layered with raspberries and creme fraiche whipped cream. They are encased with chocolate sheets and drizzled with raspberry coulis. There were six cakes made altogether  and made for the perfect dessert to a dinner party with friends. The cake itself was vegan and one day I will get around to posting the recipe. Just not now.

With all that said, it is the end of the month and time for the Daring Baker’s Challenge! Thank goodness that I love participating every month and that at least I am forced to do one post. Yahoo! Our host this month is Sarah from  All Our Fingers in the Pie. She has challenged everyone to make crisp crackers and/or flatbread. Who doesn’t love a crispy cracker?? well, maybe someone without teeth, but luckily  I still have all my chompers! My first thought was raincoast crackers since I make them quite often, but decided to go with something different since I didn’t have any buttermilk  in the house at the time. What I did have though was flour, and water, and… well, you don’t need anything else…. for matzoh! And to be perfectly honest, I was planning on doing 2 or 3 crackers but I ended up baking matzoh four times this month! I forgot how much I like these and because they are so easy, delicious and addictive (seriously).

This is one of those ridiculously easy recipes but they are sooooo much better than those cardboard things in the store (which I can’t even find here in Calgary). A few things to note: you oven must be hot before you start baking, so turn it on to 450F at least 45 minutes before you start. A baking stone is also very useful. Place it in your cold oven before turning it on; this ensures your stone has enough time to heat up and so that your stone doesn’t crack. If you don’t have a baking stone use a large baking sheet instead. Just make sure that you place it in the cold oven and let it heat up the entire 45+ minutes. These only take a few minutes to cook and it needs that hot surface to do so. You will also need a rolling-pin so you can roll out your dough paper-thin. If you have one of those fancy pastry dockers, then this is the time to break it out. I don’t so I use the tines of a fork instead. Works great and takes about 10 seconds longer. You don’t get that perfectly even docked effect that you see on store-bought versions but who wants store-bought anyway? Not me. Oh, and you will need another flat baking sheet to act as a pizza peel to transfer the uncooked matzoh into the oven, Unless you own a pizza peel. I do not, and  I seem to manage just fine with a rimless baking sheet as my trusty substitute.  One day I will have dream kitchen with room for all of my fun toys…

You can change this up anyway you like.  A wonderful presentation is to very lightly brush the cooked and cooled matzoh with some olive oil that has been seasoned with fresh garlic, a pinch of salt and finely minced parsley. Just break off pieces and place in a small bowl while entertaining;  your guests will go wild over this. You could also replace some of the white flour with whole wheat flour (just add a touch more water). One of my favorites is to add 1/4 cup of sesame seeds to the dough (as seen in these pictures)  but I am sure that flax seeds would be just as tasty. Or dried herbs. How about 1/2 teaspoon of chipotle powder?  Mmmm….. Bake On!

Preheat your oven to 450F and place a baking stone or baking sheet in the center of the oven. Let the oven and stone/sheet preheat for 45 minutes.

Matzoh

1  3/4 Cups (about 7 oz)  unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling

3/4 Cup (6 oz) water, room temperature

(another variation is to substitute some of the water with a little oil)

Place the flour into a large mixing bowl. If you want to add seeds or spices/herbs, stir into the flour now. Make a well in the center of your flour and slowly add the water , stirring with a large wooden spoon until the dough comes together. You might need a bit more water depending on where you live and the weather. Knead for 3 or 4 minutes (either by hand or stand mixer w/dough attachment). The dough should be slightly tacky. Cover with a clean tea towel and set aside for 5 minutes.

Generously  flour you work surface. Take the dough and divide it into 10 pieces. Working with one piece at a time, roll it out as thinly as you can. You should almost be able to see through the dough.  Sprinkle flour over the surface as you do this to prevent it from sticking. With the tines of a fork (or a docking tool) prick the matzoh all over to dock it. Pick the matzoh up and place it onto a flat (rimless) baking sheet. Open the oven and quickly transfer the matzoh onto the hot baking stone. Bake the matzoh for about 3 to 4 minutes. Check after two minutes as ovens differ. They will be light colored with some brown bits and bubbly all over. I use a pair of tongs to remove the matzoh so I don’t have to keep the oven door open long. Repeat with the remaining dough until all are baked. Let them cool completely. They will get crispier as they cool. If you can, wait until the next day to eat them. Enjoy!!

recipe source: A Bakers Odyssey by Greg Patent (fantastic book)

Read Full Post »

Gevulde Speculaas

The January Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Francijn from Koken in de Brouwerij (cooking in the brewery), all the way the Netherlands. She chose a traditional Dutch treat called Gevulde Speculaas (which I am told translates to stuffed spice). The speculaas is a spice blend (you know how cookie butter is all the rage? that is speculaas spice you are drooling over) that is unique like curry powder – every one can be different depending on who’s making it. Cinnamon is the major player here but the team consists of many including, nutmeg, ginger, mace, cardamom, white pepper, anise, clove, coriander… you get the picture. It’s warm, spicy and mellow all at the same time.  Anyway, the dough for this cake is infused with the heady mixture and then it is stuffed with almond paste. Seriously, doesn’t just the thought of almond paste get you salivating?  Overall, this was fun and easy to make. Wait, I take that back. I have been making my own almond paste exclusively for many years now  and almost always have some in the freezer.(Funny sidenote: I actually put 2 pounds of almond paste in my suitcase to bring to my mothers in New York just this past December!) It can seem scary at first but if you own a food processor than you too can make almond paste. This will be the hardest part of this recipe and it’s not hard at all!! Oh, I forgot to mention how cheap it is compared to store-bought. Once you make it yourself I doubt that you will ever buy store-bought after that . It is never quite as smooth as store-bought but unless you are modelling with it you won’t notice the difference and the flavor is so much better. One more thing on making almond paste – you must use blanched almonds = almonds without the skin on. There are two ways to go about this; boil up a pot of water and then add a few cups of almonds. Let them boil 3 or 4  minutes then drain. Once cool enough to handle, the skins will slide off easily. Then you need to let the almonds thoroughly (like for a few days) OR, you can be really lazy like me and buy the big giant bag of blanched, sliced almonds sold at Costco. These take virtually no time at all to process down to a fine powder. You do what works best for you. Believe I have skinned many pounds of almonds in my time.

Okay, so there are three elements to this challenge: mixing up some speculaas spice, making almond paste, and preparing the dough. The almond paste and the dough can be prepared a few days in advance if you like (this really gives the spices a chance to develop), but you can also whip this up in a jiffy as well. Bake On!

Speculaas Spice blend

This is the blend I made up but please feel free to make up your own. All spices are ground before starting

8 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons nutmeg
2 teaspoons dried ginger
1 teaspoon cardamom
1 teaspoon clove
1 teaspoon anise seed
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon coriander

mix everything together and store in an airtight container.

Almond Paste

Francijns recipe: (I actually used this one for the cake so as to stay true to her recipe)

7/8 cup (210 ml)(125 gm)(4½ oz) raw almonds (or 1-1/3 cups (320 ml)(125 gm) (4½ oz) ground almonds)
5/8 cup (150 ml) (125 grams) (4½ oz) granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (3 gm) lemon zest

Grind the almonds for one or two minutes in a food processor, until you see nothing but very small pieces. (Or skip this step if you use ground almonds.)
Add the sugar, and grind for another one or two minutes. It must be very fine after this step.
Add the egg and let the food processor combine it – if it is powerful enough. Otherwise you will have to combine it with your fingers.

My usual recipe:

1  cup blanched almonds
1 cup confectioners (powdered sugar)
3 Tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon rose-water
dash almond extract

Place the almonds and a few tablespoons of the sugar in the bowl of a large food processor and whirl until it is a fine powder. Add the remaining sugar and start the machine. Add the rose-water and extract. Drizzle in the light corn syrup until it comes together and forms a smooth ball.

You can store this in thee fridge for a few weeks or months in the freezer.

I use a scale to measure out equal parts blanched almonds and confectioners (powdered) sugar so I can make large or small amounts. I tend to eyeball the light corn syrup and add little by little until I get the consistency I want. (I told you this was easy…)

Dough

¾ cups (250 gm) (9 oz) all-purpose (plain) flour
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (5 gm) baking powder
¾ cup (150 grams) (5-1/3 oz) brown sugar, firmly packed
a pinch salt
2 tablespoons (30 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) speculaas spices
3/4 cup (1½ stick) (175 gm) (6 oz) unsalted butter, softened

Put flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and spices in a bowl. Cut the butter in dices and add. Knead until smooth. Feel free to add a little milk if the dough is too dry. Wrap in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for two hours. I used my standing mixer to do this and I did need to add a little less than 1/4 cup of milk to my dough. I then let it sit in the fridge overnight.

You can choose to make the dough a few days in advance, just like the almond paste, that will benefit the flavor.

Assembling and baking the Gevulde Speculaas

Ingredients: speculaas dough, almond paste, 1 large egg, and blanched almonds for decorating (optional)

shallow baking pan, 8×10 inch (20×26 cm) or, round with of diameter 10 inch (26 cm)

Grease the pan. Preheat the oven to  350°F/180°C/gas 4

Divide the dough into two portions.

Roll out both portions on a lightly floured surface, until they are exactly the same size as the baking pan. Put one of the layers in the pan and press it lightly to fill the bottom.

Lightly beat the egg with a teaspoon cold water and brush  1/3 of the egg over the dough in the pan.

Roll out the almond paste between two sheets of parchment, until it is exactly as big as the pan, and put it on the dough in the pan. (If you chose to make the paste soft, you can smear the paste instead of rolling it.) Press the paste lightly down to fit in the pan, and brush the next 1/3 of the egg over it. Place  the second layer of dough on top of the paste, press it lightly, and make as smooth as possible. Brush the last 1/3 of the egg over the dough. and decorate the pastry with the almonds, if you like. I sprinkled swedish pearl sugar down the center of my large one with just a few almonds slices down the sides. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Panettone

 

The December’s Bakers Challenge is Panettone,a traditional Italian holiday semi-sweet bread that is studded with raisins. Our host is the lovely 
Marcellina from Marcellina in Cucina (what a gorgeous site!). At this time of year it is hard to miss that giant oddly shaped box sitting up by counter in your local supermarket. While I personally can’t stand the box version, I actually like the homemade kind. It is quite nice, slightly warmed, with a hot cup of coffee. Two years ago this time the challenge was stollen, and I used a recipe by Peter Bernhardt that called for a seed starter (which took about 12 days to make) and then a sponge from that before even starting the bread. He did use the same dough though for Panettone as well so I made some up at the time. Very delicious. Last year I wanted to make some more but decided I needed an easier path to my goal and tried a recipe from King Arthur Flour.This version only requires an overnight sponge. Very delicious and loved it for its ease of use.

Okay, so this year the challenge is provided with a recipe from Carol Field. I really love her recipes so I was excited to give this a try. An overnight sponge, a lot  of butter, a lot of eggs, and a lot of rising times. This is going to be good!! And it was, but, it was no better than my year two recipe from King Arthur and this one is a whole lot less time-consuming (and fewer calories). I don’t get it, but I’m standing by it. Hey, you know what? go to Marcella’s site and try the Carol Field recipe for yourself (it does make a fantastic bread and two giant loaves) and let yourself be the judge. In the meantime, here is my version Panettone (I have modified the quantities, for the original recipe please go here).

The interesting part about baking this bread is actually cooling this bread. You hang it upside down! If you are lucky enough to have panettone papers this is easy, just stick 2 thin wooden skewers through the bread as soon as it comes out of the oven and suspend your bread between two chairs. If you use a recycled can for your baking vessel, let the bread cool on its side for about 10 minutes ten tip it out, insert your skewers and then hang upside down. Marcella believes that just cooling the bread on its side and rotating it occasionally works just as well; I will have to give it a try in the future. Before baking this bread I recommend that you not only read Marcella’s post in its entirity, but that you also read this extremely educating post on the subject by Susan over at Wild Yeast (one of my all time favorite bread sites).

One more thing about panettone. You will notice it comes baked in it very own package. These are panettone papers and they come in a few sizes. My favorite are the small individual ones. While the large loaf is truly an impressive site to behold, it is a large loaf of bread, so you better have a lot of people to eat it up. The small ones are perfect for smaller families or individuals. Okay, don’t have any? no problem, don’t panic. Save a few large (or small) cans from tomatoes or something like that, wash them well, peel off the paper and voila! you have a panettone pan. Just line it with parchment paper (with the paper cresting the rim by an inch or two) before you place the dough into it.

Bake on!

Overnight sponge (biga)
3/4 cup (3 1/8 ounces) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/16 teaspoon yeast
1/3 cup (2 5/8 ounces) water

Stir the three ingredients together until well blended; cover, let sit at room temperature for one hour then place in the fridge for 8 to 12 hours (or up to 3 days)

Dough
all of the biga (above)
2 1/4 cups (9 1/2 ounces) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/4 cup (2 ounces) water
2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/3 cup ( 3 ounces) unsalted butter
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia flavoring OR 1 teaspoon vanilla + 1/8 teaspoon orange oil
2 1/4 teaspoons SAF Gold instant yeast OR 1 tablespoon instant yeast
1/3 cup (2 1/4 ounces) sugar
1 tablespoon each of  orange and  lemon zest

*approximately 1 1/2 cups of dried fruits and nuts  of your choice :  For my first batch I used dried figs, anise seeds and pistachio nuts. For my second batch I used candied orange peel, candied cherries, slivered almonds and chopped bittersweet chocolate.The traditional mixture is raisins, citron  and slivered almonds.

Glaze (optional, but so very pretty)

3 ounces  granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground almonds (or almond flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon corn flour (not cormeal, otherwise use WW flour)
1 egg (30 g) white
scraped seeds from 1/2 of a vanilla bean

Combine all of the dough ingredients except the fruit, and mix and knead them together—by hand or mixer —for at least 15 minutes (longer if by hand) It should be a very soft and billowy dough. Allow the dough to rise, covered, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until it’s puffy (though not necessarily doubled in bulk). Gently deflate the dough, and knead in the fruits, nuts  and zest.

Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a panettone pan or other straight-sided, tall 1 1/2- to 2-quart pan (or split your dough in two and divide between two parchment lined large tomato cans). Cover the pan and let the dough rise till it’s just crested over the rim of the pan. This can take anywhere from two to 4 hours.

To mix the glaze, whisk all ingredients together. Pour, brush, or pipe the glaze evenly onto the top of the loaves. Sift powdered sugar generously over the tops, then sprinkle with pearl sugar.

Bake the bread in a preheated 400°F oven for 10 minutes; reduce the oven heat to 375°F and bake an additional 10 minutes; then reduce the heat to 350°F and bake for 25 minutes, tenting with aluminum foil if the crust appears to be browning too quickly. Remove the panettone from the oven and cool completely.

While the panettone is baking, set up your hanging apparatus (See above). When the bread is done, hang them as quickly as possible.

Allow the panettone to hang for at least four hours, up to overnight.

Read Full Post »

Mille Feuille

How glad I am to write about puff pastry again. Since the last post about it (vols-au-vent) two years ago, I have made it puff pastry many times. That first time was nerve-wracking, with a few failed attempts along the way, but then after a few tries it all came together and then the lightbulb goes off and you realize that it isn’t difficult at all, just time consuming. While I will never judge anyone for using store-bought puff pastry, I use it myself in a pinch, there is a deep-rooted sense of satisfaction when you open the oven door and pull out a tray of perfect, flaky pastry that you made yourself.I’m not kidding.
The October Bakers Challenge was hosted by  Suz from Serenely Full and she chose a  French , though “wildly popular in Morocco”, dessert called mille-feuille, which translates into” cake with a thousand sheets”. It is a very elegant looking dessert that is absolutely delicious. All of your friends will love you for making this. Trust me on this.

This makes a pretty large quantity of puff pastry, but I find this recipe perfect for two reasons.
1.) It is actually easier to handle a large piece of dough
2.) Since this is such a labor of love (time consuming labour intensive), isn’t it easier to freeze half (up to 2 months) for the next time you need it?
This makes enough for three 11 x 17 pieces. I know this seems like a lot, and it is, but the few times I have made mille feuille in the past year it has been requested for a crowd, so this was perfect. You can easily cut the pastry down to fit the size pan that works for you. When doing this it is best to roll out the entire dough to about 1/8″ inch, cut off what you need, then roll the rest up in wax paper and freeze.

While I used to do the “diamond on the square” technique for making puff pastry, I have switched to a much simpler method.This is since discovering the amazing book “Bourke Street Bakery”. I have found their recipe/method to turn out perfect every time.

Part 1

PUFF PASTRY
4 3/4 oz ( 135 g) unsalted butter, diced and chilled
4 1/2 Cups (675 g/1 lb 8 oz) all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon (20 g) kosher salt
1 Tablespoon (20 ml) vinegar, chilled
10 1/2 oz (300 ml) water, chilled
1 lb (500 g) unsalted butter, for laminating, chilled

Take the 4 3/4 oz cubed butter out of the fridge about 20 minutes before starting, so it is soft but still cold
Step 1
In a large food processor, place the butter, flour, and salt together and pulse for about 30 seconds, or until it is crumbly and has a fine sand texture. Combine the cold vinegar and water and pour into the bowl, pulsing until the dough comes together into a ball. Take the dough out, pat it into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Placed in the fridge for 30 minutes (or overnight).
Step 2
Take the other one pound of butter and place it between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Gently pound it with a rolling-pin into a 8 x 8 inch square. What I usually do is start between 2 pieces of wrap and then as I’m getting closer to the 8×8 I switch to a piece of parchment paper folded in half. You can use the folded inside edge to get a clean line on the one side of butter and then use a bench scraper push the other edges in place. Watch this video for good demonstration of this. Once you get your 8×8 square place it back in the fridge until your dough is ready to use.

Step 3
Take the dough out of the fridge and lay it on a lightly floured counter. Roll it out to 8 x 16 inches. Place the chilled 8×8 butter square at one end of the dough and fold over the other to cover it. Firmly pinch the edges together to completely seal in the butter. Turn the dough 90 degrees and begin to roll the dough out in long, even strokes. You want to end up with a 8 x 36 rectangle. Try to only roll in one direction to help promote lots of layers. I roll on one side then swivel the dough and continue rolling on the other end. Be patient, this takes a few minutes.
Once the dough is 8 x 36, fold the two short ends into the middle to meet, then fold it once again like you were closing a book. Dust very lightly with flour, wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes. congratulations, you have just completed your first turn!

Step 4, 5,6
Repeat the folding process 3 more times, turning the dough 90 degrees each time. Every time you finish a completed fold you must place the dough back into the fridge for at least 30 minutes before rolling again. Myself, I complete 2 turns then place the dough in the fridge overnight and complete the next 2 turns the following day. You can do it all in one day, but you cannot skip the resting/chilling time between turns. This is crucial for relaxing the gluten and keeping the butter cold so you will end up with gorgeous, flaky, mile high pastry.
After the completed 4th folded turn, you now must wrap up your pastry and chill it overnight.
The next day….
Okay, now your pastry is ready to use! Yeah!!! Take the dough out and let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before you begin rolling it out.
Part 2

PASTRY CREAM

2 Cups whole milk
3 large egg yolks
3 Tablespoons corn starch
1/3 Cup granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or the seeds of one vanilla bean

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, diced

Whisk together the corn starch, egg yolks, and sugar; set aside

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk (and vanilla seeds, if using) until it is hot and steaming, but not boiling. Take the pan off the heat.Very slowly, and whisking constantly, pour some of the hot milk into the egg mixture (this is called tempering) then pour this back into the hot milk (keep whisking!). turn the heat to medium low and place the pot back onto the heat. Whisk the mixture until it thickens and begins to slightly bubble; simmer, whisking,  for one minute.

Pour the custard through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. If using vanilla extract, stir in now. to prevent a “skin” forming on your custard, you can either place a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface or dust the entire surface with confectioners sugar. Let cool to room temperature then place in the fridge to cool completely.

Baking the pastry

preheat your oven to 400 F. You will need two 11 x 17 baking pans (or 2 baking pans the same size)

Line one baking pan with parchment paper. Roll out your dough to 1/8″inch into a 11 x 17 rectangle. Cut the pastry into 3 equal pieces (drag the knife through as opposed to straight down- this can ruin your lovely layers) and place side by side in the pan. Prick all over with a fork. Place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.

Place another sheet of parchment paper over the top and then the other baking pan on top. This will prevent the layers from puffing up too much. Bake for 15 minutes, remove the top tray and parchment, then return to the oven for another 10 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely. You might need to gently pull the 3 pieces apart.

Assembly

Lay down one sheet of puff pastry. Cover with half of the pastry cream, spreading it as evenly as possible. Now take another piece of pastry and place it over this, pressing down gently. Spread the remaining pastry cream over this layer and finally top with the remaining piece of puff pastry.

Place this in the fridge while you prepare the topping (or you can just dust the top with a little sugar if you choose)

2 ¾ cups (660 ml/ 12⅓oz/350gm) icing sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 large egg whites
½ cup (2¾ oz/80gm) dark chocolate

To make the icing, whisk 2 egg whites with 2 teaspoons lemon juice until lightly frothy.Whisk in about (2 cups)  of the icing sugar on a low setting until smooth and combined. The mixture should be thick enough to leave trails on the surface. If it’s too thin, whisk in a bit more icing sugar.Once ready, immediately pour over the top of the mille-feuille and spread evenly. I found that I didn’t quite need all of the icing. Still working quickly, pipe a row of thin chocolate lines  along the widest length of your pastry sheet (see below). You can make them as far apart/close together as you like.Take a sharp knife and lightly draw it down (from top to bottom) through the rows of chocolate. A centimeter (½ inch) or so further across, draw the knife up the way this time, from bottom to top. Move along, draw it down again. Then up. And so on, moving along the rows of chocolate until the top is covered in a pretty swirly pattern.

The Switch-Up

As I have mentioned before, we have a monthly dinner supper which  I host every month (it’s easier and I enjoy it). The menu this month:

Pear and endive salad with blue cheese and pecans

Osso Bucco

Roasted butternut squash risotto

Pineapple infused napoleons with sauteed fresh pineapple

To make this dessert, I cut the pufpif pastry into small rectangles before baking and I did not place another baking sheet on top. I wanted these to rise to the heavens.  I had in my pantry some freeze dried pineapple, which I ground into a powder with the grinder. I then stirred this into some pastry cream. I then mixed up some whipped cream and slowly added this to the pastry cream to lighten up the whole mixture. OMG this was so good!! This was then piped (using a star tip) between the layers. I then diced up some fresh pineapple and sauteed it in a pan with brown sugar and rum. this was served on the side. Deluxe!!!!

Helpful links

http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/tipsandtechniques/ss/How-To-Make-Millefeuille-Napoleons_11.htm

Puff pastry video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zg-ybzGok3U Mille-feuille/Napoleon video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGQCWuKU7Co Vegan puff pastry: http://veganbaking.net/pastries/718-puff-pastry Gluten-free puff pastry (plus a chocolate mousse & raspberry mille-feuille): http://www.tarteletteblog.com/2010/04/recipe-gluten-free-puff-pastry.htm… Vegan pastry cream: http://vegandad.blogspot.co.uk/2011_08_01_archive.html

Read Full Post »

Empanada Gallega

The September Baker’s Challenge is hosted by Patri from Asi Son Las Cosas. She has challenged her fellow bakers with a recipe for Empanada Gallega, which is a two crusted pie (usually savory), from Galicia, the northern region of Spain.

“My grandparents lived in a country house that my great-grandfather built a hundred years ago. It is in the northwest of Spain, right on top of Portugal, in the region called Galicia. Back in the 70s, the kitchen was the place of gathering, talking, reading… and there was always something cooking on the iron stove, be it a pot of caldo (a hearty soup), or a stew, or a cake in the oven. When I think back to those days, I can smell the sweetness of burnt wood or coal, the almost “chocolate” scent that rose up to your nostrils when you opened the door, the warmth of the air when coming in from a cool, windy and wet August morning…”

How wonderful is that memory????

As usual, I am typing this up the night the post date, but I actually started a round of these in the beginning of the month. Patri, provided a few recipe options for the dough and some savory fillings but  I immediately started thinking about how to turn this into a dessert. I still had a freezer-full of cherries that I picked last month, my raspberry bush out back is having a bumper crop this summer (what a nice surprise to come home to!) and I saw some lovely fresh figs at the farmers market. Mmmm…. Okay, this was going to be fun. With such beautiful fruit, the fillings could be simple and still shine. Time to turn the large savory pie into individual hand pies!

The dough for these were made using a recipe  “La Empanada Gallega”

3½ cups (500 gm) all-purpose (plain) or bread flour
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup (240 ml) warm water
½ cup less 1 tablespoon (100 ml) of liquid fat (oil, margarine, lard)
1 satchel (1 tablespoon) (15 gm) dry yeast
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (6 gm) salt

Sift the flour into a bowl, make a well in the middle and add all the ingredients Mix with a wooden spoon until all the ingredients have been incorporated. Turn dough onto your counter and knead for 10  minutes or place in a standing mixing with the dough hook attachment and knead for 10 minutes.

Make a ball and allow to rise covered with a cloth for about half an hour before using.

Cherry and Frangipane Filling

Frangipane is just an almond cream filling. It is fantastic used as a base for tarts or for pastry filling.

1/2 cup chopped almonds ( or almond meal if you have it)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 egg
3 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

In your food processor, place the almonds, sugar, and flour. Process until finely ground. Then add the rest of the ingredients and process until you have a smooth paste. Transfer to a small bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Balsamic Strawberries with Fresh Fig

2 cups fresh strawberries, roughly diced
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 vanilla bean, optional
2 or 3 fresh figs

Place the balsamic vinegar into a small saucepan. Scrape out the seeds from the vanilla and add, if using. Bring to a boil and reduce until half. This makes the vinegar sweet and syrupy. Cool and then toss with the strawberries. (This alone is amazing and even better spooned over vanilla ice cream)

Let macerate for 1 hour.

Raspberry and Sweetened Cream Cheese

3 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 Vanilla bean
2 Tablespoons heavy cream
2 Cups fresh raspberries (one pint will probably be just fine if you make just a few of each)

Whip together the cream cheese, vanilla,and sugar. Slowly add the cream until smooth.

Assembly:

Roll the dough out quite thin so they don’t end up tot thick. I used a round pastry shell for my cutter. It is 4 inch across. If you are using the frangipane of cream cheese filling, add 1 full tablespoon of filling in the middle of your dough. Spread slightly. Top with 2 to 3 tablespoons of fruit. For the strawberry fig filling just lay 3 slices of juicy fig across the middle and top with the luscious balsamic berries.

Bring the top half of the dough over the filling ans line up with the bottom edge. Using you fingers, bring the two edges together, pinching the dough together.You can use a fork to press a design around the edges if you like.

Brush with an egg, lightly beaten, before placing into a 350F oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

All right. No, I mean that they were just all right. Don’t get me wrong, we ate them and enjoyed them.  The fillings were great ,I just think that I would prefer a tender, flaky crust for instead. But, I wasn’t giving up on this challenge. Onto a savory filling.

I hardly ever post savory recipes. I love to cook just as much as baking and am constantly thinking of menus in my head, but I am a “little bit of this, little bit of that” cook so please bear with me in quantities. I will say that this was delicious and we enjoyed it even more the next day. It started with a layer of carmelized onions followed by a thick layer of cheddar cheese polenta. I finished it off with sautéed carrots, zucchini (from the garden), and peppers. This was a very tasty dinner served with a side salad.

Grandmas recipe for dough

5-1/3 cups (1280 ml) (750 gm) bread flour
2 cups  (480 ml) of lukewarm water (about 85°F/30ºC), approximately
1 satchel (1 tablespoon) (15 gm) dry yeast or  (1 oz) (30 gm) fresh yeast
2 teaspoons (10 ml) (11 gm) salt
4 tablespoons (60 ml) oil (you can use oil from the pan where you have cooked the filling)
1 large egg, for egg wash

Sift the flour into a big bowl and add the yeast. Make a well in the middle. In a small bowl, mix the water and the salt.Now, using your fingers or a wooden spoon, start adding the water and mixing it with the flour-yeast mixture. Keep on working with your fingers or spoon until you have added enough water and all the flour has been incorporated and you have a messy ball of dough.On a clean counter top, knead the dough by  hand or use a standing mixer with the dough hook attachment  for approximately 10 minutes.Clean and oil the big bowl you used for mixing and place the kneaded dough in it. Cover it with a napkin or piece of linen and keep it in a warm, draught-free place for approximately 40 to 50 minutes.

Carmelized Onions (my way)

1 Large sweet onion, sliced
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon salt
3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
Place the onion, salt and olive oil in a small saucepan over medium low heat.Cook, stirring frequently for 10 minutes. Turn the heat to low, add the sugar and continue to cook another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the vinegar, stir again, and  cook for another final 10 minutes. Cool completely.

Cheddar Cheese Polenta

2 cups (16 oz)  water
3 Tablespoons butter
1 Cup yellow cornmeal
2 cups (16 oz)  milk , divided (I use skim)
200 g sharp cheddar cheese, grated
pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon cumin

Place 2 cups water, 1 cup milk and the butter in a medium sauceopan and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, stir together the  remaining cup of milk and the cornmeal. Gradually stir this into the boiling liquid, reduce the heat to low, and cook, stirring constantly until the cornmeal is thick and creamy, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle with the salt, cumin, black pepper and cheddar cheese. Stir until the cheese is fully melted into the polenta. Set aside to cool.

Sautéed Summer Vegetables

This is what I had on hand. Please use the vegetables you like; this also goes for the seasoning

1 large zucchini, chopped, equalling about 2 cups
1 Cup chopped carrots
1 red pepper, chopped
1 purple or green pepper chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon smoked Serrano chili powder
1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili flakes
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil

Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the carrots, salt, cumin, chili powder and chipotle flakes; cook for 5 minutes. Add the peppers and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the zucchini and cook for 2-3 minutes, you still want the zucchini to be crisp since it will continue to cook in the oven. Set aside to cool.

Assembly:

Preheat the oven to 350 F

Once risen, turn the dough back into a floured counter and cut it in half. Cover one half with the napkin to prevent drying.Spread the other half of the dough using a rolling-pin. You can use a piece of wax paper over the counter, it will make it easier to move the dough around. Depending on the shape of your oven pan or cookie sheet, you will make a rectangle or a round.Now, the thinness of the dough will depend on your choice of filling and how much bread you like in every bite.  For your first time (like me), make it about 3mm thin (about 1/10th of an inch) and then adjust from that in the next ones you make.

Lightly flour your pan or tray.

Cover the base and sides with the dough. Using the rolling pin or a knife, cut the extra dough.

Place the filling, making sure it is cold and that all the base is covered. Using a hot filling will make the bottom layer of the empanadas become soggy. Be careful to avoid adding too much oil from the filling, try to make it as “dry” as possible

Take the other half of the dough and spread it out to the same or less thinness of the base.  Take into account that this “top” dough needs to be smaller around than the bottom, as it only needs to cover the filling. roll out the second piece of dough and transfer to cover the top.Trim away excess dough.Using your fingers, join bottom and top dough, when you have gone all the way around, start pinching top and bottom together with your thumb and index finger and turning them half way in, that way you end up with a rope-like border. As a picture is worth a thousand words, please watch this video to see how it is done: http://youtu.be/CNpB7HkTdDk

When you are finished, make a 1 inch hole in the middle of the top layer. This will help hot air exit the empanada while it’s baking without breaking the cover.In a small bowl, beat an egg and add a tbsp of cold water. With the pastry brush, paint the top of the empanada with the egg wash.Place the empanada in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes. Check that the bottom part is done. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Crackers

The July Bakers challenge is being hosted by Dana McFarlane , a non-blogger who loves to create in the kitchen. She has challenged us with the (almost) lost art of homemade crackers. I say lost art since you very rarely see homemade crackers served anymore. What a shame since you can personalize it at home yourself, though I will admit it is a lot easier to purchase premade crackers at the last-minute, and there are a lot of good ones on the market. But can they be as good as your own?

I wish I had concentrated on this challenge more since I have quite a few  cracker recipes that I enjoy making but summertime fun and entertaining has pretty much taken up all of my time. Not to mention the fact that I went down to Montana this past weekend to go cherry picking (and Glacier National Park). Oh, and I am leaving in 1 1/2 hours for the airport to go to New York for a month (and still not quite packed…) so this has to be quick.

The crackers I chose to bake are sesame crackers from Bernard Claytons New Complete Book Of Breads. These are super easy to whip up but  a pasta machine is very helpful to roll them out thin and even (though I am sure that when there is a will there is a way, so don’t let this stop you). We really enjoy these with some hummus and they keep really well so you can always have some on hand. We were provided with three other excellent recipes that I promise to get to and post at a later date. In the meantime go check out some other fabulous bakers here. Bake On!

SESAME CRACKERS

1 Cup whole wheat flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 package (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup hot water (120-13o F)
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
1/2 cup sesame seeds
egg white for brushing
Mix together 1 cup each whole wheat and white flours and add the yeast and salt.  In a separate bowl, mix together the hot water, butter, honey and sesame oil. Pour the liquid slowly over the flours and beat with the paddle attachment (or a  wooden spoon ) on low-speed for 3 minutes . Add the white flour, 1/4 cup at a time to forma soft dough.

Knead for 5 minutes (by hand or with the dough hook). Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour.

Preheat your oven to 375 F

Divide the dough into 4 pieces, covering the dough you are not working with). In a pasta machine, or with a rolling-pin, roll the dough into a thin rectangle, as thin as you get it (I went to 5 on my roller). Worry more about the thinness than it’s length or width (insert jokes here). Place the length of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet and cut strips about 1-2 inches wide. Dock with a fork (that just means to pokes holes all over the dough with the tines of a fork). Brush with a little white and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 6 to 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the cracker. Watch them carefully!. Let cool completely then break off into pieces. They keep 2 -3 weeks in a covered container.

Okay, 40 minutes left to pack!!

Read Full Post »

Battenberg Cake

The June Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by  Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. She chose a fun little cake called a Battenberg. You’ve probably seen it in the store at one point or another since it is easily recognizable by its pretty checkered pattern.  It is said to have been created to celebrate the 1884 wedding of Prince Louis of Battenberg to Queen Victoria’s granddaughter Princess Victoria .The theory is that the four sections of the cake originally represented the four Battenberg princes – Louis himself and his brothers Alexander, Franz-Joseph and Henry. Mmmm….. but is it really true???  The only problem with this theory is that the earliest known recipes called for nine squares, not four. I have come across a most interesting site written by a food historian and it is his conclusion that the entire theory that this cake was created for the royal wedding is rubbish ans just some old wives’ tale. This type of cake had also been called a Neapolitan roll, domino cake and chapel window cake. Please go and read the three fascinating posts on this debunked theory.I love how here say evolves into “truths” over time. Very interesting.

Anyway, onto this utterly delicious cake. It is a genoise cake base and covered with marzipan (traditional) , fondant, or chocolate plastique. Although there are specialised Battenberg cake tins available, you don’t need one. This can be baked in a square baking tin and a divide made with foil to separate the two batters. 

I made two different Battenbergs. First, a blackberry and lemon version covered with white chocolate plastique (tinted lavender). Since the cake has ground almonds in it I automatically loved it. What I didn’t care for was the modeling chocolate on the outside. Too sweet. Not the cake part- that was delicious, just the chocolate covering.

Next try, a cherry-rhubarb and toasted coconut version covered with marzipan. AMAZING. You can easily buy marzipan in the store but it’s really just as easy to make your own at home. It does require a food processor though, so if you don’t have one than go with store bought.If you want to add a flavour to one of the sponges in liquid form, make sure to add the same amount of liquid to the other batter in the form of milk. The batter is very thick and should be quite thick so don’t add too much.

Ingredients
¾ cup (1½ sticks) 175gm / 6 oz Unsalted Butter, softened & cut in cubes
¾ cup / 175gm / 6 oz Caster Sugar
1¼ cups / 175gm / 6 oz Self-Raising Flour (***see end of doc on how to make your own)
3 Large Eggs, room temp
½ cup / 65gm/ 2 1/3 oz Ground Almonds (Can be substituted with ground rice)
3/4 tsp / 3½ gm Baking Powder
½ tsp / 2½ ml Vanilla Extract
1/4 tsp (1¼ ml) Almond Extract

For the fruit side:
1/3 Cup cherry-rhubard puree (I just boiled 2 spears of rhubarb and 1 cup of cherries together with 2 tablespoons each  sugar and water. After 5 minutes I strained it through a fine sieve and then measured it out. Any leftovers make a great ice cream topping)
For the coconut side:
2 ounces toasted unsweetened coconut mixed with 3 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk.

To Finish
1/3 cup (80 ml) 100gm /3 ½ oz cherry jam (You can also use buttercreams, curd, ganache etc instead of jam to glue the cake together).
1 cup / 225gm / 8 oz Marzipan, natural or yellow

 Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/160°C Fan Assisted/Gas Mark 4.

 Grease an 8”/20cm square baking tin with butter. Line the tin with parchment paper, creating a divide in the middle with the parchment (or foil)
 OR Prepare Battenberg tin by brushing the tin with melted butter and flouring

 Whisk together the dry ingredients then combine with the wet ingredients in a large bowl and beat together just until the ingredients are combined and the batter is smooth.  Spoon half the mixture into a separate bowl and mix in the fruit puree until thoroughly combined. Spoon this into one half of the prepared pan.Mix together the coconut mixture and spoon the  batter into the other half of the prepared baking pan. Smooth the surface of the batter with a spatula, making sure batter is in each corner
 Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the cake is well risen, springs back when lightly touched and a toothpick comes out clean (it should shrink away from the sides of the pan)

 Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out to cool thoroughly on a wire rack. Once completely cool, trim the edges of the cake with a long serrated knife and cut each coloured sponge in half lengthways so that you are left with four long strips of sponge (neaten the strips and trim as necessary so that your checkered pattern is as neat and even as possible). Gently heat the apricot jam and pass through a small sieve.

 Brush warmed jam onto the strips of cake to stick the cake together in a checkered pattern (one yellow next to one pink. On top of that, one pink next to one yellow)
 Dust a large flat surface with icing sugar then roll the marzipan in an oblong shape that is wide enough to cover the length of the cake and long enough to completely wrap the cake. Brush the top of the cake with apricot jam and place the cake on the marzipan, jam side down.
Brush the remaining three sides with jam and press the marzipan around the cake, making sure the join is either neatly in the one corner, or will be underneath the cake once turned over
- Tip: If you put the sponge to the one side of the marzipan, I found it easiest to “roll” the sponge over and over onto the marzipan instead of lifting the marzipan up onto the sponge
 Carefully flip the cake over so that the seam is under the cake and score the top of the cake with a knife, you can also crimp the top corners with your fingers to decorate.  Neaten the ends of the cake and remove excess marzipan by trimming off a small bit of cake on both ends to reveal the pattern.

Uncooked Marzipan Recipes
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/8164/easy-vanilla-marzipan

Cooked Marzipan Recipes
http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/party-food/accompaniment…
http://thecookieshopinenglish.wordpress.com/2009/09/08/diy-marzipan/

Chocolate Plastique/Modelling Chocolate
http://www.joyofbaking.com/ModelingChoc.html

Read Full Post »

Challah Bread (three ways)

What a fun Bakers Challenge this month!

“Challah is a bread of celebration in Jewish tradition. At a time when white flour was considered a luxury, its use was reserved for either the wealthy or for festive events. In Judaism, the Sabbath is a weekly holiday, and therefore is a festive occasion. It was around the 15th century when Jews in parts of Austria and Germany adopted an oval braided loaf from their neighbors to make the Sabbath special. These fancy shaped loaves made with white flour were seen as a fitting way to honor the Shabbat (Sabbath), symbolized in Jewish culture as a queen, therefore deserving of the finest one can achieve. In honoring the Sabbath as a day of rest, two loaves are traditionally put on the table. This is generally seen as a representation of the double portion of manna provided to the Children of Israel on Fridays during their wandering in the desert after fleeing from Egypt. This double portion allowed them to maintain the commandment to not do “work” on the Sabbath.

Another symbolic comparison to the manna eaten by the Israelites is the fact that challah is traditionally covered with a cloth prior to being blessed and eaten. According to tradition, manna was encased in dew to preserve its freshness. Covering the challah with a decorative cloth serves as another reminder of the special quality of the day of rest. There are other explanations given regarding why the challah is covered. The one which I always liked was that we cover the loaves so they will not be “embarrassed” by having to wait while the wine is blessed first. (A traditional Sabbath dinner begins with a blessing over the wine first, followed by the blessing of the bread, after which the meal is enjoyed.)”

This beautiful description comes from Ruth of  The Crafts of Mommyhood, who is the host of the May Bakers Challenge. Growing up in New York I am well acquainted with the challah bread. While my  first two boyfriends were jewish, it was the second one who came from a very religious family. Every Friday night his mom would set the candles out for the Sabbath with the challah bread sitting on the table (needless to say she was not too happy about her son dating me- in fact that is an understatement.lol!). This bread has a long history, as well it should, since it is delicious, gorgeous to look at , and makes awesome french toast!

Since my disaster in the kitchen last month, I haven’t has a chance to do much , well, any baking,but since my new oven was delivered last week I have made many loaves of bread. I tried three different recipes for the challah and I highly recommend all of them. The first is Bernard Clayton’s from the New Complete Book Of Breads  (I adore this book). It makes two large loaves and is gently scented with saffron, which makes it so unique in flavor. The second time I used a recipe from Beard on Bread. This one was simple, straight forward and delicious. The third time around I tried a pumpkin challah from Martha Stewart. To these loaves I added raisins which had been soaked in butterscotch schnapps. Yumm…

The best part of this is the braiding. There are so many different ways to go with this that only you can decide. I went with the six strand braid, the 4 strand round braid, a braided ring and a turban. At the end of this post will be link to instruct you on different braiding techniques. Well let’s get to it, Bake On!!

Challah (Version 1)

2 Packages (4 1/2 teaspoons) active dry yeast
5 Cups bread or AP flour, approximately
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup hot water (120-130F)
1 pinch saffron (I soaked my saffron in the hot water for a few minutes and added it in at the same time)
3 eggs
1 egg white
1 egg yolk (from egg above, beaten, mixed with 2 teaspoons sugar and 1 teaspoon cold water)
1 teaspoon poppy or sesame seeds

In your mixer bowl (or large bowl if doing by hand) combine the yeast, 2 cups flour, sugar, salt and butter. Slowly add the hot water and beat on medium speed, using the flat beater, for 2 minutes. Add the saffron (disregard this if you added the saffron to the hot water), eggs, and egg white. Beat on high-speed for 3 minutes (the batter will be thick). Change to the dough hook and add the remaining flour, one cup at a time, until the dough is no longer shaggy or sticky. If it is too moist, add some more flour, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl.
Knead for 10 minutes..
Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Punch down the dough and divide it in half. These will make your two loaves.
Now comes the fun part! To braid, divide each half into 3 pieces (this is for a simple 3 strand braid).
* Please try out the many variations on braiding when you feel a little brave- they are quite easy once you get the hand of it.*
Once braided,place the loaves on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and  brush lightly with the egg yolk mixture .Sprinkle with the seeds. Do not cover the bread for the second rise. they will double in bulk, about 1 hour.
Preheat your oven to 400F about 20 minutes before baking.
Bake until shiny brown, about 30 to 40 minutes. Cool before cutting.

Challah (Version 2)

3 Packages active dry yeast (I thought this was excessive so I used 4 1/2 teaspoons like above)
1 1/3 cups warm water (about 110F)note: I used some whey I had leftover from making cheese
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon salt (I use kosher)
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3 eggs
5 to 5 1/2 cups AP flour
1 egg yolk mixed with 1 teaspoon cold water (for brushing)
poppy or sesame seeds

Proof the yeast in the warm water in a mixing bowl with the paddle attachment. Add the sugar, salt, butter, eggs and 5 cups of the flour, one cup at a time.Switching to the dough hook, gradually add more flour if needed, until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. Knead for 10 minutes or until it is smooth and elastic.
Place the dough into a large greased bowl and cover tightly with wrap until doubled in bulk, about 1-2 hours. Punch the dough down and divide in half. Proceed to form into braids ,place the loaves on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and let rise again, covered, for 1 hour. Lightly brush with the reserved egg yolk and sprinkle with seeds.
Bake in a preheated 400F oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on racks.

Challah (Version 3)

2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast, (1 1/2 packages)
1 cup warm water (100 degrees to 110 degrees)
3/4 cup egg yolks, (9 to 12 large eggs), plus 1 large egg yolk for glaze
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons canola oil, plus more for bowl
1/4 cup honey
2 cups homemade Pumpkin Puree, or one 15-ounce can
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
8 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

Proof the yeast in 1 cup  warm water. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine egg yolks with remaining 1/2 cup warm water. In a medium bowl, combine salt, canola oil, honey, pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice. Replace paddle attachment with dough-hook attachment, and add the pumpkin mixture to the mixer bowl; combine. Add the yeast mixture, stirring until combined. Add the flour, 1 cup at a time, until all the flour is incorporated into dough. Knead the dough  for 10 minutes. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface, punch down the dough, and then form it into two 8-inch loaves. Place the loaves on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cover with a kitchen towel, and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.While the dough is rising, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix remaining egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water. Brush the loaves with the egg glaze, and bake until golden brown, about 50 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Video of basic three strand braid: http://s1075.photobucket.com/albums/w440/tinkrsh/challah%20braiding/?act…
Videos of four strand braids: http://s1075.photobucket.com/albums/w440/tinkrsh/challah%20braiding/?act…
http://s1075.photobucket.com/albums/w440/tinkrsh/challah%20braiding/?act…
Videos of six strand braids: http://s1075.photobucket.com/albums/w440/tinkrsh/challah%20braiding/?act…
http://s1075.photobucket.com/albums/w440/tinkrsh/challah%20braiding/?act…
Video of four strand braided round: http://s1075.photobucket.com/albums/w440/tinkrsh/challah%20braiding/?act…

p.s.- I’m submitting this to Susan over at Wild Yeast for the weekly yeastspotting roundup

Read Full Post »

Two Recipes: Armenian Nazook and Nutmeg Cake

>

This month’s Bakers Challenge was hosted by Jason at Dailycandor.com. He introduced us to two very interesting and delicious Armenian desserts : Nazook (or nazuk, nazouk) and scented nutmeg cake. Both are winners.

Nazook is a rolled sweet pastry cookie which I thought was very similar to rugelach but the dough is made with yeast and sour cream. The dough is quite simple in fact, just flour, yeast, sour cream and butter. The fact that  there is no sugar is really nice and offsets the sweet filling. The traditional way is a vanilla filling but I also made a fig version and a cinnamon walnut version. I think this is one recipe that is hands down best the traditional way. While all three were incredibaly delicious (and not too sweet), the vanilla the stellar. If you have vanilla beans, this is the time to break them out. I used both vanilla bean seeds and pure vanilla extract for a double vanilla flavor. Pure heaven.

Nazook

Pastry dough

3 cups (720 ml) (420 gm/15 oz) all-purpose (plain) flour, sifted
2½ teaspoons (12½ ml) (7 gm) (¼ oz) (1 packet) active dry yeast
1 cup (240 ml) (225 gm/8 oz) sour cream
1 cup (2 sticks) (240 ml) (225 gm/8 oz) softened butter (room temperature)

Filling

1 1/2 cups (360 ml) (210 gm) (7½ oz) all-purpose (plain) flour, sifted
1 1/2 cups (360 ml) (340 gm/12 oz) sugar
3/4 cup (1½ sticks) (180 ml) (170 gm/6 oz) softened butter (room temperature)
seeds from 1 vanilla bean, scraped
2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
Wash
1-2 egg yolks

Directions:

Make the Pastry Dough

Place the sifted flour into a large bowl. Add the dry yeast, and mix well. Add the sour cream and softened butter.
Use your hands, or a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, to work it into a dough. If using a standing mixer, switch to a dough hook. If making manually, continue to knead for about 10 minutes, or until the dough no longer sticks to the bowl or your hands. If it remains very sticky, add some flour, a little at a time.
Cover the dough and refrigerate for 3-5 hours, or overnight if you like.

Make the filling

 Mix the flour, sugar, and the butter in a medium bowl. Add the seeds from a scraped vanilla bean  (if using) and  vanilla extract. Mix the filling until it looks like clumpy, damp sand. It should not take long. Set aside.

Make the nazook

 Preheat the oven to moderate 350°F/175°C/gas mark 4.

 Cut the refrigerated dough into quarters. Form one of the quarters into a ball. Dust your working surface with a little flour. Roll out the dough into a large rectangle or oval. The dough should be thin, but not transparent.Spread 1/4 of the filling mixture across the rolled-out dough in an even layer. Try to spread the filling as close as possible to the edges on the short sides, but keep some of pastry dough uncovered (1 inch/2.5 cm) along the long edges. From one of the long sides, start slowly rolling the dough across. Be careful to make sure the filling stays evenly distributed. Roll all the way across until you have a long, thin loaf.Pat down the loaf with your palm and fingers so that it flattens out a bit (just a bit).

 Apply your egg yolk wash with a pastry brush.

Use a crinkle cutter (I used a serrated bread  knife) to cut the loaf into 10 equally sized pieces. Put onto an ungreased cookie sheet.Place in a preheated moderate oven for about 30 minutes, until the tops are a rich, golden brown. Cool and then try not to eat all of them!

 Next up…

Armenian Nutmeg Cake

1 cup (240 ml) milk
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups (480 ml) (280 gm/10 oz) all-purpose (plain) flour (I used pastry flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups (480 ml) (400 gm/14 oz) brown sugar, firmly packed (I used demerara sugar)
3/4 cup (1½ sticks) (180 ml) (170 gm/6 oz) unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 cup (120 ml) (55 gm/2 oz) walnut pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground nutmeg
1 egg

Preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C/gas mark 4.

Mix the baking soda (not baking powder; that’s for the next step) into the milk. Set it aside. Sift together the flour and the baking powder into a large bowl.Add the brown sugar and mix together.Cut the butter with a fork into the dry ingredients (you can use your food processor like I did). You’ll want to achieve a more-or-less uniform, tan-colored crumbly mixture.

Take HALF of this resulting crumbly mixture into your springform (9”/23cm) pan. Press a crust out of it using your fingers and knuckles. It will be easy.Crack an egg into a mixer or bowl and add the nutmeg .

Start mixing slowly with a whisk attachment and then increase to medium speed, or mix with a hand whisk if you’re doing it manually (or process for 60 seconds). Once it’s mixed well and frothy, pour in the milk and baking soda mixture. Continue to mix until uniform. Pour in the rest of the crumbly mixture. Mix well until thoroughly combined and fluid.Pour the batter over the base in the springform pan and sprinkle the walnut pieces over the batter.

Bake in a preheated moderate oven for about 30-40 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when the top is a golden brown, and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool in the pan,release and enjoy!

freezing/Storage Instructions/Tips: Nazook will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for a couple of weeks, and the Armenian nutmeg cake will keep (covered) at room temperature for 2-3 days. Both taste even better still warm from the oven.

Allow to cool completely before attempting to freeze. Nazook will freeze best if put in a freezer bag with all the air squeezed out. Armenian Nutmeg Cake will also freeze fairly well if completely sealed. Both can be frozen for up to 3 months.
</a

Read Full Post »