Archive for May, 2010

The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.
I filled the choux with rose bavarian, pistachio bavarian and a red pepper strawberry jelly in the middle. I just piped one mousse from one side, then the jelly and then the 2nd bavarian.

Pate a Choux (Yield: About 28)
¾ cup (175 ml.) water
6 Tbsp. (85 g.) unsalted butter
¼ Tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup (125 g.) all-purpose flour
4 large eggs

For Egg Wash: 1 egg and pinch of salt

Pre-heat oven to 425◦F/220◦C degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Preparing batter:
Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely.

Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.
Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly.

Add 1 egg. The batter will appear loose and shiny.
As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes.
It is at this point that you will add in the next egg. Repeat until you have incorporated all the eggs.

Piping:
Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip (I piped directly from the bag opening without a tip). Pipe choux about 1 inch-part in the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1 inch high about 1 inch wide.

Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. You want them to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top.
Brush tops with egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten with pinch of salt).

Baking:
Bake the choux at 425◦F/220◦C degrees until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 10 minutes.

Lower the temperature to 350◦F/180◦C degrees and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 20 minutes more. Remove to a rack and cool.
Can be stored in a airtight box overnight.

For the rose bavarian
190 ml full fat milk
37 g raw sugar
3 yolks
5 g gelatin+cold water
190 g whipped cream
10 rose buds

Bring the milk and the roses to a boil and then cover and let steep for one hour.
Place the gelatin in cold water to bloom.
Sieve the milk and reheat it.
Beat the yolks and the sugar until pale.
Pour the milk over the yolks while constantly stirring. Return to low heat and cook to 76 degrees Celsius. Melt the gelatin and add it to the milk-yolk mixture. Let cool to room temperature. Mix in the cream and let it almost set at room temperature.

For the pistachio bavarian
190 ml full fat milk
37 g raw sugar
3 yolks
5 g gelatin+cold water
190 g whipped cream
50 g ground pistachios

Place the gelatin in cold water to bloom.
Bring the milk to a boil.
Beat the yolks and the sugar until pale.
Pour the milk over the yolks while constantly stirring. Return to low heat and cook to 76 degrees Celsius. Melt the gelatin and add it to the milk-yolk mixture. Let cool to room temperature. Mix in the cream and the pistachios and let it almost set at room temperature.

For the red pink pepper strawberry jelly
200 g strawberries
25 g sugar
5 g gelatin
a few pink peppercorns

Puree the strawberries. Add the sugar and the peppercorns and heat the mixture until the sugar disolves. Let it steep for a while, discard the peppercorns and add the melted gelatin. Let the jelly cool and start to set.

Finally, we felt Spring for a little. No more dark days in a row, no more cold rains…. I was getting kind of springy and I love it.

Two weeks ago we went up north to visit C’s grandfather. We went by his orchard and there I smelled the fresh grass and the blooming trees. It is just amazing how everything looks better, smells better when the sun is up.
If time would stop for a few hours at least I would just sit lying in the grass and dreaming of the days when we will be picking the wonderful apples and plums and pears and bake the most amazing tarts and pies and upsidedown cakes, and moussses, and…..

In the meantime though I settled on a simple vanilla flavored cheesecake, filled with the most amazing black pepper and rosemary sauce lying on a bed of rice crackers. It was so light and packed with so much flavour…..

And the rainy days are back and my mood went back down waiting for the sun to step in already.

For the rice crackers
115 g butter
95 g moscavado
1 egg yolk
160 g rice flour
50 g tapioca starch
a pinch of salt

Cream the butter and sugar together for 3-5 minutes. Add the yolk and beat until incorporated. Add the flours and salt and mix untill it comes together. Make a dough ball, flatten it a little, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Preheat the oven at 175 C (350 F). Roll the dough to 4 mm thick and cut out whatever shapes you desire. Bake for about 12-15 minutes or until golden. Let cool completelly on a cooling rack.

For the crust
190 g rice crackers
85 g melted butter

Mix the crackers and butter and press the mixture on the bottom of the cheesecake pan. Refrigerate until ready to bake.
For the black pepper and rosemary strawberry sauce
400 g straberries
80 g sugar
60 g orange juice
rosemary and peppercorns

Place all the above ingredients in a pan over medium low heat. Bring to a boil and simmer untill thickened. Let cool to room temperature. Remove the peppercorns and the rosemary.

For the cheesecake
680 g cheese (homemade mascarpone)
200 g sugar
3 eggs
vanilla bean + vanilla extract
225 g heavy cream

Preheat the oven at 175 C.
Prepare a big pan that accomodates your cheesecake pan and boil water for the bain mare.
In the bowl of your stand mixer beat the cheese with the sugar and vanilla seeds untill creamy. Add one egg and beat just untill blended. Do the same for the rest of the eggs.
Add the cream and vanilla extract and fold it in. Pour a little more than half of the batter into the prepared pan and place in the oven for about 20-25 minutes or untill a little set.
Pour the strawberries on the cheesecake and top with the remaining batter. Bake another 20-25 minutes or until set but still jiglly. Let cool in the oven for about an hour (out of the water). Cover and refrigerate overnight.