Archive | September, 2009

belated, but no less daring baker

29 Sep

I’m going to do my best to make this short and sweet so I can still make the Daring Baker deadline.  I put this month’s recipe off out of fear which was silly because it turns out it was pretty easy (a bit time consuming, but easy).

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

The recipe for the puff pastry dough can be found here.  I saw abricotines in Richard Bertinet’s Crust and couldn’t resist giving a similar twist to the plums I had on hand.

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plumtines

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Once I had six turns on the dough, I chilled it overnight.  The next morning I trimmed the edges off and cut the dough into eight 4″ squares.

Then gently fold each square into a triangle and cut the edges without cutting to the corner in the center.

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Then unfold and pivot so the uncut corners are at the top and bottom.

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Then flip the rim on the left over to the right.

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Then the right over to the left.

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This makes a little nest for the pastry cream and poached plum (recipe at end of post).  Then chill them for 15 minutes on the tray before baking.

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Give them an egg wash before baking for 30 minutes.

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About half way through the baking time, I thought I had done something wrong because butter started melting out of all the pastries and they weren’t puffing.  Then suddenly they puffed up with a perfect crispy base.  I’m anxious to try other variations with this recipe…croissants, pain au chocolat, savory cheese straws, and more.

pastry cream

Whisk together in a separate bowl, 3 egg yolks, 1.5 ounces sugar, 1 ounce sifted flour and set aside.

In a small saucepan pour 2 cups milk and 1.5 ounces sugar.  Add seeds from one vanilla bean.  Place over full heat.  When it starts to bubble, stir 1/3 of milk into the egg mixture.  Slowly whisk in the rest of the milk and then strain back into the pan using a mesh sieve.  Bring to a boil and simmer for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly, until thick.  Pour into a dish to cool. 

poached plums

 

2 cups water

1 cup sugar

4 plums peeled, halved, and pitted

In a medium saucepan, combine water and sugar.  Bring mixture to boil and add plums.  Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and let the plums cool in the syrup.  When cool, pat dry.  They can be used at this point, or you may store them in an air tight container for up to two days.

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risotto becomes dessert

24 Sep

I never push CJ on his food issues.  I remember what it was like.  Everything was too mushy, too crunchy, too spicy, too whatever.  I would peel and pick my dinners apart.  My mom was kind enough to make me a toasted cheese on chili night.  When it came to rice pudding I was told “fine, you don’t have to eat it, that’s means more for us”.  That was then, this is now-

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There are two versions of rice pudding at my parent’s house - one for my dad and one for my brother.  This is a version of my brother’s favorite.  It’s an adaptation of my grandmother’s recipe.  She made it with traditional rice, but it’s made like a risotto, so I thought why not try it with arborio. 

Tasting this was a definite “what was I thinking?” moment.  What was a mix of strange textures when I was little was found to actually be blend of creamy milk pudding and soft but toothy grains of rice.  To no one’s surprise, the kids didn’t have any part of it.  Which of course means more for me.

risotto rice pudding

1 cup uncooked arborio rice

milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon of vanilla

 

Place rice in medium saucepan and cover with 2″ of milk.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 1/2 hour.  Keep adding milk to keep it loose.  Taste after 1/2 hour for texture.  When rice is cooked, add sugar and vanilla. 

I served it with gingersnaps for some spice, but you can add cinnamon if you wish.  You could also add 1/4 cup raisins.

double dose of ice cream

22 Sep

I’m still working my way through The Perfect Scoop (I know, tough work right?)  I usually prefer egg based ice creams for their creaminess, but was running low on eggs, so I decided on a couple of egg-less recipes.  These both turned out great – smooth and creamy and delicious.

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This is the Chocolate ice cream, Philadelphia-Style.  I followed the recipe with only one substitution – I swapped out bittersweet chocolate for the unsweetened chocolate listed. 

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Here is lemon cheesecake.  The spouse and the kids prefer the chocolate (huge shock, right?), but that is fine by me.  I loved every bite.

I followed the Cheesecake Ice Cream recipe, but added buttered graham cracker crumbs to complete the cheesecake flavor.  I’m not sure if my lemon was extra potent, but the zest from just one was enough to add a noticable lemon flavor.  I’m not complaining, I just thought it would be a hint of lemon as in a traditional cheesecake.  So for me, this was a lemon ice cream.

buttered crumb swirl

4 full graham crackers (rectangles)

2 Tablespoons butter (room temp)

blitz in a food processor and set aside

Stir into processed ice cream before hardening in the freezer.

with a cherry on top

14 Sep

I saw this on the internet and knew Lulu would love to have one of her own. She has requested a purple one next.

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The pattern knits a rectangle and then stitches it together.  I just knitted it in the round.  Next time I’m going to stop a row or two earlier so I doesn’t come to such a point at the top, and add a bigger pom at the top.

tasty vegan cake – who knew??

10 Sep

I had been axiously awaiting the vegan baking cookbook, babycakes by Erin McKenna. Once I had my hands on it, I made a list of ingredients I needed and headed off to the grocery stores (3 to be exact). As soon as I was home I started with the frosting. It was a nightmare. What had I done wrong? After some searching on the internet I found one of my problems – coconut oil. It was supposed to be unrefined, and it was supposed to be melted. (hmm, that probably would have been good to know at the start) The other problem was coconut flour. I was sent from one grocery to another who sold me powdered desiccated coconut as coconut flour. Turns out that coconut flour is a different thing all together and a bit difficult to find around here.

After several unsuccessful (and expensive) attempts at the frosting, I decided to take a break and try one of the cake recipes.

I settled on the mint icebox cake. I followed the recipe to the letter. Seriously, these are all new ingredients to me. I have no idea how they will behave. I just have to put my faith in the recipe, right??

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I believe this is what internet hipsters would refer to as CAKE – FAIL. The time listed in the cook book did not work for me. I had to bake it twice as long. Bottom line, the cake is actually delicious.

vegan cake with ganache

The second time I made it into cupcakes. I wasn’t ready to make another attempt at the frosting, so I topped them with a dark chocolate ganache. (I know it’s not vegan, but it is delicious.)

vegan cake with ganache (1)

mint chocolate cupcakes

(adapted from Erin McKenna)

1 3/4 cups brown rice flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/4 cup arrowroot starch
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 Tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup coconut oil (melted)
1 1/2 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup canned sweet potato puree (I had a hard time finding organic sweet potato so I used organic pumpkin for one batch and it turned out great too)
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup hot water
1 Tablespoons mint extract

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, potato starch, arrowroot, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, and salt. Add 1 cup oil and the agave nectar, applesauce, sweet potato puree, vanilla, hot water, and mint flavoring and stir until batter is smooth.

Spoon batter in to prepared tins and bake for 20 minutes. They should be firm around the edges and bounce back a bit in the middle when pressed.

Remove from oven, but let rest in pan for 15 minutes and then cool completely on racks.

Top with frosting of choice.

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for just a moment

3 Sep

CJ loves using the camera.  He loves to capture all of his favorite moments in the day and I love clicking through them at the end of the day.  I found this after a fishing trip this weekend.

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Well, this and a nice pic of the gas cap and close up of a tire.  I love seeing the world through an eight year old’s eye.