A Forgotten Gem

When I think about the many successful desserts that I made prior to starting this blog, I debate whether or not it would be valid to write about them. Although I am proud of a multitude of them, there are only a handful that I feel are worthy to write about. That being said, I am rewinding all the way back to Christmas Day, where I made a Semifreddo. I had made a Semifreddo before, and fell IN LOVE with the texture, and versatility of flavor pairings. This recipe, came from an old Gourmet magazine from June of 2008. Although I usually try not to serve any form of frozen, or ice-cream dessert in the winter, I felt unable to help myself with this. The dessert is titled "Stracciatella Cake with Espresso Fudge Sauce". After a ham, and the most wonderful vegetables bathed and roasted in the ham's decadent juices, this dessert topped of the lovely Christmas meal.

I decided to start this dessert two days early, so that I could thoroughly freeze the cake, and have time to leisurely prepare my Christmas Day dessert. I couldn't find amaretti cookies anywhere in my area, so for the crust of the cake, I used anise flavored biscotti which worked beautifully. For the frozen part, it is a decadent emulsion of eggs, sugar, chocolate, and cream. The crust is packed into a loaf pan, and draped with the filling. The dessert has to freeze for quite sometime, but never manages to get hard like ice cream. Instead, the filling is lusciously creamy, and the crust crunchy, and distinct in flavor. The dessert is served with the most rich, and thick espresso fudge sauce. The warm sauce, which is slightly bitter and not too sweet, contrasts greatly with the cool semifreddo.

This dessert is wonderful all year round, but especially striking for special occasions. It is also easily plated, and appears effortlessly elegant. Despite the fact that I made this quite some time ago, I couldn't bear not to mention it, because it is truly a classic.

Au Revoir Summer! - Blackberry and Apple Pie

Summer has never really been one of my favorite times of the year. Strawberries, tomatoes, and asparagus can only tease one's palate for so long in my opinion. Yes, root vegetables, braises, and cream laden sauces are way more up my alley than the latter. So, when we had company last week, I confirmed that this would be my last Summer themed dessert. After that, it was apples, pears, cinnamon, and full-throttle comfort food all the way. This last homage to Summer had to be a good one though, and that it was. I chose Jamie Oliver's "Blackberry and Apple Pie". Jamie, who is almost never bad, made this dessert on his show, and I couldn't take my mind off of it. The pie is simply filled with apples, blackberries, sugar, and stem ginger, which is simmered until the apples are soft. Jamie also promises a foolproof Shortcrust pastry, which it was. I have never made a crust so flawless and flaky, and I will never use another recipe. What made the pie so original and irresistible was the custard sauce that accompanied it. I served the pie with the lovely crimson juices, spilling all over a luxurious English vanilla custard sauce. The custard was a Jamie recipe as well. All of that being said, the pie was a huge hit at the dinner party and it will be made again. Here's the evidence...

Here the pie is, with its lovely blanket of pastry atop it. I had never done this sort of pie before so the task was daunting. Jamie promised that if you listened to his instructions though, all would be well. Truer words have never been spoken!

The pie also has a dusting of sugar and cinnamon, which gave it those golden brown speckles, and lovely added flavor.

Here the pie is, ready to be served, surrounded by a pool of custard sauce. What is not to like?

Well, this little "good bye" to Summer, was well worth it, and let me rest easy, that I gave it a proper good bye. That being said though, I am ready for fall, and the next time you see me, it will probably be sweet potato-this, and cinnamon-that! Here is the pie recipe, but the custard and pastry recipe can be found elsewhere on the Internet...

Courtesy of Jamie Oliver:

Blackberry and Apple Pie

 

Ingredients

• 1 x sweet shortcrust pastry
recipe
• ¼ cup butter, plus
extra for greasing
• 1⁄3 cup raw sugar, plus
extra for sprinkling
• 2 large Bramley or
McIntosh apples,
cored, peeled and each
cut into 16 wedges
• 4 Cox, Empire or
Granny Smith apples,
cored, peeled and each
cut into 8 wedges
• 1 heaped tablespoon
chopped ginger,
in syrup
• 5 ounces blackberries
• 1 large free-range or
organic egg, beaten
• ½ teaspoon ground
cinnamon

 

 

Method

First, make your pastry dough, wrap it in plastic wrap and
rest it in the fridge for at least half an hour. Then preheat
the oven to 350°F. Put the butter and sugar into a saucepan
and, when the butter has melted, add the apples, ginger and
a tablespoon of the ginger syrup. Slowly cook for 15 minutes
with a lid on, then add the blackberries, stir and cook for 5
more minutes with the lid off.

Meanwhile, remove your pastry from the fridge. Dust your
work surface with flour, cut the pastry in half and, using a
floured rolling pin, roll one of the pieces out until it’s just under
½-inch thick. (Rolling the dough between two layers of waxed
paper will also stop it sticking to your rolling pin.) Butter a
shallow 10-inch pie dish and line with the pastry, trimming off
any excess round the edges using a sharp knife.

Tip the cooled apples and blackberries into a sieve, reserving all
the juices, then put the fruit into the lined pie dish so you have a
mound in the middle. Spoon over half the reserved juices. Brush
the edge of the pastry with beaten egg. Roll out the second piece
of pastry, just as you did the first, and lay it over the top of
the pie. Trim the edges as before and crimp them together with
your fingers. Brush the top of the pie with the rest of the beaten
egg, sprinkle generously with sugar and the cinnamon, and
make a couple of slashes in the top of the pastry.

Place the pie on a baking tray and then put it directly on the
bottom of the preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes, until golden
brown and crisp. To serve, slice the pie into portions and serve
with a generous dollop of ice-cream.

La Petite Gastronome: Crack Really Is Whack...

La Petite Gastronome: Crack Really Is Whack...: Well, for quite sometime now, I have been hearing about Christina Tosi's "Crack Pie". I asked myself, "How amazing can something really be?"...

Crack Really Is Whack...

Well, for quite sometime now, I have been hearing about Christina Tosi's "Crack Pie". I asked myself, "How amazing can something really be?" Well, the answer to that is yes, it is really that amazing, but with some strings attached. To start, I would like to say that "Crack Pie" is unbelievably addicting, and GOOD. As my mother and I hovered over the cold pie, with two spoons, eating it exactly as Tosi had instructed, I had a thought; Is "Crack Pie" really addicting per se, or is it just addicting by association? The stereotype of "Crack Pie" is very clear, and I feel as though all of us who know about it, and have eaten it, want it to be truly addicting. Due to this consensus, is crack pie only addicting because we want it to be? Or is it truly addicting, due to the obscene amounts of sugar and butter. Either way, I loved me some "Crack Pie", and it is definitely a force to be reckoned with.

Anyway! Making "Crack Pie" was fun. I thought that the Oat Crust was absolutely genius, and don't know why I hadn't thought of something like that before. Also, the filling had a lot of steps but was very easy. Seeing that the recipe made two pies, I chose to do an original and a Biscoff Spread flavored pie. The original would be for the company, while the Biscoff one would be for my mother and me, naturally. So, I simply divided the filling, and tossed in a 1/3 of a cup of Biscoff Spread into one of the half's, and in they went to the oven. After cooling just slightly, I couldn't help myself, but to try a piping hot bite. Fortunately, there where two, so the company wouldn't notice that I took a large chomp out of the Biscoff one. To be perfectly honest, I liked the chilled version better, which is how the pie is intended to be eaten. Also, both flavors were equally delicious. I thought maybe that the original flavor wouldn't compare to the Biscoff, but both were insanely addicting.

Here is the pie recipe. An remember kids, pie is always better than drugs!

The oat cookie crust-Good on it's own, by the way.

Crack Pie untouched...but not for long.

The civilized way to eat Crack Pie.


Recipe Courtesy of Christina Tosi and Bon Appetit :

Ingredients

Oat Cookie Crust

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
• 5 1/2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar, divided
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons old-fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon (generous) salt

Filling

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon nonfat dry milk powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly
• 6 1/2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Powdered sugar (for dusting)

Preparation

Oat Cookie Crust

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan with parchment paper; coat with nonstick spray. Combine 6 tablespoons butter, 4 tablespoons brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons sugar in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat mixture until light and fluffy, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, about 2 minutes. Add egg; beat until pale and fluffy. Add oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and beat until well blended, about 1 minute. Turn oat mixture out onto prepared baking pan; press out evenly to edges of pan. Bake until light golden on top, 17 to 18 minutes. Transfer baking pan to rack and cool cookie completely.
• Using hands, crumble oat cookie into large bowl; add 3 tablespoons butter and 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar. Rub in with fingertips until mixture is moist enough to stick together. Transfer cookie crust mixture to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Using fingers, press mixture evenly onto bottom and up sides of pie dish. Place pie dish with crust on rimmed baking sheet.

Filling

• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Whisk both sugars, milk powder, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Add melted butter and whisk until blended. Add cream, then egg yolks and vanilla and whisk until well blended. Pour filling into crust. Bake pie 30 minutes (filling may begin to bubble). Reduce oven temperature to 325°F. Continue to bake pie until filling is brown in spots and set around edges but center still moves slightly when pie dish is gently shaken, about 20 minutes longer. Cool pie 2 hours in pie dish on rack. Chill uncovered overnight. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover; keep chilled.
• Sift powdered sugar lightly over top of pie. Cut pie into wedges and serve cold.

News!

Well, just yesterday I was published. Yes, published. Not in a huge way, but it is a start, and quite exciting. Recently I have fallen in love with Biscoff products. For those of you who don't already know, Biscoff cookies are the small biscuits that you receive on airlines. In addition to these cookies though, Biscoff also makes a spread, among other products. The spread is my favorite guilty pleasure, and I sadly cannot get enough. In March, I came up with the brilliant idea of making caramel with the spread. Using a traditional caramel recipe, I stirred a large clump of the Biscoff spread into the caramel, and words could not describe this. The caramel was so unbelievably...unbelievable, that it could have just been devoured off of a spoon. Nonetheless, I had cheesecake to put it on, which was obviously a perfect companion. I wanted to share the link and recipe to this creation with you all though. Both are listed below:

http://biscoffblog.com/recipes/biscoff-caramel/

INGREDIENTS:

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup whipping cream
• 1/3 cup Biscoff Spread

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a medium-sized saucepan, stir the sugar, water, and corn syrup over a medium to medium-low flame until the sugar has dissolved completely. Raise the heat until the syrup boils. There is no need to stir the syrup until it turns a deep amber color, but swirling the saucepan prevents burns. Also, occasionally it helps to brush down the sides of pan with a wet pastry brush. Remember, the syrup must always be monitored. This will take anywhere from 5-10 minutes, depending on what kind of stove you are working on.
2. Remove the syrup from the heat and pour in the cream, being very careful not to get splattered when the mixture bubbles up. The sugar syrup will congeal and not absorb the cream right away, but turn the heat onto low and soon the mixture will become homogenous and turn into caramel.
3. Keeping the flame low, add the Biscoff Spread and stir to dissolve. Poor into a gravy boat or sauce dish, and prepare to fall in love.

Recipe courtesy of Sydney Wood

All that being said, I made my first lattice top this week. For the fourth, I thought no dessert to be more fitting, than cherry pie. I chose a Bon Appetit recipe titled, "Classic Sour Cherry Pie with Lattice Crust". The recipe had received all sorts of rave reviews and awards, so I figured that I couldn't go wrong. That being said, after two hours of fastidiously putting together the pie, it went into the oven, and came out golden brown and bubbly. The taste was great, and the crust was really something to take to the bank. I served the pie with goat cheese ice cream. I thought that goat cheese would be a perfect pairing, and it was. Tasting nothing like goat cheese, except for the slight tangy flavor, the ice cream resembled the taste of cheesecake. So good! The pie, and the ice cream for the majority, was well received. I also must say, I was very proud of my endeavors with the lattice. It was beautiful.

A French Icon

With its new found popularity, the French macaron is considered the new cupcake. In my opinion though, the two never could compare. Cupcakes are all good and well, but what do you get in a cupcake that you can't get in cake? The answer is nothing, except maybe portion control if your lucky. The macaron however, is something that compares to nothing else. The outside consists of a crispy, melt-in-your-mouth outer shell, while the middle contains the creamy filling, whatever it may be. Somehow, these two ingredients manage to become one, unlike cupcakes, which are clearly frosting plus cake. The macaron's outer meringue shell works together with the filling sandwiched within. I have made these cookies three times now, and feel pretty confident with my abilities, although I would prefer my outer shell to me firmer. For my recipe, I used a multitude of sources and did a lot of research prior. Essentially, all the methods are the same, but the techniques and quirks surrounding this petite cookie, vary just about as much as the flavors they can possess. I for one, am a huge advocate of aging my egg whites. I chose to age mine for forty-eight hours and leave them at room temperature for a good six hours before using them to bake. I also swear by weighing the ingredients. Some people insist on almond flour for the cookie, while others say to grind your own almonds. Although it is a lot more work, I have had better luck with grinding my own. Nonetheless, the process of making a macaron is not easy, and requires a lot of attention. This is not something that you can just pop in the oven and leave, you have to constantly plan for your next step, and prepare all of the ingredients before you even start. The put-together is time consuming, but worth it for the product. All the sifting of the powdered sugar and almond meal is a tedious job, and trying to decipher whether or not your sugar/almond mixture is folded enough, too little, or too much into the whipped egg whites can be difficult as well. It is truly all about studying and experience though, and I have certainly just begun my journey. Aside from this though, I absolutely adore making them, and I also love how much of a blank canvas they are for flavors. It also doesn't hurt that they are absolutely scrumptious!

I made macaron's for my mother's dear friend, and they came out lovely. Here are a couple of pictures and the flavor description of them...

Flavor #1: Pistachio Cookie with Pistachio Butter Cream

Flavor #2: Maple Cookie with Biscoff Spread Filling(The best flavor)

Flavor #3: Almond Cookie with Raspberry Butter Cream

Flavor #4: Chocolate Cookie with Chocolate Ganache

The macaron is so finicky, and takes a lot of practice. As you can see in my photo, some of the cookies appear cracked, while others are smooth and look fine. This is due to the cooking time. A matter of seconds, can take your macarons from undercooked, to perfectly cooked, to overcooked. You can even watch them overcook before your eyes, but it is often times, too late. I am proud of my progress so far, but rest assured, there will definitely be round 2, and 3, and 4. 

About time...

Well, after a long hiatus from the blogosphere, I am back with a whole slew of new desserts. I would like to begin by saying, that the past few weeks of not writing have aggravated me immensely, so this evening I have finally felt compelled enough to document one of the recipes that I have created during the absence.

A short time ago, my family and I hosted a birthday party for a dear friend. It was just a small crowd, but knowing my mother and I, the food was carefully thought out and in abundance to say the least. As usual, I was put in charge of desserts, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. The good thing being, is I absolutely love to bake. The bad thing, is that I am such an indecisive person, that all the magazines, websites, ideas, television shows, cookbooks, and menus make my decision making process a resolute nightmare. For this particular occasion, I thought that I would bypass this step, and the recipe choosing process would be a breeze. Although it started out that way, it certainly didn't end in the same fashion. Starting at the very beginning...

A week or so prior to the celebration, I was given a list of likes and dislikes by the birthday girl. Absolutely NO CHOCOLATE, and Carrot and Red Velvet weren't favorites either. With so little left to choose from, this was going to be a piece of cake right? Wrong. My initial plan, was to do Strawberry Cake with the lovely local strawberries we were getting, next I moved on to White Cake with Raspberry Filling and Vanilla Buttercream, following that it was an Almond Génoise with Raspberry Buttercream, moving onto complete and utter brain fry. Yes, my brain was shot. I had decided and re-decided so many times that I could honestly decide no more. My mother was sick of my endless debates regarding the pro's and con's of each cake, and I was in agony (epicurean agony, that is...totally self-inflicted). I decided to step away and devote my thoughts to other things.

4 Days Before the Party: I return to the cake matters with a much better attitude and an idea in my head. At the beginning of my search, I had fallen in love with a cake that required a copious amount of orange flower honey. Living in a not very food oriented town, I figured this find to be completely out of reach, so I abandoned the idea. Well, on a trip to the health food store a few days later, I stumbled upon orange flower honey with great excitement. Of course, I had to have it, but not at that time did I fully realize how I could utilize the honey. Once I arrived home, I was immediately brought back to this cake. Still cake-less, I took the discovery of the honey as a good omen, and forced myself into deciding right then and there, that I would make the cake that required the honey.

The cake was from Bon Appetit Desserts, and was titled "Apricot-Pistachio Torte with Honey Buttercream". Now, not exactly your typical birthday cake, but this was an adult party, so I figured that a grown-up birthday cake was appropriate. Also, this multiple step, challenge hadn't been documented in picture or reviews yet, so I was really taking my chances. I got the bee in my bonnet though, and begun the preparations. that began three days ahead of time.

On the first day, I made the Glazed Apricots. This required combining dried apricots, the honey, some sugar, and water in a small saucepan, and cooking them until they became syrupy and glossy. My first try was a failure, because I let them get too syrupy (way to syrupy, actually), so they caramelized and became adhered to my pan. On the second try, I came out with something much more like the recipe entailed; glossy, plump apricots still surrounding in the liquid they had cooked in. It technically didn't say to, but I opted to reserve this shimmery gold liquid, seeing that it tasted so wonderful, and possibly use it for who knows what.

Day two came, and it was time to make apricot preserves. The instruction for this step were essentially the same as making the glazed apricots, but instead of leaving them whole, I obviously pureed them with an immersion blender. The finished product was delicious, and the remains are still being used to glaze pork tenderloin.

Day three, or party day, was a hectic one. I had my SAT's on this day, and the weight of this cake was really pressing on my shoulders. With the uncertainty of the whole thing, I bought a boxed cake mix, just to be on the safe side.

After finishing my testing, I raced home to begin my preparation. I started with the cake. It was your classic génoise cake, and used ground pistachios in place of some of the flour. I folded egg whites into batters, melted butter into more batter, measured, calculated and made sure I followed the directions exactly. When finished preparing the parchment paper lined baking sheet, the complicated batter, and making sure everything else was in line, I poured the lovely green pistachio mixture into the prepared baking sheet and popped her into the oven. With that, I crossed my fingers and set the timer for five minutes less than advised. When the timer was up, I went to check the cake and to my surprise, it didn't need anymore time. Thank goodness, I didn't let it go longer!!!

While the cake cooled, I whipped together the most amazing buttercream that I had ever tasted it. Hinted with honey, this eighteen-tablespoons-of-butter-masterpiece, was enough to serve on its own. Next came the assemblage though, and my nerves resurfaced once again.

All in all, I was happy with the appearance of the naked cake, except for one side that seemed funny due to some crumpling in the parchment. It ended up being no bid deal, and was covered nicely with the frosting. The assembly process went,

Cake
Preserves
Buttercream

Cake
Preserves
Buttercream

and lastly...

Cake
Preserves
Buttercream

After frosting the entire cake, I sliced the glazed apricots in half and aligned them in rows on top of the rectangular shaped cake. Between the apricots, I piped more buttercream, and covered the sides in chopped pistachios. The cake was finished, and the most important part was still yet to come. All that work better taste good, I said to myself as I sat down to digest all that had happened that day.

Not too long after, the birthday girl arrived and we sat down to dinner. Before I knew it, the moment of truth had arrived, and I paraded the cake in for the traditional birthday song. Afterwards, I brought my baby back to the kitchen to cut. As I sliced into the cake, impressed with the look of the layers, I remembered the reserved apricot juice from the glazed apricots. If the cake was dry, this might just save it, I said optimistically. I plated the cake and brought it into the dining room. My mother, sitting next to me, had been very skeptical of this adventurous endeavor, and was not at all thrilled with my decision. She, would be the deal breaker. My mother took her first bite, and too my surprise responded with "Oh my gosh. This is actually really good." Yes! When my often-finicky father, asked for more, I knew I had triumphed.

The cake was a hit, and my mother casually forgot to send it home with the guests. She was all about it the next day.

P.S. The cake freezes like a dream.