Tiger Rolls (aka Dutch Crunch Rolls)

The March Baker’s Challenge was hosted by  Sara and Erica from Baking JDs. Since they are both from San Fransisco, they chose a popular sandwich bread called “Tiger” bread. It is also commonly known as Dutch crunch bread. In the Netherlands, where it supposedly  originated, it is called  tijgerbrood or tijgerbol (translation: tiger roll). Per wikipedia, “On 31 January 2012, the UK grocery chain Sainsbury’s renamed the product “giraffe bread” after a letter written by a three-year-old named Lily Robinson, suggesting the alternative name. Sainsbury’s stated that “In response to overwhelming customer feedback that our tiger bread has more resemblance to a giraffe, from today we will be changing our tiger bread to giraffe bread.”

Learn more about the history of Dutch Crunch bread, particularly in the Bay Area, here, here, and here.

 Whatever you want to call it, it is a very delicious soft white bread with a distinct crunchy and flavorful topping. The topping is made with yeast (for flavor) and rice flour (for crunch). It bakes up with a beautiful, crackly pattern on the top that you will just love to look at (then eat!). I have made tiger rolls a few times this year but was interested when fellow DB’s didn’t have access to rice flour and made their own. Since I had used up the last of my rice flour on the first batch, I was eager to go this route on my second go. It was  incredibly easy with the aid of my coffee grinder. I first cleaned it out by putting in 1/2 slice of bread and grinding it. This will pick up any coffee bits still left in the chamber. Then I tossed in the white rice and let it grind for about 30 seconds. Then, proceed with the recipe as usual. Conclusion? I loved it. It thought it was so much “crunchier” than using the extremely fine milled store-bought rice flour. This will definitely be the way I go from now on.

The recipe for the topping is the one provided by Sara and Erica.  The bread recipe is adapted from Bake! by Nick Malgieri  (such a great book), which I thought provided a softer roll.I also added a touch of potato flakes for moistness. These make excellent buns for burgers and are best eaten within one day of baking (they freeze great as well)

Tip:  Allow sufficient time for both risings. If you hurry now, your bread will be tough and dry after baking.

 Since I love baking bread, all I can say is have fun. Bake On!

DUTCH CRUNCH TOPPING

Please note that you should not make the topping until the bread is almost done with its final rising.

* if using homemade rice flour you will need to adjust the quantity and add more until you get a paste- like consistency.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons (2 packets) (30 ml) (15 gm/½ oz) active dry yeast
1 cup (240 ml) warm water (105-115º F) (41-46°C)
2 tablespoons (30 ml) (30 gm/1 oz) sugar
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil
½ teaspoon (2½ ml) (3 gm) salt
1½ cups (360 ml) (240 gm/8½ oz) rice flour (white or brown; NOT sweet or glutinous rice flour) (increase by 1 cup or more for home-made rice flour)

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and beat with a whisk; beat hard to combine. The consistency should be like stiff royal icing – spreadable, but not too runny. If you pull some up with your whisk, as shown below, it should drip off slowly. Add more water or rice flour as necessary. Let stand 15 minutes.

Perfect White Bread

Makes two 9 x5 x5 inch loaves or six large  rolls and one loaf or 12  large rolls. The weights given below are based on 1 cup flour being 4.25 oz

6 1/2 Cups  (26 oz) bread flour (I never have bread flour so I also put in 3 Tablespoons vital wheat gluten)
3 Tablespoons potato flakes
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon salt
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
1 3/4  Cups (14 oz) milk, scalded
1 Cup (8 oz) warm water, about 100 – 110F (no hotter)
2 1/2 teaspoons (1 1/4 oz) active dry yeast

Stir the flour, sugar and salt together; set aside

Stir the butter into the hot milk and set aside to cool to room temperature.

about 20 minutes later….

Place the water and yeast into the bowl of your electric mixer. Give it a good whisk to make sure the yeast is dissolved; let proof for a few minutes.  Pour in the cooled milk and butter mixture.

Using a large rubber spatula, stir in half of the flour mixture. Stir the in the balance in 3-4 additions, until there is no longer any unmoistened flour.

Place onto your mixer, and using the dough hook, beat on medium for 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Turn the mixer on again and beat for another 2 minutes.

Get out a large bowl and lightly oil it (I spray mine with PAM). Place the dough into the bowl and turn it over so that now the top is also oiled. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise until it has doubled in bulk. At a room temperature of 75F, it should take 1 hour. My house is always cooler than that so it takes about 1 1/2 hours. Use your eyes, not the clock for best results.

Invert the dough and turn it over, pressing to deflate the dough. Place it back into the oiled bowl and cover again for a second rise, again , about 1 hour.

After the second rise, turn the dough onto a lightly floured board and divide in half. You are now ready to shape your bread.

If making  two loaves of bread, gently pull and stretch each piece into a rough 8-9 inch square. Tightly roll it up toward you jelly roll style,pinching the edges together to seal when you get to the end. Place seam side down into a greased loaf pan and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

If making rolls, divide into 6 (if using half batch) or 12 equal pieces. Round each piece of dough by placing it under your cupped palm and firmly rotating your cupped palm in a small clockwise motion. Arrange the rolls on a parchment lined baking sheet and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 400F.

Make the crunch topping. After the topping has rested, stir it down and evenly spread it on the rolls/bread with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Get it all around but don’t overload it or it will puddle underneath. Continue to let rise until ready to place in the oven.

For loaves:
Bake for 45 minutes or an internal temperature of 200F.

For rolls:
Bake until firm and golden, about 20 minutes.

Let cool on a wire rack.

This is the first batch using store bought rice flour in the topping:

This is the second batch using homemade rice flour:

The second part of the challenge was to create a one of a kind sandwich, which I forgot to do. But, I would like to think that everything I make is one of a kind (ha!)

Read Full Post »

Browned Butter-Butternut Squash Bread

This months Daring Baker challenge, which was hosted by Lisa (Daring Kitchen Co-Founder & Owner/Holder of Super Kitchen Powers ), was fun and quick… and by quick I mean quick breads! 

Bread that is quick to make because it doesn’t require kneading or rising time. That’s because the leavener in such bread is usually baking powder or baking soda, which, when combined with moisture, starts the rising process immediately. In the case of double-acting baking powder, oven heat causes a second burst of rising power. Eggs can also be used to leaven quick breads. This genre includes most biscuits, muffins, popovers,  and a wide variety of sweet and savory loaf breads.

We all have our favorite banana bread, and Christmas just wouldn’t be the same without some pumpkin bread and of course, cranberry walnut bread. They can be made with buttermilk, yogurt, cream cheese, oil, or sour cream for moistness (or beer). Nuts, no nuts, fresh fruit, dried fruit, or chocolate; or how about bacon, chives, cheese, jalapeno pepper or sun dried tomatoes? Anything goes when it comes to quick bread.Really, your imagination is your cookbook here, well, that and a basic recipe to start.  For this challenge, Lis asked that we only try muffins or loafs. I make quick breads/muffins quite often since they are an easy snack for school and freeze well so I was happy about this challenge. Whole wheat banana bread was one of the first things I baked, but it was eaten before I remembered to take any photos. Typical. I also have a bag of meyer lemons on hand that I want to use for a lemon loaf. Soon. What I did have on hand, and used, was a butternut squash. You can never get too many vegetables into your diet and this is one squash that loves sweet as well as savory. In the middle of the bread? a swirl of cinnamon paste . Mmmmm… so moist, so good. Bake on!

* two things to do before you get started

1. Cut your butternut squash in half and place, cut side down, on an oiled baking sheet and roast at 400F until soft (about 35 minutes). Let cool, scrape out the flesh, and process until smooth. This will keep in fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for 3 months.

2. Brown your butter. Do this about 1/2 hour before you want to bake this so it can cool down a bit.

Browned-Butter Butternut Squash Bread with a Cinnamon Swirl

Preheat your oven to 350F. Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.

1 1/2 Cups (192 g/ 6.75 oz)  all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 Cup (2.6 oz/ 78 ml)  milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
7 Tablespoons (3.5 oz/99 g) unsalted butter, browned, and cooled down to room temperature
3/4  Cup (150 g/5.3 oz) granulated sugar
1/3 (2.5 oz/73 g) Cup packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 Cup (8 oz) butternut squash puree

Cinnamon Paste (optional)

1/3 Cup dark brown sugar
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 Tablespoons corn syrup
1 Tablespoon cream

Make the cinnamon swirl paste: Mix all the ingredients together until well blended. Set aside.

The loaf:

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon,ginger, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt . Set aside. Mix together the milk with the vanilla. Set aside.

In a seperate mixing bowl, beat together the browned butter and sugars. Beat in  the eggs, one at a time. Add the butternut squash puree and beat on low-speed just until blended. Add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the milk mixture in 2 parts. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Scrape half of the batter into the pan. Pour the cinnamon paste over the top as evenly as you can. Scrape the remaining batter into the pan and even out the top. Bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes before unmolding to cool completely. Enjoy.

Read Full Post »

Biscuits (Back to Basics)

This months bakers challenge was hosted by  Audax from Audax Artifex. In many ways he is the backbone among us; always the first to complete the challenge and  always providing insightful tips on how to make the challenge more successful. There is never a challenge that he doesn’t seem to take to the limit, pushing flavor boundries to the edge. So it was somewhat of a surprise that when it was his turn to host he chose biscuits. In his native Australia, they are known as scones, but here in North America they are called baking powder biscuits, or biscuits.  What I love about this challenge is that while it appears so simple and basic, it is so elusive in reality. How many times have you been to someone’s house and were served hockey pucks that were disguised as biscuits- or worse- how many times have you served them to guests??

With all this being said, you must go visit his site and read up all about his  trial and errors. He has some wonderful and interesting things to say on the subject that are not to be missed.

For mine, I baked up the basic version and a cheddar cheese version. The latter I brushed with garlic butter and dried parsley as soon as they came out of the oven which made them taste just like the cheddar bay biscuits served at Red Lobster (mmmm). Many others in the Daring Bakers crew added raisins or fruit so you should check it out, but I like my biscuits without such things. I did try a gingerbread version but decided I like gingerbread cake, not gingerbread biscuits.

We go through spurts of baking biscuits, so they are no stranger to this house. I love this recipe, which is so good with breakfast, but Audix has provided a lovely version as well. There are a few things that will definitely take away with me from this challenge. 1) Grate frozen butter with a box grater (this virtually cuts out blending with your fingertips). 2) use half butter, half shortening 3) let the dough rest before and after cutting

Biscuits are one of those staples that everyone should know how to bake. So give it try and bake on!

Baking Powder Biscuits

1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm/5 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
2 teaspoons (10 ml) (10 gm) (⅓ oz) fresh baking powder
¼ teaspoon (1¼ ml) (1½ gm) salt
2 tablespoons (30 gm/1 oz) frozen grated butter (or a combination of shortening and butter)
approx. ½ cup (120 ml) cold milk
optional 1 tablespoon milk, for glazing the tops (which I don’t do)

Cheddar Cheese variation: Add 2 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese to the dry ingredients. When fresh out of the oven brush immediately with garlic butter and sprinkle lightly with dried parley.

 Preheat oven to very hot 475°F/240°C/gas mark 9
 Triple sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. 
Rub the frozen grated butter (or combination of fats) into the dry ingredients until it resembles very coarse bread crumbs with some pea-sized pieces if you want flaky scones or until it resembles coarse beach sand if you want tender scones.
 Add nearly all of the liquid at once into the rubbed-in flour/fat mixture and mix until it just forms a sticky dough (add the remaining liquid if needed). The wetter the dough the lighter the scones (biscuits) will be! Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 10 minutes.
 Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, lightly flour the top of the dough. To achieve an even homogeneous crumb to your scones knead very gently about 4 or 5 times (do not press too firmly) the dough until it is smooth. To achieve a layered effect in your scones knead very gently once (do not press too firmly) then fold and turn the kneaded dough about 3 or 4 times until the dough has formed a smooth texture. (Use a floured plastic scraper to help you knead and/or fold and turn the dough if you wish.)

 Pat or roll out the dough into a 6 inch by 4 inch rectangle by about ¾ inch thick (15¼ cm by 10 cm by 2 cm thick). Using a well-floured 2-inch (5 cm) scone cutter (biscuit cutter), stamp out without twisting six 2-inch (5 cm) rounds, gently reform the scraps into another ¾ inch (2 cm) layer and cut two more scones (these two scones will not raise as well as the others since the extra handling will slightly toughen the dough). Or use a well-floured sharp knife to form squares or wedges as you desire. 
Place the rounds just touching on a baking dish if you wish to have soft-sided scones or place the rounds spaced widely apart on the baking dish if you wish to have crisp-sided scones. Pop them back in the fridge for another 10 minutes.

Glaze the tops with milk if you want a golden colour on your scones or lightly flour if you want a more traditional look to your scones. (I never do either of these things)
 Bake in the preheated very hot oven for about 10 minutes (check at 8 minutes since home ovens at these high temperatures are very unreliable) until the scones are well risen and are lightly coloured on the tops. The scones are ready when the sides are set.
 Immediately place onto cooling rack to stop the cooking process, serve while still warm. Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Sans Milan

By the time this posts, I will be sitting in my mothers living room in New York for my annual Christmas pilgrimage back home. Since it is late at night and I just remembered I need to type this up (and I’m tired and stressed), this will probably end up a little clumsy, so please forgive me.

This months Bakers Challenge was brought to us by Catherine of Munchie Musings. She chose two Phillipino desserts to try. I wish I could say that I made both of them. But I didn’t. I have been baking cookies to put in the freezer for my better to eat and share while we are away. So please, go to her site and check out the other, very interesting dessert, which is called Bibinka.

The one that I made  is a Sans Rival cake. “Sans rival” means “without rival” and any Filipino will argue with you that this is true. Although it’s one of the most popular desserts in the Philippines, its origins are certainly French. In the 1920’s to 30’s there were many Filipinos who went abroad to study. A good number went to France and learned many French cooking techniques which they then brought home. A Sans Rival is made with layers of dacquoise, typically using crushed cashews, with very rich French buttercream frosting. The dacquoise is allowed to bake and dry to a crispy layer so that there is the crunch of pastry and nuts with the buttery, silky frosting.

For my version, I made an almond chocolate meringue with a coffee buttercream. Not very imaginative but really decadent and delicious. I will, without a doubt, be making again in the next few weeks. Maybe even for Christmas dessert. It was that good. And easy (ish). You can make this any shape and size you want; I chose cut the meringue recipe in half and made small circles. the end result was individual sized portions. I also made a slightly (4 inch) larger one and it is safely nestled in the freezer for him to eat when he chooses.

SANS RIVAL
Ingredients (FULL RECIPE):

10 large egg whites, room temp
1 cup (240 ml) (225 gm) (8 oz) white granulated sugar
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (3 gm) cream of tartar
¼ cup (60 ml) (20 gm) (2/3 oz) Dutch processed cocoa
2 cups (480 ml) (240 gm) (8½ oz) toasted, slice almonds (grind 1 1/2 cups and save 1/2 cup sliced for decoration)

Note: You will need four layers which will mean that you might have to bake in two batches. Be sure to use fresh parchment paper and cooled pans for each batch.

1. Preheat oven to moderate 325°F/160°C/gas mark 3.
2. Line cake pan bottoms with parchment paper and butter and flour the sides really well.
3. In a large clean, dry glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites on medium until foamy (2 mins.). Sprinkle with cream of tartar. Gradually add sugar, a couple of tablespoons at a time, continuing to beat now at high-speed until stiff shiny peaks form. (about 7-10 mins.)

Fold in cocoa powder and finely ground nuts (1 1/2 cups) Remember, the sliced nuts are for decorating the finished cake.

5. Divide meringue into four equal parts. Spread in pans,evenly to the edges,  or like I did,and draw templates on the underside of a piece of parchment paper so you can do whatever size  you choose. If doing batches, use fresh parchment paper and cooled pans for each batch.

6. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the meringue from the baking pans while still hot; allow to cool slightly. Peel off the parchment paper while it is still warm, it is difficult to remove sometimes when they have completely cooled.

7. When cool, trim edges so that all 4 meringue layers are uniformly shaped. Set aside.

French Buttercream:

Ingredients
5 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 cup (240 ml) (225 gm) (8 oz) white granulated sugar
1/4 cup (60 ml) water
1¼ cup (300 ml) (2½ sticks) (285 gm) (10 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
Optional Flavorings: 2 oz (55 gm) unsweetened chocolate, melted, or 1½ teaspoon (7 ½ ml) almond extract, or 1½ teaspoon (7 ½ ml) vanilla extract, or any flavor you like

Directions:

1. Put the egg yolks in a mixing bowl. Beat at high-speed until the yolks have doubled in volume and are a lemon yellow.
2. Put the sugar and water in a heavy pan and cook over medium heat, stirring the sides down only until all the sugar is dissolved and the syrup reaches 235°F/112°C (or thread stage).
3. With the mixer on high, very slowly pour the syrup down the sides of the bowl, until all has been added. Be careful as the very hot syrup could burn you if it splashes from the beaters. Continue beating on high until the mixture is ROOM TEMPERATURE (about 15 mins). Still on high, beat in the soft, room temperature butter a tablespoon at a time. Add flavoring after you beat in the butter. Refrigerate the buttercream for at least an hour, and whip it smooth just before you use it.

Assembly:

Set bottom meringue on cake board with a dab of butter cream to hold it in place. Spread a
thin layer of buttercream and then place another meringue on top. Repeat with a thin layer of
buttercream, meringue, thin layer of buttercream, meringue, and finally buttercream the top and
sides. Decorate with reserved nuts.

Refrigerate until ready to serve. It is easier to cut cold. May freeze.

Read Full Post »

Povitica

This months Bakers Challenge was hosted by Jenni from  The Gingered Whisk. She chose a fabulous eastern european  holiday bread called Povitica. I was really excited for this challenge since I attempted it last Christmas and wasn’t that excited over the results. I now know why.

Last years attempt

The secret to this amazing bread  is in the final rolling and assembly of the bread. It must be stretched paper thin and then you can roll it any number of ways to get exciting patterns on the inside when you slice it. I loved it so much I made it three different ways. The first go was filled with cream cheese and raspberries. It was like a yummy danish. The 2nd go was a savory version filled with carmelized onion, cheddar cheese and bacon. The entire loaf was devoured in one sitting by my husband and his friend! The 3rd go around was filled with a black cocoa paste, dark and chocolately without being sweet. All were divine and I will definitely be making this again (and again).

The recipe provided makes a staggering amount of dough, providing you with 4 loaves. I made the 1/2 and 1/4 versions, much more manageable for me (otherwise I would eat all four!). To get the full recipe please go to Jenni’s site to retrieve it. The traditional filling is made with ground walnuts so be sure to try that as well. The method to make the half and quarter batches are the same, just measure out your ingredients accordingly.  This looks long and complicated but I promise, it really isn’t complicated at all. Just read through everything before making it. Bake On!…

Carmelized Onion, Cheddar and Bacon

Half Batch Dough Ingredients (Makes two loaves each 1.25 lbs/565 grams)
To activate the Yeast:
1 Teaspoon (5 ml/4 ½ gm) Sugar
½ Teaspoon (2½ ml/1½ gm) All-Purpose (Plain) Flour
¼ Cup (60 ml) Warm Water
1 Tablespoon (15 ml/7 gm/¼ oz/1 sachet) Dry Yeast

Dough:
1 Cup (240 ml) Whole Milk
6 Tablespoons (90 ml/85 gm/3 oz) Sugar
1½ Teaspoons (7½ ml/9 gm/1/3 oz) Table Salt
2 Large Eggs
¼ Cup (60 ml/60 gm/½ stick/2 oz) Unsalted Butter, melted
4 cups (960 ml/560 gm/19¾ oz/1¼ lb) All-Purpose Flour, measure first then sift, divided

Topping:
¼ Cup (60 ml) Cold STRONG Coffee
1 Tablespoon (15 ml/14 gm/½ oz) Granulated Sugar
Melted Butter

Quarter Batch Dough Ingredients (Makes one loaf 1.25 lbs/565 grams)
To activate the Yeast:
½ Teaspoon (2½ ml/2¼ gm) Sugar
¼ Teaspoon (1¼ ml/¾ gm) All-Purpose (Plain) Flour
2 Tablespoons (30 ml) Warm Water
1½ Teaspoons (7½ ml/3½ gm/0.125 oz/½ sachet) Dry Yeast

Dough:
½ Cup (120 ml) Whole Milk
3 Tablespoons (45 ml/43 gm/1½ oz) Sugar
¾ Teaspoon (3¾ ml/9 gm/0.17 oz) Table Salt
1 Large Egg
1 tablespoon (30 ml/30 gm/¼ stick/1 oz) Unsalted Butter, melted
2 cups (480 ml/280 gm/10 oz/0.62 lb) All-Purpose Flour, measure first then sift, divided

To Activate Yeast:
 In a small bowl, stir together the specified amounts above and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 5 minutes

To Make the Dough:
 In a medium saucepan, heat the milk up to just below boiling (about 180°F/82°C), stirring constantly so that a film does not form on the top of the milk. You want it hot enough to scald you, but not boiling. Allow to cool slightly, until it is about 110°F/43°C.
 In a large bowl, mix the scalded milk,  sugar, and the salt until combined.
 Add the beaten eggs, yeast mixture, melted butter, and half of the flour. Blend thoroughly and slowly add remaining flour, mixing well until the dough starts to clean the bowl. Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead, gradually adding flour a little at a time, until smooth and does not stick.

 Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces if you are making the half portion.
 Place into an oiled bowl (s) , cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

 

Chocolate version

Fillings

Raspberry Cream Cheese Filling

1)
1 1/2 Cups fresh or frozen raspberries
1/2 Cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons corn starch mixed with 4 teaspoons cool water
juice of 1 lemon

Bring the raspberries and sugar to a boil over medium heat; let gently boil for 5 minutes. Add the cornstarch water mixture and stir continuously for another 2 minutes. It will thicken slightly. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Strain through a fine sieve to remove the seeds. Set aside.

2.)
8 oz block Cream Cheese, softened
1 egg yolk
1/2 Cup granulated sugar

Blend all together until smooth. When ready to assemble, spread the cream cheese mixture gently over the dough with an offset spatula. Repeat with the raspberry filling.

 

Chocolate filling

3 Tablespoons black cocoa powder
2 Tablespoons dutch process cocoa powder (if you can’t get black cocoa just use all dutch process)
1/2 Cup (4 oz) granulated sugar
1/4 Cup (4 oz)  heavy cream
1/4 Cup (4 oz) butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons espresso powder
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the cocoa powder, sugar and  cream. Make sure to get out any lumps. Add the melted butter, espresso powder, and salt. Bring to a low boil, stirring occasionally. Let this cook for 2-3 minutes. Take off the heat and stir in the vanilla. Set aside to cool completely.

To Roll and Assemble the Dough:
 Spread a clean sheet or cloth over your entire table so that it is covered. Sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons to a handful of flour (use flour sparingly). Place the dough on the sheet and roll the dough out with a rolling pin, starting in the middle and working your way out, until it measures roughly 10-12 inches (25½ cm by 30½ cm) in diameter. Spoon 1 to 1.5 teaspoons (5ml to 7 ½ ml/4 gm to 7 gm) of melted butter on top.I did not do this step as instructed. I own a very large plastic cutting board (20 x 26 inches) which worked perfectly for this and the dough did not stick to it at all.
 Using the tops of your hands, stretch dough out from the center until the dough is thin and uniformly opaque. You can also use your rolling pin, if you prefer. As you work, continually pick up the dough from the table, not only to help in stretching it out, but also to make sure that it isn’t sticking. When you think it the dough is thin enough, try to get it a little thinner. It should be so thin that you can see the color and perhaps the pattern of the sheet underneath. This is actually pretty easy to do

Spoon filling (see below for recipe) evenly over dough until covered

Lift the edge of the cloth and gently roll the dough like a jelly roll, or the way I prefer, rolling in at each end until they meet in the middle. Experiment to your heart’s content! Once the dough is rolled up into a rope, gently lift it up and place it into a greased loaf pan in the shape of a “U”, with the ends meeting in the middle. You want to coil the dough around itself, as this will give the dough its characteristic look when sliced. Cover pans lightly will plastic wrap and allow to rest for approximately 15 minutes.
 Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark.

Remove plastic wrap from dough and place into the preheated oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes. Turn down the oven temperature to slow 300°F/150°C/gas mark 2 and bake for an additional 45 minutes, or until done. Remove bread from oven and brush with melted butter. ( I did not do this for the savory version)
 Check the bread at 30 minutes to ensure that the bread is not getting too brown. You may cover the loaves with a sheet of aluminum foil if you need to. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 20-30 minutes, still in the bread pan. Remember, the bread weighs about 2.5 and it needs to be able to hold its own weight, which is difficult when still warm and fresh out of the oven. Allowing it to cool in the pan helps the loaf to hold its shape. It is recommended that the best way to cut Povitica loaves into slices is by turning the loaf upside down and slicing with a serrated knife

Notes:
• You do not need to use an electric mixer for this recipe, but you can prepare the dough in one in you prefer.
• Scalded milk is an important step. It used to be used to pasteurize milk, so if your milk is raw, please make sure you do this step. If your milk has been pasteurized, scalding the milk will help to make the bread tender.
• The recipe calls for using a sheet on top of your workspace. This is not necessary, but you will find that it was easier to roll out the dough with one. The dough is very sticky, and using the lightly floured sheet helps to keep the dough from sticking too badly. It also helps that you can move the sheet around as you work, and you can also move to a clean area of the sheet for each loaf that you roll out. You will also find that you will be able to roll the dough out thinner with the use of a sheet. The sheet is also used for rolling the Povitica up, but again, it is not necessary. And all the dough and filling goo washes out perfectly, so no problems there! If you decide not to use a sheet, a pastry scraper will come in very handy when you roll up your dough.
• There are two ways that you can roll the dough up. If you watch this video , you can see that the sheet is lifted and used as momentum for rolling the dough up. This technique takes a bit of finesse, but I encourage you to try it out. However, the dough can be rolled up by hand, like you would if you were making cinnamon rolls.
• There are several different ways that you can finish off your loaves before baking it. You can use either egg whites or melted butter,  or brush it with strong coffee and sugar like in the original recipe.

Raspberry Cream Cheese

Read Full Post »

Candyland

Time for the monthly Bakers Challenge. Already?? !  Tempering chocolate AND candy?!!!

When I first saw what this months challenge was going to be I must admit I wasn’t all that excited. Who really wants to fooling around with melted chocolate and boiling sugars in the middle of the summer? Not me. So I kept putting it off, and putting got off, and then thinking about – and then putting it off some more. Man, am I mad at myself for that. It was really fun (and messy)  and produced some really tasty chocolate candy treats in the house. There were two components to this challenge- one had to be chocolate (preferably tempered) and one candy. I knew all along I wanted to make lollipops, though I had much grander visions in my head than I allowed myself time for. The chocolate part was another matter. I have made truffles before so I knew I wanted to try something different. I have also tempered chocolate before , but for dipping, so I ended up with making filled chocolates. While  La Maison du Chocolat has nothing to be worried about, I must admit they came out mighty tasty. I just wish now that I had given myself more time to make many more flavors. Oh well, I can’t cry over spilt chocolate now, can I? I’m sure my husband is happy this is all I got done  since I ended up with bits of splattered chocolate and lollipop bits everywhere.
Three flavors of filled chocolate  were completed; milk chocolate ganache and pistachio paste, white chocolate-cardamom ganache with cashew butter, and vanilla butter rum caramel. Wow… All three were insanely creamy and delicious.  I still need to work some more on coating my molds, as I found that the outside coating was a little on the thin side. I think I was worried  about it being to thick and went a little too far the other way.  That being said , all else was fine.  As far as the lollipops go, they are so super easy and fun! I went with the old window pane look. We used to do this in 4-H when I was a little kid with the inside of cookie cutouts, except we used broken bits of lifesavers instead of homemade lollies. When I read about this old technique in Sugar Baby I totally knew this was the way I was gonna go. While you can go crazy with flavors I just went with orange and lemon for summer. Come Halloween time though, I know I will be making anise, cinnamon and clove versions.

BEFORE GOING ANY FURTHER, PLEASE NOTE: YOU NEED A CANDY THERMOMETER FOR BOTH LOLLIPOPS AND TEMPERING CHOCOLATE. Treat yourself to one, they come in very candy, err… I mean handy.

For this challenge, I am going to let Lisa and Mandy explain how to temper chocolate. I don’t think I could properly explain it without making it sound confusing. Just remember, it’s not that difficult.

The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage,Desserts and Line Drive and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two fine ladies challenged us to make candies! This was a special challenge for the Daring Bakers because the good folks at http://www.chocoley.com offered an amazing prize for the winner of the most creative and delicious candy.

What is tempering?
“Tempering is a method of heating and cooling chocolate in order to use it for coating or dipping.Proper tempering
gives chocolate a smooth and glossy finish. Tempered chocolate will have a crispsnap and won’t melt on your fingers as easily as improperly tempered chocolate.Properly tempered chocolate is also great for molding candies because the candies will release out of the molds more easily and still retain a glossy finish.” – Ghirardelli

Why is it necessary?
If you simply melt chocolate and let it cool it will set with unattractive grey streaks or spots, called blooming. If
eaten, the texture will be grainy and it won’t melt smoothly in the mouth.
When you temper chocolate the end result is shiny, even colored, smooth melting and with a crisp snap.Basically,tempered chocolate is what you want because it’s better in every way.
The reason for the difference is a bit complicated, it has to do with different types of crystals forming in the cocoa butter at different times, to understand it fully you’d have to learn about the behavior of the chocolate
crystals at a molecular level.
For our purposes all that we need to know is that with tempered chocolate the crystals have formed in a uniform way which gives us great looking and tasting chocolate.

What is couverture chocolate?
“Couverture chocolate is a very high quality chocolate that contains extra cocoa butter (32-39%). The higher percentage of cocoa butter, combined with proper tempering, gives the chocolate more sheen, firmer “snap” when broken, and a creamy mellow flavor.
The total “percentage” cited on many brands of chocolate is based on some combination of cocoa butter in relation to cocoa solids (cacao). In order to be properly labeled as “couverture”, the percentage of cocoa butter must be between
32% and 39%, and the total percentage of the combined cocoa butter plus cocoa solids must be at least 54%. Sugar makes up the remainder, and up to 1% may be made up of vanilla, and sometimes soy lecithin.
Couverture is used by professionals for dipping, coating, molding and garnishing.

The term “couverture chocolate” should not be confused with “confectionery chocolate”, “compound chocolate” or “summer coating”: these products have a lower percentage of solids, and they may also contain vegetable oil, hydrogenated fats (“trans fats”), coconut and/or palm oil, and sometimes artificial chocolate flavoring.
Some brands of couverture chocolate are packaged tempered, and others are packaged un-tempered. Subsequent tempering may or may not be required, depending on the usage and the desired characteristics of the final product.” -
Wikipedia

Why is it important to use couverture for chocolate
making?
It is by far a superior product to the average chocolate bar like Cadbury’s etc. which may also contain ingredients like vegetable/coconut/palm oil, hydrogenated fats and sometimes artificial chocolate flavoring which can have unpredictable results when tempering and used to make your own chocolates.
As far as flavor, couverture chocolate is also superior in this regard as manufacturers like Valrhona, Callebaut etc. are very strict with sourcing their cocoa pods and only buy the best.
Make sure that if you’re using chocolate chips or callets that they are also couverture and specifically meant for chocolate making. For the above reasons as well as that normal chocolate chips have other additives in them that help them maintain their shape in baked goods like cookies. These additives stop the chocolate from tempering properly. If you’re not sure, rather buy your couverture in bars or slabs.
Basically, to get a great end result you need to use the best ingredients that you can get. That applies to all baking and cooking, and especially to chocolate making.
If you can’t get couverture or a higher end chocolate and would simply prefer to get your chocolate at the local market, choose brands like Lindt, Ghiradelli or Green & Blacks. Just remember, don’t get ordinary chocolate chips, they have additives in them that will hinder the tempering process. One thing, Ghiradelli does not liquefy as much as couverture chocolate when in temper, so you’ll have to do a lot of tapping off to get a thin, even coating.
There are other methods of tempering that don’t require a thermometer and can either be melted in a double boiler or in the microwave, but here are two  methods of tempering that use a thermometer for very accurate tempering.

I use Trader Joe’s bittersweet chocolate (72%). This is one of my favorite chocolates. It contains Cocoa, Sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithen and 72% cocoa solids. For the milk and white chocolate I used callebaut

Tempering Chocolate ——— Method 1
you will need a marble or granite slab, bench scraper, and chocolate thermometer

Tempering Ranges:

Celcius
Dark: 45°C-50°C > 27°C > 32°C
Milk: 45°C > 27°C >
30°C
White: 45°C > 27°C > 29°C

Fahrenheit
Dark: 113°F-122°F > 80.6°F > 89.6°F
Milk: 113°F >
80.6°F > 86°F
White: 113°F > 80.6°F > 84.2°F

Chocolate is melted and heated until it reaches 45°C / 113°F. It is then poured onto a marble surface and moved around the surface with a scraper until it has thickened and cools to 27°C / 80.6°F. Once cooled it is then put back into the bowl and over heat to bring it back up to 32°C/30°C/29°C /89.6°F/86°F/84.2°F depending on the chocolate you’re tempering. It is now ready for using in molds, dipping and coating.

Watch this excellent video on tempering your chocolate this way:
http://www.ghirardelli.com/bake/videos/temper.aspx

Method 2 – seeding with tempered chocolate

Tempering Ranges:

Celsius
Dark: 45°C-50°C > 27°C > 32°C
Milk: 45°C > 27°C >
30°C
White: 45°C > 27°C > 29°C

Fahrenheit
Dark: 113°F-122°F > 80.6°F > 89.6°F
Milk: 113°F >
80.6°F > 86°F
White: 113°F > 80.6°F > 84.2°F

Chocolate is melted and heated until it reaches 45°C / 113°F. Tempered un-melted chocolate is then stirred and melted in until it brings the temperature down to 27°C/80.6°F. It is then put back over heat and brought up to its working temperature of 32°C/30°C/29°C /// 89.6°F/86°F/84.2°F depending on the chocolate you’re using. It is now ready for using in molds, dipping and coating.

Now watch this video:
http://video.about.com/candy/How-to-Temper-Chocolate.htm

Tips:

• If you’re using the chocolate to dip a lot of truffles etc. which means the chocolate will be sitting off heat for a while it will naturally start to thicken as it cools. To keep it at an ideal viscosity for even coating, put the bowl over steam for 30sec - 1min every 10 – 15mins, just do not let the temperature go over the working temperature!
• Having the chocolate in a warmed glass bowl and wrapped in hot kitchen towel can also help keep the chocolate at its working temperature for longer
• It is also easier to keep the heat if you work with larger amounts of chocolate rather than small amounts. Any leftover chocolate can be kept to be used later and then re-tempered
-Remember, don’t let any water get into your chocolate at any stage of the tempering process!
• Unless you’ve been working with chocolate for a while and have developed a feel for the tempering process and can tell the chocolate’s temperature by touching it to your lower lip like a pro, it’s imperative that you use a thermometer to determine the temperature, as going a few degrees either way can ruin the temper.
• If at any stage you do make a mistake with the tempering process you can simply start again from the beginning.
• While a marble or granite top is ideal for cooling the chocolate in the first method, you can also cool it on a countertop that’s laminated, glass or steel. It will take longer to cool, but it’s possible! (but I definitely wouldn’t recommend a wood or rough textured counter top  )
• Any chocolate left over after making your molded or dipped chocolate can be stored away in a cool place and then re-tempered before using again. There’s no need to ever waste chocolate!
• Wooden spoons can retain moisture so it’s best to use a rubber spatula while tempering

How to fill the molds:

 Equipment:
A small brush,Chocolate molds,A Ladle, Bench or plastic scraper OR A small brush or spoon

Directions:

1. If using colored cocoa butter and plastic molds, paint designs at the  bottom of the wells in each mold. Let dry. You can also use lustre dusts mixed with a bit of extract or vodka, instead of colored cocoa butters for a nice sheen. Let painted molds dry.
2. When coating the molds with the tempered chocolate, I like to do it how the chocolate pro’s do it (much faster and a lot less tedious). While holding mold over bowl of tempered chocolate, take a nice ladle of the chocolate and pour over the mold, making sure it cover and fills every well. Knock the mold a few times against a flat surface to get rid of air bubbles, then turn the mold upside down over the bowl of chocolate, and knock out the excess chocolate. Turn right side up and drag a bench or plastic scraper across so all the chocolate in between the wells is scraped off cleanly, leaving you with only chocolate filled wells. Put in the fridge to set, about 5 to 10 minutes. Alternatively, you could take a small brush and paint the tempered chocolate into each mold, or spoon it in if you’d like.
3. Remove from refrigerator and fill each well with the filling of your choice. Again take a ladle of chocolate and pour it on top of the filled chocolate wells, knocking against a flat surface to settle it in. Scrape excess chocolate off the mold with the bench scraper then refrigerate until set.
4. When set, pop your beautiful filled chocolates out of each well and enjoy!

Ganache

you can use this for either filling your chocolates or for making truffles

Ingredients
1 ¾ cup (9 oz/250 gm) Dark/Bittersweet Chocolate, finely chopped
2/3 cup (5 oz / 160 ml) Double/Heavy Cream (36% -48% butterfat)
OR
1 ¾ cup (9 oz/250 gm) Milk Chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup (4 oz / 120 ml) Double/Heavy Cream (36% – 48% butterfat)
OR
1 ¾ cup (9 oz/250 gm) White Chocolate, finely chopped
¼ cup (2 oz / 60 ml) Double/Heavy Cream (36% – 48% butterfat)

Finely chop or grate the chocolate and place in a heatproof bowl In a saucepan, heat cream until just about to boil (it will start bubbling around the
edges of the pot) Pour the cream over the chocolate and gently stir the mixture until all the chocolate has melted and it is smooth
Stir in your desired flavorings. For my white  chocolate variation, I steeped the cream with 1/4 tsp cardamom.

Vanilla Butter Rum Caramel

3/4 C (150g)  granulated sugar
1/8 C (30 ml) water
squirt fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1 vanilla bean, scraped (I know I sound like a broken record, but save your pods!)
1/2 C (120 ml) heavy cream
1 Tablespoon + 1 tsp dark rum
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

In a medium sauce  over medium heat, combine sugar, water, lemon juice, vanilla seeds and salt. Stir until the sugar dissolves and then stop stirring. Bring to a boil and let it it go until it is a light-medium caramel color. DO NOT LET YOUR EYES WANDER- IT GOES FROM LIGHT TO BURNT VERY QUICKLY.

Remove from the heat and add the cream and rum. It will bubble up and spit like wild. When the volcano stops, clip on the candy thermometer, add the butter, and stir vigorously until everything is well blended. Place back on the heat . Boil the caramel until the temperature reaches 240 F(116C).

Pour into a bowl and let cool completely before filling the chocolates.

Whooooo… this is a long post…..

Onto the lollipops!   These were a big hit

2 C (400 g) granulated sugar
3/4 C (180 ml) light corn syruo
squirt of lemon juice
1/2 C (120 ml) water
food coloring
extract of your choice (I used orange and lemon oil

In a large saucepan (the heavier the better) over medium heat, add the the sugar, corn syrup lemon juice and water. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring. Increase the heat to high and heat the sugar syrup to 300F (149C). I CAN’T STRESS ENOUGH THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING SUPER CAREFUL AROUND BOILING MOLTEN SUGAR!!!!!

For various colors, pour the molten candy into a few heatproof containers with spouts and add 1 or 2 drops of food coloring and 1/2 tsp extract. Give it a quick stir and pour into your lollipop molds with the sticks.

For just one color, just pour all of your hot syrup into large heatproof container and add your color and flavor. Stir and pour into your molds.

You need to work really quickly as this will start to set almost immediately. Do not under any circumstances be tempted to touch your candy- you will be severely burned!

To make the patchwork lollipops, Just pour the various colored syrups directly onto a parchment lined sheet, being careful not to have the colors touch each other. Let it sit overnight to set (it was nighttime when I made the syrup), then smash hell out of them with a covered hammer into  smallish sized bits.

Preheat the oven to 250F

Lightly spray cookie cutters with vegetable oil and lay on baking sheet lined with parchment. Lay down pieces of the colored candy inside the molds, trying not to overlap the pieces. Bake for 10 minutes or until the candy melts. Let cool and pop out. Take a few more pieces of broken candy and heat them up in the oven for about 5 minutes. Dip the tip of a lollipop stick  into one of the melted bits and stick onto the back of the lollipops. Let set.

Couverture Chocolate Supplies Online: UK
http://chocolatefalls-scotland.co.uk/choccart/index.php?main_page=index&…
http://www.squires-shop.com/ibf/index.php?p=product&id=530&parent=59
http://www.cakescookiesandcraftsshop.co.uk/acatalog/Chocolate-Making.htm…
https://www.vantagehouse.com/chocolate-ingredients

Couverture Chocolate Supplies Online: US
http://chocoley.com/
http://www.chocosphere.com/
http://www.worldwidechocolate.com/

Equipment & Moulds Online: UK
http://www.squires-shop.com/ibf/index.php?p=catalog&parent=76&pg=1
http://www.squires-shop.com/ibf/index.php?p=catalog&parent=74&pg=1

Equipment & Molds Online: US
Everything and anything you need
chocolate related:
http://chocoley.com/

More places to purchase:
Thermometers
http://www.amazon.com/CK-Products-81-178-Ateco-Dipping/dp/B0000E2OF1
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dgarden&field-k…

Molds
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%253Dgarden&field…

Read Full Post »

Strawberry Basil Frasier Cake

I am like a broken record. Every month it’s the same story. I look at the upcoming Baker’s Challenge at the beginning of the month and say to myself ” no problem, I’ll tackle it this weekend”. Uh, yeah…. And every month I am baking it 2 or 3 days before the 27th of the month (sometimes, the night before). Last month I ended up too busy with other baking/decorating projects that I didn’t even complete the challenge, which was baklava with homemade phyllo. How fun would that have been? I just waited too long and couldn’t get my act together. This month though, I vowed to get back on track. Err, that is to baking the challenge 2 or 3 days ahead of the 27th.  I was happy with my 3 day lead, as small as it is…

Jana of Cherry Tea Cakes was our July Daring Bakers’s host and she challenged us to make Fresh Frasiers inspired by recipes written by Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson in the beautiful cookbook Tartine. When I first looked at the recipe I was first reminded of the filled Jaconde that we made a few months back, but then quickly realized this was so different. This is a typical french strawberry cake, since in France a strawberry is called fraise. The fresh berries make a lovely design on the sides of the cake, filled with a pastry cream lightened with whipped cream. The inside had has secret compartment filled with more chopped fruit so when you cut into it you get a nice fruit surprise. Super addictive filling; so light and fluffy (not that I’m saying it’s low-calorie!).I kept my design very simple, but I am sure my fellow bakers are going to come up with some truly inspiring cakes. Take a look over here if you would like to check some of them out.

For my Frasier cake I chose to do a basil infused chiffon cake filled with a Grand Marnier pastry cream. The fruit filling hidden in the middle is a mixture of chopped strawberries and raspberries, freshly picked from my garden! I tossed the fruit with a little basil simple syrup before filling the cake.

Read through the entire recipe before attempting this cake. It’s really just a cake sliced in two and filled with fruit and pastry cream. It is topped off with a thin layer of almond paste, but you don’t have to use that, it you don’t want to or don’t have any on hand. A simple dusting of powdered sugar would be just lovely. There are a lot of steps but I was able to easily make this in one afternoon. That being said, you can spread this out over days if you prefer, which is a really nice option. The simple syrup (it’s just equal parts sugar and water;boiled) can be made way in advance. I happen to always keep a jar of simple syrup in the fridge. I use it to brush on a cake before frosting it, but it’s also really good in a cocktail that needs a little sweetener…

If you want to make it in one day, just follow the steps: Bake the cake. While the cake is in the oven, make the simple syrup (this takes 2 minutes). Make the pastry cream (without the whipped cream) and cool. Cool the cake. Chop you fruit filling. Slice the cake layer in half. finish the pastry cream mixture. Slice a few strawberries to decorate the sides of the cake. Assemble. Refrigerate. Eat and enjoy!

Bake on…

Components:
1 baked 8 inch (20 cm) chiffon cake
1 recipe pastry cream filling
⅓ cup (80 ml) simple syrup or flavored syrup
2 lbs (900 g) strawberries/raspberry combination
confectioners’ sugar for dusting
½ cup (120 ml) (5 oz/140 gm) almond paste

Basil Infused Chiffon Cake

1 cup + 2 tablespoons (270 ml) (5½ oz/155 gm) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (4 gm) baking powder
3/4 cups (180 ml) (6 oz /170 gm) sugar
1/2 teaspoon (2½ ml) (1½ gm) salt, preferably kosher
1/4 cup (2 fl oz/60 ml) vegetable oil
3 large egg yolks
⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon (3.17 fl oz/95 ml) water
A few sprigs of fresh basil (about 1/4 c)
1 teaspoon (5 ml) pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon  lemon zest, grated
5 large egg whites
¼ teaspoon (1¼ ml) (1 gm) cream of tartar
1 drop green coloring (optional)

Preheat the oven to moderate 325°F (160°C/gas mark 3). Line the bottom of an 8-inch (20 cm) springform pan with parchment paper. Do not grease the sides of the pan.

Place the basil leaves, water, and oil in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Take off the heat and let cool. Once cool, puree the mixture in a mini processor or blender; set aside for a moment.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder. Add in all but 3 tablespoons (45 ml.) of sugar, and all of the salt. Stir to combine.

In a small bowl combine the water/oil/basil mixture, egg yolks, vanilla and lemon zest. Whisk thoroughly. Combine with the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly
until very smooth.

Put the egg whites into a stand mixer, and beat on medium speed using a whisk attachment on a medium speed, until frothy. Add cream of tartar and beat
on a medium speed until the whites hold soft peaks. Slowly add the remaining sugar and beat on a medium-high speed until the whites hold firm and form shiny
peaks, but do not overbeat.

Using a grease free rubber spatula, scoop about ⅓ of the whites into the yolk mixture and fold in gently. Gently fold in the remaining whites just until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack.

To unmold, run a knife around the sides to loosen the cake from the pan and remove the springform sides. Invert the cake and peel off the parchment paper.
Refrigerate for up to four days

Simple Syrup:

1/3 cup (2⅔ fl oz/80 ml) (2⅔ oz/75gm) of sugar
1/3 cup (2⅔ fl oz/80 ml) of water
few springs fresh basil

Combine the water, sugar, and basil in a medium saucepan.Bring the mixture to a boil and let the sugar dissolve. Stirring is not necessary,,Remove the syrup from the heat and cool slightly.Transfer syrup to a lidded container or jar that can be stored in the refrigerator

Grand Marnier Pastry Cream Filling

1 cup (8 fl oz/250 ml) whole milk
1/2 teaspoon  pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt, preferably kosher
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup (60 ml) (2 oz/55 gm) sugar
1 large egg
2 Tablespoons Grand Marnier
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (such as KNOX)
1/2 tablespoon water
1 cup (8 fl oz/250 ml) heavy cream
1 drop orange coloring (optional)

Pour the milk, vanilla, and salt into a heavy sauce pan. Place over medium-high heat and scald, bringing it to a near boiling point, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, in a bowl add the cornstarch and sugar. Whisk to combine. Add the eggs and whisk until smooth.

When the milk is ready, slowly pour the heated milk down the side of the bowl into the egg mixture, whisking the entire time (this is to temper the eggs. which means to warm the eggs without making scrambled eggs out of them).

Pour the mixture back into the warm pot and continue to cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly,  until the custard is thick, just about to boil and coats the back of a spoon.

Remove from heat and pass through a fine mesh sieve into a large mixing bowl to remove any lumps. Allow to cool for ten minutes stirring occasionally.Stir in the Grand Marnier.

Cut the butter into four pieces and whisk into the pastry cream one  piece at a time until smooth.

Cover the cream with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap onto the top of the cream to prevent a skin from forming. Chill in the refrigerator for up to five days.

When you are ready to finish the cake, proceed with finishing the filling:

In a small dish, sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let stand for a few minutes to soften.

Put two inches (55 mm) of water into a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer over a medium heat Measure 1/4 cup (2 oz/60 ml) of the chilled pastry cream into a small stainless steel bowl that will sit across the sauce pan with the simmering water, without touching the water. Heat the pastry cream until it is 120 F (48.8 C).Too much fuss for me ,  I microwaved mine for 40 seconds instead, checking the temp after 30 seconds.

Add the gelatin and whisk until smooth. Remove from the water bath, and whisk the remaining cold pastry cream.

In a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream until it holds medium-stiff peaks. Immediately fold the whipped cream into the pastry cream with a rubber spatula. You are now ready to assemble your Frasier.

.

Assembly:

Line the sides of a 8-inch (20 cm) springform pan with plastic wrap (I just used acetate). Do not line the bottom of the pan.

Cut the cake in half horizontally to form two layers.

Fit the bottom layer into the prepared springform pan. Using a pastry brush, moisten the layer evenly with the simple syrup. When the cake has absorbed enough syrup to resemble a squishy sponge, you have enough. I used all of my basil simple syrup between the two layers.

Hull and slice in half enough strawberries to arrange around the sides of the cake pan. Place the cut side of the strawberry against the sides of the pan,
point side up forming a ring.Pipe cream in-between strawberries and a thin layer across the top of the cake.Hull and quarter your remaining strawberries and place them in the middle of the cake. Cover the strawberries and entirely with the all but 1 tbsp. (15 ml) of the pastry cream.

Place the second cake layer on top and moisten with the simple syrup.Lightly dust a work surface with confectioners’ sugar and roll out the
almond paste to a 10-inch (25 cm) round 1/16 inch (1.5 mm) thick. Spread the remaining 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of pastry cream on the top of the cake and cover
with the round of almond paste.Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

To serve release the sides of the springform pan and peel away the plastic wrap.Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Read Full Post »

Marquise on Meringue

The May 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Emma of CookCraftGrow and Jenny of Purple House Dirt. They chose to challenge everyone to make a Chocolate Marquise. The inspiration for this recipe comes from a dessert they prepared at a restaurant in Seattle.  The recipe is adapted from one developed by Bennie Sata, a Seattle-area pastry chef who introduced the city to one of its iconic chocolate desserts, The El Diablo. This dessert is composed of a cayenne infused chocolate semifreddo served over a scorched meringue base. Emma and Jenny also served it with a tequila caramel sauce and spiced nuts. Please make sure that you check out their blogs and view the original recipe, it is truly inspiring. For my version I chose to do a mix of raspberry marquise and cayenne chocolate.I skipped on the tequila altogether but did add a dash of Frangelico. The heat of the cayenne works really well against the coolness of the dessert so don’t be tempted to delete it. Instead of topping with spiced nuts as suggested, I made a chocolate heart using a transfer sheet

There are quite a few steps to this dessert, but if you have ever made semifreddo than you can easily make this. Like any other recipe, read through it first so you understand all of the steps. The original recipe provided was for an immense crowd, so luckily it was scaled down to 1/2 and a 1/4.I made the 1/4 amount and found that it would easily serve 4-6 people.  I looked through some of my older cookbooks to try to compare recipes but the only one I found called a marquise was a cake, not a frozen dessert, so I can’t really provide any background on a marquise .  Just try it, you’ll like it. Bake on…

Servings: 6 2″x2″ (5cmx5cm) cubes

3 large egg yolks at room temperature
1 large egg
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons (40 ml) (40 grams/ 1½ oz) sugar
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon (2/3 fluid oz/ 20 ml.) water
Chocolate Base, barely warm (recipe follows)
Raspberry base (recipe follows)
½ cup (4 fluid oz./ 120 ml.) heavy cream
½ cup Dutch process cocoa powder (for rolling) (Note: Make sure it’s a Dutch processed cocoa, not a natural cocoa powder.)

Instructions:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the egg yolks and whole eggs. Whip on high-speed until very thick and pale, about 10 minutes
When the eggs are getting close to finishing, make a sugar syrup by combining the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring the syrup to a boil and then cook to a softball stage (235F/115C).
With the mixer running on low-speed, drizzle the sugar syrup into the fluffy eggs, trying to hit that magic spot between the mixing bowl and the whisk.
When all of the syrup has been added (do it fairly quickly), turn the mixer back on high and whip until the bowl is cool to the touch. This will take at least 10 minutes.
In a separate mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Set aside.
When the egg mixture has cooled, remove half of the mixture to a clean bowl. Add half the chocolate base (reserve the rest for another use) to one of  the egg mixtures and whisk to combine. Try to get it as consistent as possible without losing all of the air you’ve whipped into the eggs. Add the raspberry base the the other half of the reserved egg mixture and whisk to combine.
Fold a small amount  of the reserved whipped cream into each of the the chocolate mixture and the raspberry mixture to loosen it, and then fold into each remaining whipped cream, dividing it up as equally as possible.
Pour into the prepared pans and cover with plastic wrap (directly touching the mixture so it doesn’t allow in any air).I alternated the chocolate and raspberry mixtures in the molds. To marbelize it, I gently swirled a butter knife through the mixture a few times.
Freeze until very firm, at least 2 – 4 hours (preferably 6 – 8 hours). I actually made mine 2 days before unmolding it.
When you’re ready to plate, remove the marquise from the freezer at least 15 minutes before serving. While it’s still hard, remove it from the pan by pulling on the parchment ‘handles’ or by flipping it over onto another piece of parchment.
Cut it into cubes and roll the cubes in cocoa powder. These will start to melt almost immediately, so don’t do this step until all of your other plating components (meringue, sauce, and  cocoa nibs) are ready. The cubes need to sit in the fridge to slowly thaw so plating components can be done during that time. They don’t need to be ready before the cubes are rolled in the cocoa powder.

Plate with the torched meringue, the reserved raspberry base and cocoa nibs around for garnish. You want to handle the cubes as little as possible because they get messy quickly and are difficult to move. However, you want to wait to serve them until they’ve softened completely. The soft pillows of chocolate are what make this dessert so unusual and when combined with the other elements, you’ll get creamy and crunchy textures with cool, spicy,  and sweet sensations on your palate.

Chocolate Base –

Since this recipe was already cut down, I just made this as is and only used half. I added the remaining amount to a batch of brownies batter I was making the next day.

Servings: n/a – this is an ingredient for the chocolate marquise, not meant to be used separately

3 oz (85 grams/ 6 tablespoons) bittersweet chocolate (about 70% cocoa)
1/3 cup + 2 teaspoons (90 ml/3 fluid oz.) heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 tablespoon (15 ml/ 1/2 fluid oz.) Frangelico , optional
1 tablespoon (15 ml/ 1/2 fluid oz.) light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon/(less than 1/4 ounce) cocoa powder (I used a combination of black cocoa and dutch process, but any Dutch-processed cocoa would be fine. Do not substitute natural cocoa powder.)
dash freshly ground black pepper
1/4 oz unsalted butter (1/2 tablespoon/8 grams), softened

Note: here is an excellent article on cocoa powder

Place the chocolate in a small mixing bowl.
In a double-boiler, warm the cream until it is hot to the touch (but is not boiling). Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate.
Allow it to sit for a minute or two before stirring. Stir until the chocolate is melted completely and is smooth throughout.
Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
Set aside until cooled to room temperature. Do not refrigerate, as the base needs to be soft when added to the marquise mixture. If you make it the day before, you may need to warm it slightly. Whisk it until it is smooth again before using it in the marquise recipe.

RASPBERRY BASE – Reserve 2 tablespoons for plating

 1 Cup fresh or frozen raspberries
1/3 C granulated sugar
1 tablespoon corn syrup

Bring all 3 ingredients to a boil over medium heat and cook for 2 minutes. Take off heat and let cool. Strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds.

TORCHED MERINGUE
Servings: Makes about 1 cup of meringue.

3 large egg whites                                                                                     
1/2 cup less 1 tablespoon (105 ml) (3½ oz or 100 gms) sugar
Splash of apple cider vinegar
1/8 teaspoon vanilla

Combine the egg whites, sugar and vinegar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using a very clean whisk, gently stir the eggs until completely blended or use your (clean, washed) hand, reach in the bowl and stir the three together, making sure the sugar is moistened evenly by the egg whites and they make a homogeneous liquid.

Over a saucepan of simmering water, warm the egg white mixture.Gently stir with a clean whisk or use one hand to stir the mixture continuously, feeling for grains of sugar in the egg whites. As the liquid heats up, the sugar will slowly dissolve and the egg whites will thicken. This step is complete when you don’t feel any more sugar crystals in the liquid and it is uniformly warm, nearly hot.

Remove the mixing bowl from the saucepan and return it to the stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Whisk until you reach soft peaks. In the last 10 seconds of mixing, add the vanilla to the meringue and mix thoroughly.

When you’re ready to plate the dessert, spoon the meringue onto a plate (or use a piping bag) and use a blowtorch to broil.

For this 2nd plating, I used cubes of the frozen marquise and topped it with a sesame honey cashew.

Read Full Post »

Edible containers with Maple Mousse

So the Bakers Challenge this month was very interesting…. Maple mousse, bacon, edible containers?….  Love it!

This months challenge was brought to us by Evelyne of  Cheap Ethnic Eatz. The really cool part is that challenge was teamed up with the Cooks Challenge,  so there will be a slew of ideas, both savory and sweet.  I think it was a really fantastic idea and pushed people s creativity to think outside the box- oh wait- I meant ” inside” the box.  I am so impressed (and jealous) of how creative my fellow bakers are.

I made two versions over the course of the month. The first one was a chocolate shortbread/bacon-chocolate ganache/maple mousse concoction. The combination of chocolate, bacon, and maple mousse was soooo tasty. The second version was a maple-walnut pizzelle bowl filled with a vanilla-cream cheese-maple ripple ice cream, topped with bacon-chocolate bark. I served this at a dinner party and while the ice cream got rave reviews, the bacon-chocolate combo is not for everyone . I think it is a great combination, but while I loved it with the chocolate shortbread, I would leave it off the ice cream next time (at least for the company). The maple mousse was fantastic but sweet- I guess that is why the bacon works so well with it. I made 1/2 of this recipe as it makes too much for my small household.

VERSION ONE

Maple Mousse:

Ingredients:
• 1 cup (240 ml/ 8 fluid oz.) pure maple syrup (not maple-flavoured syrup)
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 package (7g/1 tbsp.) unflavoured gelatine
• 1 1/2 cups (360 ml. g/12 fluid oz) whipping cream (35% fat content)

Directions:
1. Bring maple syrup to a boil then remove from heat.
2. In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and pour a little bit of the maple syrup in while whisking (this is to temper your egg yolks so they don’t curdle).
3. Add warmed egg yolks to hot maple syrup until well mixed.
4. Measure 1/4 cup of whipping cream in a bowl and sprinkle it with the gelatine. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Place the bowl in a microwave for 45 seconds (microwave for 10 seconds at a time and check it in between) or place the bowl in a pan of barely simmering water, stir to ensure the gelatine has completely dissolved.
5. Whisk the gelatine/whipping cream mixture into the maple syrup mixture and set aside.
6. Whisk occasionally for approximately an hour or until the mixture has the consistency of an unbeaten raw egg white.
7. Whip the remaining cream. Stir 1/4 of the whipped cream into the maple syrup mixture. Fold in the remaining cream and refrigerate for at least an hour

Chocolate Brittany Shortbread:
- this recipe is from  Alain Ducasse. I used my digital scale to 1/4 the recipe

1 1/2 +  1/3C (225g) All purpose flour
1 Tablespoon + 2 tsp  (12 g) cocoa powder
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fleur de sel
1/2 C (125 g) unsalted butter
1/2 C (100 g) granulated sugar

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Whisk the dry ingredients together and slowly add them to the butter sugar mixture until well combined. Divide the dough in half. Roll the dough out between 2 pieces of parchment paper until 1/8 inch thick. Place the entire sheet on a baking sheet and place  in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator and cut into desired shapes. I used  the bottom of a large piping tip to cut out my circles and then placed them into the bottom of a wilton brownie pop mold to make a small cup shape. I then cut out triangle shapes and placed them over a round mold to bake, then used a 3 inch round crimped cutter for the bases.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until set.

Bacon-Chocolate Ganache:

Note- make this as bark, leave out the cream and butter. just melt the chocolate and then add the bacon

4 slices good quality bacon, cooked crisp.
6 ounces (150 g) bittersweet chocolate
1/2 c (150 ml) heavy cream
1 Tablespoons unsalted butter

2 Tablespoons maple sugar and 1 tsp course fleur de sel for sprinkling

Prepare a baking sheet with a  or parchment

Finely mince the bacon; set aside. Chop the chocolate and place in a bowl. Heat the cream until almost boiling, then pour over the chocolate and let it sit for 3 minutes. Whisk this until smooth and then add the butter and keep whisking until it is fully incorporated and velvety in texture. Stir in the bacon.  Immediately pour out onto the silpat and spread into a thin layer. After 15 minutes sprinkle with the maple sugar and salt.  Place in the fridge to set, about 1 hour.

The sauce on the plate is 1/4 C pure maple syrup, reduce it by a third, take off the heat and add 1 Tablespoon Creme de Cacoa. Stir briskly.

Assembly: Cut out a piece of ganache the same size or smaller than your cookie base. Place this on top of the cookie.  Your “container” cookie should have the edges dipped in chocolate then rim them with some bacon powder (grind your bacon super fine). Adhere this cookie to the bottom cookie with a dab of melted chocolate. Pipe in the maple mousse.

VERSION TWO

 

Pizzelle cookies do require a pizzelle maker. Mine was given to me by a dear friend who never once used it.You can buy one new but I would check garage sales or ask some of your friends. People have the strangest things… To shape them I used small bowls. As soon as the pizzelle comes off the press I placed it on an upside down bowl and immediately placed another bowl right over it. It only takes about 10 seconds to cool completely. You need to work fast so don’t have any anything else going on while making these. These cookie edges were dipped in some warm dulce de leche and then some ground walnuts. Perfect.

Maple Walnut Pizzelle:

This makes about 20 cookies

3 eggs
1/2  C white sugar
1/4 c maple sugar
1/2 C butter, melted and cooled
3 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 3/4 C (250g) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 C finely ground walnuts

Beat eggs and sugars with an electric mixer until fluffy. Stir in the melted butter and maple syrup. Combine the flour, baking powder, and walnuts; stir in gradually. Dough will be sticky.

Preheat your pizzelle iron according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Drop batter by rounded spoonfuls onto the iron. Close and cook for about 90 seconds, or until steam stops coming out of the iron. Carefully remove and cool. Store in an airtight tin at room temperature

Vanilla Cream Cheese Maple Ripple Ice Cream:

 While eggless ice cream is nothing new, this version contains corn starch as a thickener. It make the creamiest ice cream ever.

2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/2 ounces cream cheese, softened (3 tablespoons)
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/4 C pure maple syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 C pure maple syrup
In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch. In another large bowl, whisk the cream cheese until smooth.

In a large saucepan, combine the remaining milk with the heavy cream, sugar, corn syrup and vanilla bean and seeds. Bring the milk mixture to a boil and cook over moderate heat until the sugar dissolves and the vanilla flavors the milk, about 4 minutes. Off the heat, gradually whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Return to a boil and cook over moderately high heat until the mixture is slightly thickened, about 1 minute.

whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Whisk in the salt Place in the fridge overnight to thoroughly chill OR set the bowl in an ice water bath and let stand, stirring occasionally, until cold, about 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the 1/2 cup of maple syrup into a small saucepan. Bring it to a boil and let it reduce a little, boiling it for 3 minutes. take off the heat and cool.

Strain the ice cream base into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Pack the ice cream into a plastic container.When The ice is done, place half in a container, pour half of the reduced maple syrup over it, repeat. Take a butter knife and swirl it through the ice cream, marbeling the maple syrup throughout.Place a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the ice cream and close with an airtight lid. Freeze the vanilla ice cream until firm, about 4 hours.

Ice Cream recipe source:http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/vanilla-bean-ice-cream. Great article

Read Full Post »

Meringue Coffee Cake

This months Baker’s Challenge was hosted by  Jamie of Life’s a Feast and Ria of Ria’s Collection . Jamie found this recipe on a piece of yellowed paper in her dad’s collection of clipped out and hand-written recipes from the 1970’s, no source, and no date. I had never heard of a yeast bread filled with meringue before. The original version of the recipe is filled with chopped walnuts, chocolate and cinnamon. Please check out some of my fellow bakers creations here, they are certainly a wonder. I chose to fill mine with homemade raspberry preserves and chocolate.  Though, I must admit, my first attempt was a total bust. When I first saw this challenge I thought to myself, “no sweat” and put it off. Well, when I first made it last week, I was trying to be fancy with the  shaping and ended up having my filling ooze out all over the counter (the first filling was raspberry and toasted coconut). So, after seeing that that wasn’t such a good idea, on the second attempt I stuck with a simple loaf. The original recipe was also doubled, making two loaves, but I felt that was just too much and cut the recipe in half, as seen below. I must also mention, the recipe states to let the dough rise for about one hour, or until double in size. Since it has butter and egg in it, it will actually take longer than that because of the fat. Just keep on eye on it and it will rise beautifully.  It will have such a lovey feel to it when you roll it out. Bake on….

FILLED MERINGUE COFFEE CAKE
Makes 1 round coffee cakes,  approximately 10 inches in diameter
 

Ingredients
For the yeast coffee cake dough:

2 cups (300 g) all-purpose flour
1/8 cup ( 27 g / 1 oz)  granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/8 teaspoons / 3.5  g ) active dried yeast
scant 1/2 cup (90 ml / 3  fl oz) whole milk
1/8 cup (30 ml / 1 fl oz) water
1/2 tsp pure almond extract
seeds from 1 vanilla bean (optional)
1/4 cup (67 g / 2.5 oz.) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg, room temperature

For the meringue:

3 large egg whites at room temperature
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup (110 g / 4 oz.) sugar

For the filling:

1 Cup raspberry preserves
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

In a large mixing bowl, combine 3/4 (115 g) of the flour, the sugar, salt and yeast.

In a saucepan, combine the milk, water and butter and heat over medium heat until warm and the butter is just melted. With an electric mixer (using the paddle attachment)on low-speed, gradually add the warm liquid to the flour/yeast mixture, beating until well blended. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes. Add the egg, almond extract, and vanilla seeds (if using)  and 1/2 cup (75 g) flour and beat for 2 more minutes.

Switch to the dough hook. Stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a dough that holds together. Knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes until the dough is soft, smooth, and elastic. Alternately, you can do this all by hand using a large metal bowl and a wooden spoon. Knead on a floured countertop for 8-10 minutes.

Place the dough in a lightly greased (I use PAM) bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let rise until double in bulk, 45 – 60 minutes. The rising time will depend on the type of yeast you use. Mine took 2 hours to rise.

Place the dough has doubled, make the meringue:
In a clean mixing bowl – ideally a metal bowl so the egg whites adhere to the side (they slip on glass) and you don’t end up with liquid remaining in the bottom – beat the egg whites with the salt, first on low-speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high and continue beating until foamy and opaque. Add the vanilla then start adding the ½ cup sugar, a tablespoon at a time as you beat, until very stiff, glossy peaks form.

Punch down the dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a 20 x 10-inch (about 51 x 25 ½ cm) rectangle. Spread the raspberry preserves evenly over the rectangle up to 1/2 inch from the edges. Spread the meringue evenly over the preserves. Sprinkle the chocolate  evenly over the meringue.

Now, roll up the dough jelly roll style, from the long side. Pinch the seam closed to seal. Very carefully transfer the filled log to one of the lined cookie sheets, seam side down. Cut small slits down the center, or bring the ends of the log around and seal the ends together, forming a ring, tucking one end into the other and pinching to seal.

Repeat with the remaining dough, meringue and fillings.

Cover the 2 coffee cakes with plastic wrap and allow them to rise again for 45 to 60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

Brush the tops of the coffee cakes with the egg wash. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes until risen and golden brown. The dough should sound hollow when tapped

Read Full Post »