Key learning from this month’s Daring Bakers‘ challenge – tuiles are hot!

My finger tips really could have benefited from a little fire proofing.  The end justified the means and I was rewarded with a delightful little treat.

This month’s challenge is brought to us by Karen of Baking Soda and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf.  They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angelique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

We were to use one of the recipes listed in the challenge.  Shape the tuile in some manner, either before or after baking, and add a fruit component to our finished tuile. 

vanilla tuile with cream filling and lemon curd glaze

1/4 cup butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

2 large egg whites (lightly beaten)

1/2 all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Using a mixer, cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla on a low speed.  Gradually add the egg whites.  Continue mixing and gradually add the flour.  Stir until mixture is homogeneous and smooth.  Cover the bowl and chill for 30 minutes.  (This batter can be kept in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it.)

I found the batter was easier to work with if it wasn’t chilled.  It was difficult to spread when cold.

Line a baking sheet with parchment.  Spoon 1 1/2 teaspoons of batter onto sheet and use an offset spatula to spread into a 4″ round.  Repeat forming 3 more rounds and spacing 2 inches apart.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until edges start to brown.  Immediately release from baking sheet and form into desired shape. 

I wrapped mine around size 19 knitting needles.  Next time I will use a smaller size to have a more delicate looking cookie.

When cooled I filled my tuiles with a cream filling and drizzled one edge of each cookie with a bit of lemon curd glaze.  The cookies can be made one week ahead (store air tight).  It is best to wait to fill and glaze the cookies until shortly before serving.  The filled cookies will soften as they sit.

cream filling

4 Tablespoons butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 Tablespoons heavy cream

Mix all the ingredients together until creamy.  Put in pastry bag (or plastic bag with corner cut off) and pipe into cookie.

lemon curd glaze

mix 1/4 cup lemon curd (recipe) with 1/2 cup powdered sugar

drizzle over cookie

Tuesday was a sour day – no motivation – no sun – blah from beginning to end.  I tried to perk things up a bit with some bright yellow lemon curd. 

so quick so creamy so tart

for pastry shells and cookies and spread on yesterday’s baguette

It must have worked because Wednesday is bright and sunny and delicious

sunny lemon curd

1 1/4 cup sugar

6 Tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

1 egg

6 egg yolks

juice of 4 lemons freshly squeezed

Put all the ingredients in a medium saucepan and stir to combine.  Heat on medium/low stirring constantly until butter melts and mixture thickens (4-6 minutes).  It’s done when it coats the spoon without running.  It will continue to thicken as it cools.  Remove from heat and pour into a heatproof container.  Allow to cool to room temperature.  Store in refrigerator.  Will keep tightly closed in fridge for up to 2 months.

Someday I will go for it and make puff pastry from scratch, but the whole point of these Danish is ease.  Just roll out the sheets, mix up some filling, and wrap them up.  These flaky pastries are an easy way to start a Saturday morning feeling like you treated yourself to something special.

If you happen to have any left over you can keep them in the fridge.  When chilled, it’s as if you have your own little pastry wrapped cheesecake.

easy peasy cheesy danish

adapted from Ina Garten

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

2 egg yolks

2 Tablespoons ricotta cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 Tablespoon lemon juice

2 sheets (1 box) puff pastry, thawed

1 egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon of water, for egg wash

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Blend the cream cheese and sugar in a mixer on low until smooth.  Add egg yolks, ricotta, vanilla, salt, and lemon juice and mix until just combined.

Unfold one sheet of puff pastry onto a lightly floured surface and roll until it’s a 10 x 10 square.  Cut the sheet into quarters with a sharp knife.  Place a heaping tablespoon of the cheese filling into the middle of each of the squares.  Brush the border of each pasty with egg wash and fold two opposite corners into the center, brushing and overlapping the corners of each pastry so they stick together.  Brush the to with egg wash and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Repeat with second sheet of puff pastry.  Refrigerate the filled Danish for 15 minutes, then bake for 20 minutes.

They have the soft heart of a brownie with the pleasing crunch of cookie.

chocolate chews

1/2 cup butter

1 2/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream butter and sugar.  Add vanilla and eggs.  Beat well. Sift dry ingredients together and add to creamed mixture.  Chill dough for a couple of hours.  Roll into balls the size of a walnut and roll in powdered sugar.  Place on parchment lined sheet and bake for about 12 minutes.

I recently had the wind taken out of my creative sails.  I should have felt it coming, still, when it happened, it caught me off guard and brought me down instantly.  I know I’ll get past it, but working through it can be tough. 

I thought, maybe, these would help.  I know they look innocent, but these cookies have a secret in their heart.  A sweet, creamy, peanut buttery secret. 

These little nuggets have it all.  The sugar coating on the top gives crunch, the filling is smooth and sweet, a touch of milk brings a softness to the cookie which is filled with chocolate flavor, yet it doesn’t overpower the peanut butter.  What they don’t have is a decent name.  The recipe I started out with was torn from Cottage Living magazine (RIP I will miss you so).  They called them Magic in the Middles.  I want to choose something more suited to their peanut buttery goodness, but have yet to stumble onto something I like.  So at our house they remain the great un-named.  That’s actually all that remains because the recipe only makes a couple dozen and they went fast.

those chocolate cookies with the crunchy top and surprise peanut butter filling – aka the great un-named

1 cup unrefined sugar

1/2 cup softened butter

1 cup peanut butter divided

1 1/2 cup ap flour

1/2 cup unsweetended cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 large egg

2 Tablespoons milk

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Stir together 3/4 cup peanut butter with powdered sugar and blend until smooth.  Roll mixture into balls a little less than 1 inch.  Set aside.

With an electric mixer, cream the sugar, butter and 1/4 cup peanut butter until light and fluffy.   Add vanilla, eggs, and milk.  Slowly add dry ingredients until just combined. 

Break apart about 1 Tablespoon of chocolate dough and make an indentation in the center with thumb.  Press 1 peanut butter ball into indent and wrap dough around filling, pressing to seal.  Roll cookie to smooth. 

Dip top of each cookie in granulated sugar and place 2 inches apart on parchment lined baking sheet.  Use the bottom of a drinking glass to flatten each cookie to about 1/2 inch think. 

Bake 8-9 minutes and cool on a wire rack.

It’s a funny thing how people pass in and out of your life. 

There you are in the middle of things, working together, you connect and just when you are all getting comfortable, WHAM!  It’s time to move again. 

I have moved several times in the past 15 years and have met many amazing people.  K and I worked retail together ages ago, then she moved, then I moved, then we lost track of each other.  Occasionally I would get an update through mutual friends, but only occasionally.  This time technology has brought us together and it’s delightful to have her around again.  Turns out we both started really thinking about our food while we were apart.  She’s been working in restaurants and educating herself from the ground up on wines and the value of local food, while I have thrown myself into all things sweet and yeasty.  My only regret in our situation is that we don’t live closer to one another.  I’m sure the dinner parties would be above and beyond fabulous.  But she is there, and I am here, so we do what we can to work together. 

One evening as I was putting the kids to bed she sent a text.  She was in a grocery store and needed an ingredient list for the pumpkin cheesecake she had seen here.  A cheesecake crisis, that’s the kind of crisis I can handle.  Now she is starting a whole career.  She’s working towards a masters in acupuncture.  Seriously, who does that?  Why my K, of course.  In honor of her first day of class, I present…

maple syrup cheesecake topped with a maple syrup reduction

adapted from Not Quite Nigella  This cake is isn’t over the top sweet as I had expected.  It’s sweet, and rich and creamy, but the maple syrup gives it a little tang.    It’s a sinful combination especially when topped with a maple syrup reduction. 

the crust

I loved the crust from the pumpkin cheesecake in Nigella Lawson’s FEAST so I used it for the base. 

2 cups graham cracker crumbs (1 pkg + 4 crackers)

1 stick butter at room temperature

Pulse the crackers in a food processor until they are crumbs then add the butter and pulse until the mixture starts to come together like wet sand.

Press the mixture into the bottom of a spring-form pan and smooth to and even layer pushing a bit up the sides.  This can be done with a flat bottomed measuring cup.  Put the pan in the fridge while you make the filling.

filling

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

1 1/2 pounds cream cheese softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 teaspoons corn flour

1/2 cup maple syrup

4 eggs

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Using a food processor, blitz the cream cheese, sugar, maple syrup, and corn flour until smooth.  Add eggs and lemon juice.  Blend well.  Remove pan from fridge and double line with aluminum foil.  Pour in filling.  Place wrapped spring-form pan in larger roasting pan and pour water into roasting pan to create a water bath.  Bake 1 hour or until edges are solid, but there’s still a little wiggle in the center.  Cool on wire rack and chill overnight.

maple syrup reduction

Maple syrup seemed to thin to be used as a topping, so I decided to thicken it up a bit.  It also concentrates the flavors to highlight it’s ”mapleness”. 

1/2 cup maple syrup

Cook syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to a boil and continue to simmer until reduced to about 1/4 – 1/3 of cup.  Allow to cool a bit and pour over the chilled cheesecake.  If it cools too long it may stiffen up so keep an eye on it.

My family goes through jars of malt powder.  My dad uses it for his killer malts, we sprinkle it over ice cream with chocolate syrup, and we use it for these cookies.  I love the distinctive barley flavor it gives to not only the cookie, but also the frosting.  I’m even more excited, because CJ who is notoriously distrustful of any new food, LOVES them.  Smart boy.

malted milk rounds

4 cups flour

3/4 cup plain malted milk powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter

2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

1/3 cup sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Mix flour, malt, baking powder, soda, salt, and set aside.  Cream butter and sugar.  Blend in eggs and beat well.  Add 1/2 dry ingredients, mix, add sour cream and vanilla, then add rest of dry ingredients.  Chill at least 4 hours.  Roll out on well floured surface.  Cut out shapes.  Bake 12 – 15 minutes.  Cool on rack and frost.

malted milk frosting

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup plain malt powder

3 cups powdered sugar

Cook brown sugar, butter, and milk in small saucepan until sugar and butter are melted.  Remove from heat and stir in malt and vanilla.  Whisk in powdered sugar gradually.

Everyday I try to sneak a little time to read through my favorite blogs.  Some are by friends, some are for laughs and inspiration, most are filled with cool food.  I keep a little writing pad next to me as I go, jotting down recipes I hope to try.  I picked it up last week and realized it was almost full and I had made maybe one or two of the recipes.  I did a quick flip and landed on this at Hot off the Garlic Press. 

I did a little switch up by fiddling with some amounts and doubled it as well.  Although with so few ingredients there wasn’t a lot to fiddle with.  I will warn you – this stuff is seriously addictive. 

peanut butter popcorn

adapted from Hot off the Garlic Press

12 cups popped popcorn (that’s about how much my old school air popper makes in one go)

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1 Tablespoon butter

3 Tablespoons brown sugar

4 oz. milk chocolate (melted)

In a microwave safe bowl, melt the peanut butter, butter, and brown sugar.  Drizzle this mixture over the popped popcorn and stir to coat.  Spread the coated popcorn on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.  Drizzle it with the milk chocolate and allow to set.  Then try to stay away.  I dare you!