Hot Cross Buns

Tags

baking, bread, Easter, food, Fresh from the Oven, holiday, Hot Cross Buns, sweet, yum

When I found out the Fresh from the Oven challenge this month was Hot Cross Buns I was a bit delighted. I don’t recall ever eating one, in fact I didn’t really recall the nursery rhyme either, I just knew there was one.  There was a vague thought that something existed called a Hot Cross Bun and that it must have a long history, going way back in time. After all if there is a nursery rhyme about a food, it must be good and a pretty old recipe!  I was not disappointed, these are very good.  I’m eating one as I sit here typing.

They are a sweet bread but not too sweet. Not close to a muffin, more like a sweet roll.  They usually have spice in the batter and fruits, with a glaze over the top.  They also have a cross on the top and are traditionally served during Easter on Good Friday.  According to Wikipedia they may even pre-date Christ although the first recorded use of the term Hot Cross Bun was in 1733!!!!  I get to make something that’s been passed along since then, wow!

There were a few recipes out there so I read the ones I could find and decided I wanted to stay with a more traditional recipe…meaning no chocolate for now.  I love reading Chica Andaluza’s blog and she had just posted a Hot Cross buns recipe!  So I used hers with a few additions of my own.

Hot Cross Buns

• 300 g milk
• 50 g butter
• 550 g flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 100 g sugar
• 7 g yeast (I used instant)
• 1 egg
• 50 g dates
• 50 g prunes
• zest of 1 Meyer lemon and 1/4 ? grapefruit
• 1 Tb mixed spices (I combined ginger, cardamon, all spice, clove, nutmeg & cinnamon)
• 1 tsp anise seed
• 1 tsp orange flower water

For the cross

4 Tb rice flour (you can use regular flour) and water until you reach a pipeable consistency.

For the Glaze

3 Tb apricot jam, 1 Tb orange marmelade

Traditionally raisins are used but I don’t really like them. I found chopped dates & plums (prunes) in the store so used them. I also had used anise seed and orange flower water in a Spanish cookie I recently made and loved the flavor they added so I decided to throw that in too!

My additions

Bring the milk to an almost boil, drop in the butter, cool to room tempurature and add in the tsp of orange flower water. In a mixer combine the flour, salt, yeast, spices, sugar and anise seed.  Add the milk mixture & the egg and mix on low for 4 minutes, then on med for about 6 minutes.  The dough will be sticky.  Turn it out onto a floured surface and flatten the dough and add the fruits & zest and knead until it is well combined.  You will want to add flour if necessary to stop it from sticking.  Put in a greased bowl and proof for an hour or until doubled in size.  I forgot to take a picture of this stage, sorry. Punch down the dough and divide into 24 pieces, shape into rounds & proof again for about an hour. (The amount you make depends on how large you want the buns to be, but remember they will grow a bit).

After the hour, preheat your oven to 375 F (200 C) and prepare the flour for the crosses.  I used rice flour becuase I wanted a crispier cross and I knew the flour makes a whiter color too.  Anyway add water to whatever flour you use until it is wet enough to pipe on the crosses.  I had read that you should slash the crosses first and pipe over the slash and I had read without slashing so I did some of each.

Pop them in the oven and let bake for 15-18 minutes.  They should be a golden brown.  Meanwhile heat up the jam for the glaze.  I’ve also read of people using golden syrup for the glaze. I think in the States we call golden syrup, light corn syrup? But I thought jam would be more flavorful.TaDa!!!

They were delightful to eat.  I took them to a friend’s for Easter dinner and they loved them, even the 9 year old!  I remember being a kid and not liking sweet bread with fruits in it. I think every culture has a version of this idea. In Greece it’s called a Tsoureki, in Italy a Panetone, I believe Mexico’s Day of the Dead bread, Pan de Muertos is a sweet bread too.  Check out Wikipedia on Hot Cross Buns it’s an interesting read.  In fact when I read this part “If hung in the kitchen, they are said to protect against fires and ensure that all breads turn out perfectly. The hanging bun is replaced each year.^”   I realized I might just have to hang one in the kitchen! Hmmmm, I wonder how Jason would feel about that?  And the dogs?! They would probably be jumping for it….nevermind….I’ll just eat them.

What’s up Wasabi?!

Tags

candied grapefruit, dessert, food, ganache, gluten free, lime, macarons, Pierre hermes, sweet, wasabi, white chocolate, yum

I’ve been dreaming (fantasizing?) about the Pierre Hermes wasabi macarons.  You know a funny thing?  All my obsession with Pierre Hermes and I’ve never even tasted his pastries?!  It’s all on reputation…in fact, it’s all on the Ispahan flavor combination.  He makes a rather well-known macaron called the Ispahan which uses rosewater, lychee and rasperries.  You can see my attempt to re-create them here.   When I heard he had a macaron with wasabi my tastebuds almost jumped out of my head!  I had to find the recipe and try them.  Well I found it (1) on Zen Can Cook. Of course it calls for something exotic, Yuzu juice, what is that anyway?

Yuzu

I am going to submit these to Aspiring Bakers #17 March Macaron Madness (March 2012). I can’t wait to see other submissions!Another variety of citrus?  I must find it.  Well that is easier said than done. I went to a local gigantic Asian market and…nothing, no one knew what I was talking about.  Hmmm.  there is another bigger Asian market in downtown Seattle but I wasn’t going to go there today.  The recipe said you could substitute lime.  That’s what I substituted in the last Hermes recipe I made! That time it called for Buddha Hand citrus.  What’s with all the exotic citrus that can be substituted by a lowly lime?!   On to the recipe, oh and fair warning it takes at least two days unless you have candied grapefruit on hand.

I try not to make a full recipe unless I know I like something and I’ve found with some of these recipes that have been converted from commercial scale that they make too much.  So this is a half recipe that follows and I used my own favorite macaron recipe instead of making the Italian merengue that the Hermes recipe called for.  I’ve never made them that way and it just seems overly complicated.

Candied grapefruit

• 1 grapefruit
• 1/2 liter of water
• 235 g of sugar
• 1/2 vanilla bean
• 1/2 star anise
• 5 peppercorns (it called for Sarawak, I used Tellicherry, I’m sure any black peppercorn would work)
• Oh and 2 Tb of lemon juice which I, of course, forgot.

You will need the peel of the grapefruit sliced into about 1 inch wide pieces including some of the fruit.  Usually you only use the peel.  Put in a saucepan and cover with cold water, bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes.  Drain, rinse in cold water,  cover with water, bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes,  repeat 2 more times.  If you taste the peel along the way it will go from unbearably bitter to much milder.

When you’re done with that part put the 1/2 liter of water, the sugar and the spice (oh and lemon juice, don’t forget that!) in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Once it’s boiling add the peels and low simmer with the lid propped open for 1 & 1/2 hours. You will know they’re done when they look translucent. Let them sit in the syrup overnight.  In the morning take them out of the syrup and let them dry on a wire rack.  I used the syrup on pancakes with yogurt, quite yum!

To use in the macaron, slice the peels into small chunks.

They look like little jewels.

If you have any leftover you can store them in the syrup for about 3 weeks, or cover them in sugar and they keep for about 3 days, or dip in chocolate and eat!Now we make macarons.  Use whatever recipe you usually use.  Bravetart has a great recipe and lots of tips on how to make them come out right.  For this macaron you need to grind up some pistachios and sprinkle on top of the macarons before baking.

Pierre Hermes uses titanium oxide to make his macarons white! Very strange, if you look it up on Wikipedia it’s used for many things including sunscreen and making the white lines on tennis courts. Not sure if I want that in my food and I didn’t have any of it anyway. I decided not to add any food coloring and leave these natural.   Now for the wasabi part!  Again, I didn’t make a full recipe only half and it was more than enough for the amount of macarons I made, probably about 60 finished (2 pieces per macaron).  I can’t really count them since we didn’t track how many we ate along the way!  Ugg, if I’m honest, we probably ate about 20.

White Chocolate, Wasabi, Lime Ganache

• 187 g white chocolate
• 150 g heavy cream
• 20-25 g lime juice
• 10 g wasabi (I was hoping for fresh but couldn’t find it. I’ve heard the stuff you get in tubes isn’t even real wasabi but who knows!)

Make the ganache by melting the white chocolate over a simmering pan of water (bain marie), heat the cream in a pan to a near simmer, warm the lime juice in the microwave. Once the white chocolate is melted add in half the cream and stir well, then add in the other half and the lime juice, stir some more. Add in the wasabi and make sure it’s really well combined.  Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge to cool.

My macaron shells did not turn out as well as other times, I think I may have overmixed just a bit.  You learn each time.   Now it’s time to assemble the macarons!  I put a layer of the ganache and about 4 chunks of the candied grapefruit between two of the macarons and tasted….what a strange, exotic, almost exciting combination!  You are hit with the wasabi first but it’s not enough to burn or anything, then comes the citrus and the chewy crisp of the macaron!  Jason says he likes these the best of all I’ve made.  I liked these but my favorite is still the rosewater lychee.

I think I will try one more wasabi flavored dessert….chocolate, wasabi, ginger cake!   We’ll see.

Lazy weekend Cranberry scones with Orange Marmalade

Tags

baking, cranberry orange scones, food, marmalade, scones, Seville orange, sweet, tart, yum

After my croissant fiasco I wasn’t ready to try making them again…just yet.  I wanted something simple and easy.   Everyone is probably aware of my love of all things citrus especially now that they are in season.  It’s the rainy, dreary season up here in the Pacific Northwest and citrus reminds me of growing up in California.  Recently ChicaAndaluza posted her recipe for Orange Marmalade. I has asked her what type of oranges were typically used and I was bemoaning the lack of variety available at the supermarkets around here.  She said you could use any kind but that Seville oranges were the best option.  The other night I walked into my local neighborhood ethnic grocer and lo and behold….Seville bitter oranges!!!!!!

The link above will lead you to her recipe.  I halved her recipe because Jason said he doesn’t like orange marmalade so I would be the only one eating it (I should have known better).  I used 4 1/2 oranges, 1/2 a lemon, weighed it and almost doubled the sugar.  I wasn’t sure whether to cover the oranges while they were cooking so I left the lid off.  It seemed like too much water was lost so next time I’ll put the lid on and see what happens.  I added more water in the pulp boiling stage and cooked it for probably 15 minutes. I was worried that it would be too runny but it turned out beautifully!!!

It made much more than this.

Now what to make to eat this with?  I did not make bread this weekend, too lazy….I’ve got it cranberry/orange scones.  That will be perfect!

Cranberry Orange scones

• 400 g ( 3 cups) flour
• 80 g (1/3 c) sugar
• 11 g (2 1/2 tsp) baking powder
• 2 g (1/2 tsp) baking soda
• 5 g (1/2 tsp) salt
• 150 g (1 1/2 sticks) butter
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries (more or less to suit your taste)
• zest of one orange
• 1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400.  I don’t usually have buttermilk on hand but there is a trick, add 1 tsp white vinegar to 1 cup milk and let it sit for about 10 minutes and you’ll get a substitute for buttermilk. This is what I usually do for scones, pancakes etc.  I’m sure real buttermilk is much better but I don’t use enough of it to justify buying a container.

Sift together, flour, sugar, baking powder & soda and salt.  Add the butter and rub it into the flour mix with your hands until it turns crumbly.  You can use a pasty cutter too but I prefer my hands!

 

Add the cranberries and orange zest.

Such pretty colors!

Pour in the buttermilk and combine until it’s all mixed together, do not overmix.  I know many people make the dough into one big circle and cut it into triangles or wedges but every time I try that the middle stays doughy.  So I just shape individual scones and bake them that way.  Either way put them on a silicone baking sheet or parchment.  (I love silicone sheets,  I have saved a ton in parchment paper since I got one.)  You can either leave them plain or paint them with cream, sprinkle them with sugar or even paint on an egg wash, it’s entirely up to you.  You can even glaze them when they are done if you like.

Bake them for 12-15 minutes depending on your oven.  If you want to glaze them you can combine powdered sugar with orange juice (or lemon, or lime etc) until it reaches the consistency you want and then pour the glaze on them.  You can also mix 1 Tb cream with 1/4 tsp cinnamon & 2 Tb sugar which you can brush on.   I had them plain with the orange marmalade.  So Delicious!

Oh!  And how did Jason like the marmalade you might ask?  He said “This is pretty good if you like orange marmalade” (which he said he didn’t) and then he proceeded to eat it on his next scone as well. 

 

Financier with Apricots and Lime

Tags

almonds, apricots, baking, dessert, financier, food, hand of buddha, hazelnuts, lime, Pierre hermes, sweet, yum

This is first of many (I hope) of the recipes from the Pierre Hermes book “Pastries”  I gave Jason first choice and this was it. I never know if he picks for the pictures or the ingredients?  Anyway it was a great choice.

The recipe calls for using Hand of Buddha a fairly obscure citrus fruit. Luckily I have seen it twice so I knew what was being referenced.  I saw it once in Los Angeles and once in Seattle.  Both times in fairly upscale supermarkets.  I remember the fragrance as just catching my nose. That’s the only reason I even looked at the fruit as it’s kind of ugly and I probably wouldn’t have looked twice.  But that fragrance…..I had to track it down.  The fruit looks like this…

From what I could find online it is used for it’s zest and to fragrance a room and it will grow indoors. Hmmmm I could totally see myself having a whole grove of different citrus inside, Meyer Lemons, Hand of Buddha, Pink Grapefruit… The book said you could substitute lime instead (thank you for that!)

Caramel Mousse (see the custard recipe below, you could halve this recipe)

• 135 g heavy cream
• 50 g light corn syrup
• 85 g superfine granulated sugar
• 15 g unsalted butter

In a saucepan, bring the cream to a boil then remove from heat.  Combine the corn syrup and sugar in another saucepan and heat until it turns amber.  (Be careful, once it starts to darken, it happens very quickly and can burn). Remove from heat, add the butter and mix well. Pour the cream into the caramel & cook, set aside to cool.

Starting the boil

Add the hot cream

Caramel Marscapone Custard  (this made way too much, you could halve this)

• 1 gelatin sheet (I only had powdered so used about 1 tsp)
• 140 g heavy cream
• 150 g caramel mousse (from above)
• 2 egg yolks
• 280 g marscapone cheese

Soak the gelatin in cold water for 20 mins.  Combine the mousse with the egg yolks. In a separate saucepan boil the cream and then whisk it in into the mousse. Put back on the heat until it reaches 185 degrees.  Drain the gelatin of excess water if there is any (Oh I used 2 tsp water to the 1 tsp of gelatin) and add it to the mixture. Blend with a hand blender and cool in the refrigerator for 4 hours. No I haven’t forgotten the marscapone, that comes later….

Egg yolks!

Citron Flavored Dough

• 115 g unsalted butter
• 20 g ground hazelnuts
• 150 g confectioner’s sugar
• 50 g all purpose flour
• 60 g ground almonds
• 5 g lime zest
• 140 g egg whites (5)

Apricot filling

• 600 g halved apricots (I had to used canned, which I drained)
• 100 g chopped almonds
• 5 g simple syrup (I just used the syrup the apricots came in)
• 20 g superfine granulated sugar

Melt the butter on low heat and remove when it turns a nutty brown color. Strain it and let it cool.  Toast the ground nuts, be careful they will burn quickly, at 350.  The recipe said to butter a flan ring. I don’t have one so I just used a cheesecake springform pan, I put parchment on the bottom and buttered the sides.

Preheat oven to 375.  Mix together the confectioner sugar, flour, ground nuts and grated citrus zest.  Incorporate the egg whites and the browned butter and mix until smooth.  Pour the batter into the pan.  Place the apricot halves on top. Mix the chopped almonds with the syrup & sugar and then sprinkle over the  top. Bake for 40 minutes.

Remove the caramel custard from the fridge and beat in with the marscapone. (I never use marscapone because I can’t find it easily. So I use a combination of cream cheese, sour cream and a splash of heavy cream.)  Fill a piping bag and pipe the marscapone caramel cream onto the top of the apricots.  Decorate with chips of caramel. Melt sugar over med heat until golden and then pour onto a silpat covered backing sheet. Let cool and break up.

I can’t wait to try another recipe!

So yummy

Sharing on V-Day

Tags

baking, cheesecake, creamy, dessert, pretzels, strawberry, sweet, Valentine's Day, yum

What I have learned so far about the blogging world is that people are extremely generous with their recipes and advice.  So in honor of Valentine’s Day and to spread love everywhere I can I am posting a wonderful strawberry cheesecake that was kindly shared by Donna over at Sugared Pecan (You will go directly to the recipe from that link and her great blog).  Oh and did I mention that this has a pretzel crust?!  That idea was genius Donna.

Not only did I make this for me and my sweetie to enjoy but I have a friend at work who’s birthday is on Valentine’s day so the slice that is missing in my picture is hers!

Oh what a fabulous cheesecake!

I followed the directions exactly (rare for me!) except…..I had to leave before it was done so I set the oven to shut off automatically. Poor planning on my part but I wanted it to be done for Valentine’s Day. Anyway, it sat in the still warm oven for probably 1/2 hour or so before I could remove it.  It didn’t affect the taste at all, just the appearance.  As you can see the strawberry hearts sunk a bit.  Go look at her pictures for perfection!   My mother recently emailed my grandmother’s cheesecake recipe to me,  I haven’t had it in years, so I will have to make it soon and compare it to this one.  This one is amazing so…..Actually it will probably be awhile before I make grandma’s as cheesecake is so rich.

Tortas de la Virgen

Tags

baking, cookies, food, Spanish, sweet, Tortas de Aceite, yum

A friend at work gave me the box set of Jamie Oliver’s Food Escapes. I watched Andalucia first. The show is decent but my favorite travel/food show is still Anthony Bourdain’s. Anyway, I was intrigued by a cookie that he got from a bakery run by nuns who are secluded. You have to speak through an intercom in a wall and they spin the treats out on a round dolly thing that comes out of the wall.  The cookies were called “Tortas de la Virgen” and I just had to find a recipe!

It’s not so easy to find them on the internet.  I found lots of Spanish sites and a video but this was for a different type of thing also called Torta de la Virgen. It was more of a stuffed cake or pie on a baking sheet.  What I am looking for is a crisp crackery type cookie like this…

From Wikipedia, Tortas de Aceite

I learned that these are most likely the same thing, Tortas de Aceite, which means oil cakes.  I found a few recipes online but they seemed lacking something….then I discovered this site, Taste of Beirut . This recipe seemed to be what I was looking for. The only change I made was to add Orange Blossom Water.  I don’t know why but it seemed to me that I remembered Jamie mentioning that flavor although when I replayed it he had not.  I also halved the recipe from her site because I wasn’t sure if this was it and didn’t want to make mass amounts of cookies that I would dislike. I should have made the whole batch.

• 1.75 oz olive oil  (use a good fruity oil for the flavor)
• peel of 1/4 lemon or orange (I used lemon)
• 1/2 Tb anise seed
• 1.35 oz white wine or orange juice
• .3 oz orange blossom water
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder plus 1/8 tsp
• 1 1/2 Tb sugar (plus more for sprinkling on top)
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• sesame seeds                            

Heat the oil in a saucepan with the lemon peel until the peel is brownish, remove from heat, remove the peel and add the anise seed. Let it cool down.

Lemon peel in oil

                          

Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar & cinnamon in a bowl. Add the wine, flower water & oil to the mix. Combine well and let rest for 30 mins or overnight in the fridge. 

The dough will be oily. Now roll into balls and press flat, you want these very thin.  Next time (and there will be a next time!) I will actually roll these flat.  Place on a parchment or silicone covered baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar and sesame seeds. You can also sprinkle with some cinnamon if you want.

Bake in a 325 oven for about 15 minutes. They should be golden. I actually left them in for about 17 mins but they were probably a little thicker than they should have been.  I will also make them larger in diameter next time.

These were delicious!  Not too sweet and very flavorful.  I also looked at some of the Spanish sites and they seem to add yeast to these so I might try that next time. 

A bitter-sweet trip to Paris

Tags

dessert, food, gluten free, Ispahan, Lychee, macaron, Paris, Pierre Herme, rose water, sweet

My sister lived in Paris not so long ago. 2001 to be exact. We (me, my ex and his daughter) went to visit her and we arrived on 9/10. The next morning she burst into the room as we slept, jet lagged and yelled something about terrorists attacking New York. She had been walking past a bar and saw a plane go into one of the twin towers. She thought it was a movie until she kept seeing it on the tv screens of restaurant, after bar, after restaurant and realized it was real. It was such a strange trip. Wonderful to see her, wonderful to be in Paris and surreal to see the images of 9/11 from such distance and from a foreign point of view. I don’t think I’ve ever truly grapsed what went on at home, what those initial nationwide feelings were. We got the European view. We went to a vigil in France where people were sad and supportive of America. Things changed later. If you live in the US you probably remember the attempt to use “Freedom Fries” instead of “French Fries”. I don’t think the US will ever be the same as it was before that day.

But this story has a sweet side too. Paris was where I discovered Macarons!  Not macaroons the equally delicious coconut cookie. There’s a bakery by my mothers that makes those amazing coconut macaroons, someday I will have to try to figure out what their secret is. But today is not that day.

Parisian Macarons

I’m sure you may have noticed them at a bakery near you lately? There seems to be an awareness of them recently. If you have not tried one you really must. They are crisp and yet chewy, sweet and filled with a creamy center usually. An exotic, elegant Oreo if you will.  I adore them. I also had forgotten about them since that trip. Until I saw a book while browsing my local Half Priced Books.  There in front of me was a glorious reminder of all the great things about that strange trip…..walking around Paris at night, looking at all the old beautiful buildings and yes, always on the look out for dog poop. You really will see it all over the sidewalks and many unfortunates step in it as they are looking around, be always on guard! The food is really good there too. I had some memorable meals in that city with my sister.  The book that brought it all back.

You can make these at home?!!?!

 I never considered that I could make these myself! Of course you can.  One warning, the book overcomplicates it.  There’s so much talk of aged egg whites (?!?), letting the macarons sit before you put them in the oven, and on and on. I fell for all this     nonsense and had a wonderful experience making them and then a disaster!

Luckily for me I came upon a blog in my travels that debunked all the myths. After all, she said you are making a cookie, I’m paraphrasing slightly here.  Her site is called BraveTart and I suggest if you have any interest in making Macarons you go there and read her 10 myths and her 10 commandments of macaron-making.

I’ve also recently come across lots of posts about pastries in Paris and one particular name keeps coming up as a genius of dessert! Pierre Herme and the dessert that caught my imagination is called Ispahan.  Ispahan is the name of a Damascus Rose with a beautiful fragrance.   The dessert is a combination of Rose, Lychee and Rasperries and from what I can tell the combination is used in a macaron.

Now I’m half Greek so rose scented sweets are nothing new to me. It’s a familiar flavor along with mastica, cloves, all spice etc.  Lychees are another flavor I adore, they are similar in flavor to roses in a way so I get the combination and rasperries?  Who doesn’t like rasperries?  My only thought is that the rasperry might overpower the rest of the flavors.  I also found a blogger who has attempted her own version of this macaron….The Pleasure Monger  she is macaron obsessed and has some very creative cominations.  In this one she uses a lychee marscapone filling and a tea infused jelly!  Well that got me to thinking.

Now I know one day I MUST get an actual Pierre Herme Ispahan but until that day comes I will make a riff as mucisian say on that theme.  Here’s what I came up with……….. Greeks eat alot of Turkish food and yet they claim to despise the Turks, their old nemesis.  They drink Turkish coffee, they eat Turkish delight, which they call Loukoumi.  Turkish delight is rose flavored gel basically, very sweet and very good.  My riff started with imagining a very thin layer of this.

Super thin Turkish delight

 To make this you will need rose water. Most ethnic type stores will have it, usually if they carry middle eastern products.

• 1/2 c powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 Tb cornstarch
• 1 c water
• 1/4 c suga
• r2 Tb rose water

 Combine all the ingredients except the rose water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to med low and cook for about an hour, whisking often.  Add the rose water in the last 10 mins and stir well. Remove from heat and immediately pour onto a silicone baking sheet or well greased parchment paper.  You might be able to used greased plastic wrap but I’m afraid it might melt. Let it sit at room tempurature until it cools down. It will be sticky.  If you were going to just make it into Turkish delight you would make much more and put it in a pan, it would be about 1 inch thick and then you would slice it and roll it in powdered sugar. Some people add nuts such as pistachios to it, I prefer it plain.

 Macarons (I’m using BraveTarts basic recipe here, it works very well. Go to the link above and read before you make them)

• 4 oz almond flour
• 8 oz powdered sugar
• 5 oz egg whites
• 2 1/2 oz sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 300. Combine the almond flour with the powdered sugar in a food processor and blend very well.  Whip the egg whites with the regular sugar in a mixer until you get stiff whites.  It takes about 9 minutes at med-high speed. When they are stiff add the salt & vanilla and whisk again for about a minute to combine really well.  Fold in the almond/sugar mixture all at once until it reaches a lava like stage. This is the hardest part because you can overmix. You will be putting the batter into a piping bag and piping circles onto your baking sheet so you don’t want it to be too runny.  Please read her post for tips. Bake on a parchment covered sheet for 18-20 minutes.  If the macaron comes off the sheet easily and doesn’t stick they are done. Let them cool. Brilliant!

crunchy, chewy goodness

The filling was where I had problems and will have to try again….isn’t that too bad?  I tried basing it off The Pleasure Monger’s recipe.

•  1/2 package of cream cheese

• 2 Tb sour cream

• splash of milk

• 1/2 cup white chocolate

• 2 Tb butter

• 1/4-1/2 c lychee juice

Melt the white chocolate and butter in a bowl over simmering water. Combine the cream cheese, sour cream and milk until it’s smooth. I blasted it in the microwave for a few seconds.  Add it to the white chocolate mixture and start to add in the lychee juice, tasting it until it’s the flavor is strong.  Her recipe calls for pureed lychees but I didn’t find any fresh or canned locally and didn’t want to go all over. I thought the juice would work but the mixture was too runny.  I tried thickening it with tapioca starch but it should have been thicker.  Next time………. Oh and they were a big hit at my office!

Lychee rose

Strictly for my crepes!

Tags

Breakfast, crepes, dessert, dinner, food, savory, snack, sourdough, sweet, wild yeast, yum

The wild yeast starter obsession continues …I recently discovered you can make crepes with the discarded starter!  Crepes….I adore crepes….filled with pretty much anything I can think of. Nutella being the most obvious and the one I decided not to use this time around.  Mostly because my jar of Nutella is almost empty and I’m too lazy to go to the store on a Saturday morning!

Lazy dogs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So this actually starts the night before.  Take 3/4 cup of the sourdough starter (before you refresh it) add one cup warm water and 1 1/4 c flour. Mix together, cover and let sit for 8-12 hours.  It will be bubbly.

 

 

In the morning, beat 2 eggs (at room temp) with 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil and then add to the batter.  Mix together 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1 Tb sugar. Sprinkle onto the batter, stir, cover and let sit for at least 15 mins. Original recipe here

To make the crepes you can use a variety of pans, it’s really personal preference. I know some people say you must use a crepe pan but I’ve used many different types of pans and found they all work once you find the right temperature for each one.  I currently use a cast iron skillet for pretty much everything, so that is what I used for this!  I heated it up on med until drops of water sprinkled on it sizzled and evaporated. I then wiped it with a paper towel with some veg oil on it and turned it down one notch.

thin layer of batter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The batter has to be thin enough to spread on the bottom of the pan fairly easily. If it’s too thick just add a little bit of warm water until you get the right consistency.  I pour some batter into the pan and then pick it up and swirl it around to coat the bottom.  Flip it over once the bottom is light brown, it cooks very quickly.

  

The thing I love about crepes is that you can fill them with pretty much anything! Sweet or savory.  We had shrimp salad, made with scallions, fennel seed and celery seed, ham & cheese, ham & mango, plain mango and Meyer lemon with powdered sugar (my favorite).  You can also store left over crepes (unfilled) in the refrigerator and heat them up in the microwave and then fill….but….I had no leftovers! We ate them all!!!!! 

Some choices.

 

I’ve heard of some amazing fillings, like:  Roasted garlic with brie; Peaches or apples with vanilla ice cream,; poached pears with chocolate syrup; blueberries & cream; asparagus, ham & gruyere; curry chicken or curried vegetables; hummus, sweet potato and spinach; potato,eggs, cheddar cheese & roasted peppers. It’s really limited only by your imagination.  You can also add herbs, mustard, cinnamon or vanilla etc to the batter itself!

shrimp filled crepe.

 

 I would love to hear what you use to fill a crepe! 

 

 

 

Poached Pear souffle a la Tartlette

Tags

baking, creamy, dessert, food, gluten free, pear, souffle, sweet, yum

I found a wonderful blog http://www.tarteletteblog.com She has the most delicio looking desserts on there, plus some good, what I call “regular” food recipes too.  Anyway, I was intrigued by one called a Poached Pear Almond fallen Souffle Cake I believe.  Since it’s fall and there are pears everywhere, I had to try it.  Here is the recipe and then my results.

Poached Pear And Almond Fallen Souffle Cakes:

Makes 6

She did not remove the center, seeds etc so I didn’t either.
For the poached pears:
6 mini d’Anjou pears, peeled (I used 4 d”Anjou and 2 Bartlett)
1/2 cup  sugar
2-3 cloves
2-3 cardamom pods (I used about /21 tsp ground cardamom)
1 stick cinnamon
5-6 allspice berries
1-2 star anise
1/2 lemon
4 cups (1 liter) water

For the cakes:
3 tablespoons (40gr) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup (190ml) heavy cream
1 cup ground almonds

1/4 cup (40gr) sorghum flour (I used 1/4 cup all purpose flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder

Prepare the pears:
Place the pears, spices, lemon and water in tall saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Lower the heat and let them simmerfor 15-20 minutes or until the pears are just soft (poke with a toothpick to check).
Remove from the water using a slotted spoon and allow to cool on paper towel or baking rack.

Prepare the cakes:
Preheat the oven to 350F and position a rack in the middle.
Slightly butter or spray 6 ramekins and place them on a baking sheet. Set aside.
In the bowl if an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffly (about 3 minutes). Add the eggs, one a time and beat well in between each addition. Reduce the speed to low and add the vanilla, heavy cream, almonds, flour and baking powder and beat until incorporated. Fill each ramekins about 1/3 full with the batter and place a poached pear in the center.
Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Just out of the oven

I had no ramekins so I had to rush out and get these.

The pears smelled heavenly as they were poaching and I was so excited to finish this.  I wonder if there are any uses for the leftover poaching liquid cause it seemed such a shame to throw it away. It smelled drinkable!  I might try reducing it to a syrup and pouring it over these before serving.  I made the batter, added it to the ramekin, popped a pear in each one and into the oven they went.

So the verdict:  They taste wonderful, the insides seemed a little undercooked but the tops were too brown to allow more cooking.  The texture reminded me of a type of halvah they make in Greece which is more like a cake than the paste that the Persians make.  A bit grainy which might mean I need to process the almonds longer.  I think next time (and there will be a next time) I will change the almond and flour mix to have more flour.  I didn’t end up making a syrup because we couldn’t wait to try them. Jason would have eaten them all in one sitting if I didn’t restrain him!

Don't they look sinfully good?

Meyer lemons, how I love you, let me count the ways.

Tags

almond, baking, blueberry, food, Meyer lemon, muffins, snack, sweet, yum

My little dumplings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They caught me the instant I walked into the supermarket.  Meyer lemons I squealed! (yes unfortunately I did let out a squeal)  J. grabbed a bag without my even asking, he is quite aware of my Meyer lemon obssession.  I had no idea they were available.  If you have never had one you just must.  When they are available I use them constantly, fish, chicken, I slice them thinly and bake them with the dish and then eat them up.  You can eat the peel and all.  And desserts….oh desserts.

 

I had been considering an orange, blueberry, almond recipe from the cookbook “Baked, new frontier in baking” by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito.  I really enjoy their cookbooks.  Anyway better than orange would be Meyer lemon muffins! 

MMMMMMMMMMMMeyer!

 

      Just my luck that it snowed

      today so I got to stay home

      and bake the muffins!

      I changed a few things

      besides adding the Meyers.

      I added more ground

      almond and almond extract.

      J said these were the best

      muffins he’s ever had. 

      He doesn’t care for cakes

      and muffins that much so

      it said alot.  I will be making

      these again!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

zest of 1 Meyer lemon

1/2 cup fresh orange juice, next time I will try lemon juice (Meyer of course)

1/2 c milk

2 egg whties

4 Tb melted butter (let cool)

1/2 tsp almond extract

 

Whip the above ingredients together.  In a separate bowl mix together:

 

1/2 c ground almonds

2 c flour

3/4 c sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

 

Add the wet ingredients to the dry until just combined.  Add 3/4 c blueberries to the batter.  If you are using frozen blueberries, rinse well and toss with flour.   Preheat the oven to 375 and grease 12 muffin tins.  Fill the tins 3/4 with batter and decorate the top with sliced almonds if you want.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool in the pan for 15 mins and then remove to a wire rack.

 

Lovely flavor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now I’m off to make lemon curd!  Meyer lemon curd that is!  And then…I’ve heard that you can grow citrus trees inside……