Cincinnati's "Via Vite" e molto BENE!!

I went for my second dinner at Fountain Square's "Via Vite" restaurant yesterday. Each trip has left me and my husband enormously impressed. The restaurant sits right on the square and the exterior walls are basically all glass, so you can see all the salsa dancing, the crowds, the families, the singles mingling out on the square. You can feel the positive energy out there, and it's like you're in another city altogether -- not somewhere tucked in the mid-west. The restaurant also has outdoor seating, which would be ideal on a perfect summer or fall evening.

Equally as impressive is the interior of the restaurant. The decor in this place is pure class: beautiful wood tables, lovely banquettes covered with a tan and brown fabric, a sparkling bar, gorgeous lighting. It's modern and sleek without being intimidating. The waitstaff is young and seems to be mostly male, and while they are not perfectly polished they are eager to please.

The food: We went to Via Vite yesterday for Cincinnati's Downtown Restaurant Week -- a group of downtown restaurants are offering $35 3-course dinners all week. I chose to start with a warm goat cheese salad with truffle oil and pistachios. That salad could have been my entire meal, not that it was so filling but it was so GOOD. The flavors blended perfectly together and the vinaigrette they used was light and didn't mask the delicate truffle flavor in the oil. They paired it with a Pinot Grigio which was a really great pairing.

For my main course I had something called gnudi. It basically means "nude" in Italian, and it is the interior of what would be a ravioli or a tortellini (ricotta and spinach) with a light egg coating but no pasta. It was very delicate, served in a buttery sauce (which may have been a bit too heavy) and with shaved truffles. I LOVE those truffles, they just make my toes curl. They paired this dish with an Italian red wine...I can't remember which but it was good. And their glasses of wine are VERY generous.

For dessert, I had the espresso creme brulee. It was simple, but the texture was perfect and it was a bit lighter than most creme brulees I've had. Nothing to write home about, but nothing to be disappointed in either.

I feel like Fountain Square has been reborn, with the evening activities all summer and the new restaurants that flank its sides. Via Vite was packed yesterday evening, and I suspect it will remain packed as long as it keeps serving up such wonderful Italian food.

Daring Baker's Challenge for July: Marshmallow Cookies

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

Remember Mallomars? Those yummy cookies with a chocolate covered marshmallow on top? Ahh, the joys of youth....Since I hadn't had one of these cookies since I was probably 10, I was so suprised when we were asked to create our own version for this month's Daring Baker's Challenge!

We were allowed to make a variation as far as filling goes, so I filled mine with a dollop of raspberry jam, very simple. The hardest part of this challenge was probably the marshmallow and getting it onto the cookie without a sticky disaster on your hands. But with a pastry bag I was able to manage it pretty well, and it was very exciting to make my own marshmallow after thinking about it for years but putting it off!

These were really excellent and gobbled up in no time, but I think that in the future I will buy them, they were a little bit time consuming for something that is not necessarily better homemade!

Mallows(Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies)

Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website

Prep Time: 10 min

Inactive Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 10 min

Serves: about 2 dozen cookies

• 3 cups (375grams/13.23oz) all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup (112.5grams/3.97oz) white sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter

• 3 eggs, whisked together

• Homemade marshmallows, recipe follows

• Chocolate glaze, recipe follows

1. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients.

2. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy.

3. Add the eggs and mix until combine.

4. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.

5. When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.

6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

7. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 1 to 1 1/2 inches cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough.

8. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.

9. Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours.

10. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.

11. One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze.

12. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.

13. Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

Note: if you don’t want to make your own marshmallows, you can cut a large marshmallow in half and place on the cookie base. Heat in a preheated 350-degree oven to slump the marshmallow slightly, it will expand and brown a little. Let cool, then proceed with the chocolate dipping.

Homemade marshmallows:

• 1/4 cup water

• 1/4 cup light corn syrup

• 3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar

• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin

• 2 tablespoons cold water

• 2 egg whites , room temperature

• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.

2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.

3. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.

4. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.

5. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.

6. Transfer to a pastry bag.

Chocolate glaze:

• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate•

2 ounces cocoa butter or vegetable oil

1. Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water.

Daring Bakers Challenge for June: Almond Tart!

Bakewell Tart…er…pudding

Hostess: Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict
Co-hostess: Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

Bakewell tarts…er…puddings combine a number of dessert elements but still let you show off your area’s seasonal fruits.

Like many regional dishes there’s no “one way” to make a Bakewell Tart…er…Pudding, but most of today’s versions fall within one of two types. The first is the “pudding” where a layer of jam is covered by an almondy pastry cream and baked in puff pastry. The second is the “tart” where a rich shortcrust pastry holds jam and an almondy sponge cake-like filling.

The version we’re daring you to make is a combination of the two: a sweet almond-flavoured shortcrust pastry, frangipane and jam.

Makes one 23cm (9” tart)
Prep time: less than 10 minutes (plus time for the individual elements)
Resting time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes
Equipment needed: 23cm (9”) tart pan or pie tin (preferably with ridged edges), rolling pin

One quantity sweet shortcrust pastry (recipe follows) Bench flour 250ml (1cup (8 US fl. oz)) jam or curd, warmed for spreadability
One quantity frangipane (recipe follows)
One handful blanched, flaked almonds

Assembling the tart
Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish. When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

Jasmine’s notes:
• If you cannot have nuts, you can try substituting Victoria sponge for the frangipane. It's a pretty popular popular cake, so you shouldn't have any troubles finding one in one of your cookbooks or through a Google search. That said, our dear Natalie at Gluten a Go Go has sourced some recipes and linked to them in the related alt.db thread.
• You can use whichever jam you wish, but if you choose something with a lot of seeds, such as raspberry or blackberry, you should sieve them out.
• The jam quantity can be anywhere from 60ml (1/4 cup) to 250ml (1cup), depending upon how “damp” and strongly flavoured your preserves are. I made it with the lesser quantity of home made strawberry jam, while Annemarie made it with the greater quantity of cherry jam; we both had fabulous results. If in doubt, just split the difference and spread 150ml (2/3cup) on the crust.

Annemarie’s notes:
• The excess shortcrust can be rolled out and cut into cookie-shapes (heck, it’s pretty darned close to a shortbread dough).

Sweet shortcrust pastry

Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)
Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film

225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Jasmine’s notes:
• I make this using vanilla salt and vanilla sugar.
• If you wish, you can substitute the seeds of one vanilla bean, one teaspoon of vanilla paste or one teaspoon of vanilla extract for the almond extract

Frangipane

Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.

Annemarie’s notes:
• Add another five minutes or more if you're grinding your own almonds or if you're mixing by hand (Heaven help you).

Daring Baker's Challenge for May: Apple Streudel

Or shall we say, "Ahhhpfell schtruuuudelll". My little girl is going to a German immersion school next year, much to my linguistic chagrin (why can't the French school be as good as the German school? Why? Why?). So it is high time I learn how to cook SOMETHING German, and hey, why not start with a "schtruuudell"...just my luck that it was chosen as this month's Daring Baker's challenge by Courtney of Coco Cooks Linda of make life sweeter.

When I first heard that this was the challenge, I must admit that I made a frown face...there's really nothing about streudel that entices me. I'm not a fan, I can't stand rolling things until they are paper thin, and I thought "what in the world am I going to do with a streudel that is as long as my arm?" But then I bucked up and thought "I could be the Queen Mum of Fairview German Language School with my homemade streudel, I'll be "the streudel mom"" , and off I went.

I will have to say that the rolling process was one of the worst experiences of my culinary life. I think I developed biceps on my biceps rolling this dough. I may need to visit a chiropractor. I understand now why people just buy their streudel rather than make it. Yeesh. But once it was filled (a messy, messy process) and rolled up, I slit the top and added some pearl sugar and "voila"....I got myself some streudel! It was yummy too, great with vanilla ice cream. But this makes a huuuuge load of streudel. Be streudel-ready, or have a streudel party.

One thing about streudel...eat it hot, fresh out of the oven. Otherwise your streudel will be soggy and messy....

Guten Appetit!

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.


Preparation timeTotal: 2 hours 15 minutes – 3 hours 30 minutes
15-20 min to make dough

30-90 min to let dough rest/to prepare the filling

20-30 min to roll out and stretch dough

10 min to fill and roll dough

30 min to bake30 min to cool


Apple strudelfrom “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers


2 tablespoons (30 ml) golden rum

3 tablespoons (45 ml) raisins

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (80 g) sugar1/2 cup (1 stick / 115 g) unsalted butter, melted, divided

1 1/2 cups (350 ml) fresh bread crumbs

strudel dough (recipe below)

1/2 cup (120 ml, about 60 g) coarsely chopped walnuts

2 pounds (900 g) tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch-thick slices (use apples that hold their shape during baking)


1. Mix the rum and raisins in a bowl. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.
2. Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the breadcrumbs and cook whilst stirring until golden and toasted. This will take about 3 minutes. Let it cool completely.
3. Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a large baking sheet with baking paper (parchment paper). Make the strudel dough as described below. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using your hands (a bristle brush could tear the dough, you could use a special feather pastry brush instead of your hands). Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs. Spread the walnuts about 3 inches (8 cm) from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch-(15cm)-wide strip. Mix the apples with the raisins (including the rum), and the cinnamon sugar. Spread the mixture over the walnuts.
4. Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.
5. Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.




Strudel doughfrom “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers


1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed

2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough

1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar


1. Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.
2. Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).
3. It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.


4. The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.


Tips-

Ingredients are cheap so we would recommend making a double batch of the dough, that way you can practice the pulling and stretching of the dough with the first batch and if it doesn't come out like it should you can use the second batch to give it another try;- The tablecloth can be cotton or polyster;- Before pulling and stretching the dough, remove your jewelry from hands and wrists, and wear short-sleeves;- To make it easier to pull the dough, you can use your hip to secure the dough against the edge of the table;- Few small holes in the dough is not a problem as the dough will be rolled, making (most of) the holes invisible.

Daring Baker's Challenge for February: Flourless Chocolate "Valentino" Cake

When I saw that this month's challenge was a flourless chocolate cake, I danced a jig in my soul...these are easy cakes to make, they come out great and the challenge allowed us to make an ice cream of our choice. I haven't made ice cream in ages so that was an added "bonus".

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. They chose a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge. I did mint ice cream instead.

The first thing that hit me about the recipe was its minimalist ingredients...I have made flourless chocolate cakes, and my favorite one has 1/2 cup of sugar in it. I assume this is to cut the "bitter" from the bittersweet / semisweet chocolate. And so, not wanting to mess with the recipe, I made it exactly as printed.

The cake was very easy to make (melt chocolate and butter, beat egg whites, voila) and it puffed up really nice. As it was baking, I made mint ice cream from Pierre Herme's Chocolate Desserts cookbook, which was easy to make and delicious but incorporated waaaaaay too many mint leaves. I don't like to chew my ice cream! But at least my dessert had fiber.

So the judgment hour was upon me as I brought my cakes and my ice cream to a friend's house for dinner. The first bite was definitely an 'oh wow this is good' bite for all of us. But I noticed that after about 3 bites, all the forks kind of went down and coffee drinking and chatting continued. Why were we not devouring this dessert? It was chocolate, it was cake, it was VALRHONA and cost me a bundle to make! Eat, dammit!! EAT! I know at that moment I wasn't even involved in the conversation, I was just waiting for someone to eat. But they seemed done. Why?

I think, in all honesty, that the chocolate (56% cacao) was too bittersweet, and that the recipe needed that 1/2 cup of sugar. This clarifies why the other flourless chocolate cakes I've made included a bit of sugar and tasted better in the end. I do think that this cake was good, but that the sugar would have made it much more "devourable".

In all, this is a good recipe but not the one I will use for flourless chocolate cake in the future. Or maybe I'll try it again, but add some sugar and see how it turns out! As for the ice cream, it was delicious...but Pierre calls for one heck of a lot of chopped mint!

Bon appetit!

Chocolate Valentino

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped

½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter

5 large eggs separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.

2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.

3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.

4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).

5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.

6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.

7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter.

8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C

9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C.

Pierre Hermé's "Classic Hot Chocolate"

I feel like I've been a prisoner in my own home for the last week. Snow, snow, snow. You can only have so many snow days before you start to lose it a little. So I search for something to life my spirits. And nothing goes with snow quite like a good hot chocolate....which becomes the highlight of my snow days. Typically I serve my small children Swiss Miss. They love it, me..not so much. But it's warm and tastes somewhat like chocolate, so I just do it. But I had my last cup two days ago, there's no going back after Pierre's hot chocolate....

So yesterday while the snow was literally piling up outside, the kids were in bed, my husband was on the road trying to get home, I decided to make myself some real European hot chocolate. Anyone who's been to a café in Paris and ordered a "chocolat viennois" knows what I'm talking about...their hot chocolate is so rich, so decadent, you feel it from your head to your toes. The tastes almost come in layers, with a great punch of chocolate at the end. So I pulled out Pierre Hermé's "Chocolate Desserts" book and made his very simple "Classic Hot Chocolate".

One sip made me want to break out one of those Madeleines I made a few weeks ago. This sip took me right back to a little café on the Ile St. Louis in Paris, where they make the best and richest hot chocolate you'd ever drink. I never knew their secret, but it's one of those "must visits" when I'm in Paris, summer or winter. Turns out, their secret is just good, real chocolate. Not powder, but real dark chocolate. I never knew...it's as easy as that. Pierre's recipe proves it.

I might make another tonight...It's full of anti-oxidants, so they say!

Classic Hot Chocolate

(serves 2...I made 1/2 the recipe for one serving)

2 cups whole milk (I used skim, but I know whole would have been soooo much more sinful)

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup sugar (I found it a bit too sweet. Next time I will omit the sugar and add it at the end if necessary)

4 ounces melted bittersweet chocolate (NOT CHIPS)....a good chocolate like Valrhona would be best ( I didn't pre-melt mine, I just chopped it and let it melt in the milk)

Bring the milk, water and sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Add the chocolate and stir with a whisk until it combines. Pull the saucepan from the heat and whip for about one minute with an immersion blender or in a regular blender. Serve immediately in large cups, or you can refrigerate it for two days, covered tightly.

Madeleines

In Marcel Proust's Remembrance of Things Past (A la recherche du temps perdu) he uses the taste of a madeleine dipped in a cup of tea as a catalyst to involuntary memory in his main character. As a man, Swann takes a bite of a madeleine dipped into his cup of tea, and immediately he is thrown back to his grandmother's kitchen where he recalls the same flavors and scents as a young boy. If you've seen the movie "Ratatouille", they do the same thing when the food critic takes a bite of food at Remy's restaurant and is immediately transported to his childhood kitchen and mother's cooking. We've all had that experience, where we taste, smell or hear something that makes us recall something from our past.

I think Proust had a great idea in choosing the madeleine for this purpose. After living in Europe and having madeleines rather frequently, I find that every time I have another one, I am immediately swept back to the streets of Paris, madeleine in hand. Or at the breakfast table in Tours, having madeleines and coffee. Madeleines were a big part of my European life, shall we say. I have been dying to make madeleines at home for years, yes years. I used to buy them at Trader Joe's, so I didn't have to make them, but TJ's discontinued them (foolish error!)...so I have been left to my own devices. I scoured Dorie Greenspan's Baking cookbook (a MUST HAVE by the way) and found a plethora of madeleine recipes. I chose the basic one, but I will try the others in the future, because this is one easy recipe.

I made the madeleines for a New Year's Day brunch, and they were devoured in no time. Unfortunately I didn't get the characteristic hump on the back of the madeleines like I would have liked. I understand the trick to that is having cold batter. Mine was in the refrigerator overnight, so I'm not sure where I went wrong, but practice makes perfect! In any case, these are a keeper, and they will wow your friends!!


Traditional Madeleines

Source: Dorie Greenspan, Baking: From My Home to Yours

2/3 cup all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
½ cup sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¾ stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Working in a mixer bowl, or in a large bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the eggs to the bowl. Working with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together on medium-high speed until pale, thick and light, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla.

With a rubber spatula, very gently fold in the dry ingredients, followed by the melted butter. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the batter and refrigerate it for at least 3 hours, or for up to 2 days. This long chill period will help the batter form the hump that is characteristic of madeleines.

(For convenience, you can spoon the batter into the madeleine molds, cover and refrigerate, then bake the cookies directly from the fridge; see below for instructions on prepping the pans.)
GETTING READY TO BAKE:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter 12 full-size madeleine molds, or up to 36 mini madeleine molds, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Or, if you have a nonstick pan (or pans), give it a light coating of vegetable cooking spray. If you have a silicone pan, no prep is needed. Place the pan(s) on a baking sheet.

Spoon the batter into the molds, filling each one almost to the top. Don’t worry about spreading the batter evenly, the oven’s heat will take care of that. Bake large madeleines for 11 to 13 minutes, and minis for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are golden and the tops spring back when touched. Remove the pan(s) from the oven and release the madeleines from the molds by rapping the edge of the pan against the counter. Gently pry any recalcitrant madeleines from the pan using your fingers or a butter knife. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool to just warm or to room temperature.

If you are making minis and have more batter, bake the next batch(es), making certain that you cool, then properly prepare the pan(s) before baking.

Just before serving, dust the madeleines with confectioners’ sugar.

Makes 12 large or 36 mini cookies

Serving: Serve the cookies when they are only slightly warm or when they reach room temperature, with tea or espresso.

Storing: Although the batter can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, the madeleines should be eaten soon after they are made. You can keep them overnight in a sealed container, but they really are better on day 1. If you must store them, wrap them airtight and freeze them; they’ll keep for up to 2 months.

Inaugural Carrot Cake!

I'm off to an Inauguration Party tonight chez some good friends. I've been asked to create an "Obama cake". I was stumped, I'm not a great decorator and had no clue how to make an "Obama cake".

Thank goodness for the Internet...where you can find things like "Obama's logo stencil" for free! I downloaded, made this wonderful carrot cake from Epicurious.com (the BEST CARROT CAKE EVER), and frosted it with gobs of cream cheese frosting.

To make the design, I cut the stencil out, and used cake "glitter" which I purchased at Michael's. Et voila....an Obama-teau!

Daring Baker's Challenge for November: Caramel Cake

Caramel is good. Who doesn't like it? Especially salted or with good chocolate, you can't beat a good hunk of caramel. But caramel in a cake...and in its frosting...well, too much of a good thing suddenly becomes not so good anymore. That's how I feel about the Daring Bakers Challenge for November: caramel cake. A bite of this cake was good, a few bites made me wonder about when my next dental appointment was, and a piece of it made me feel pretty uneasy for the next 24 hours. Yes, I should have stopped. But I soooo wanted to like it and so I kept forcing it down.

It has to be hard to choose a recipe for the Daring Bakers group. This month this daunting task went to: Dolores, Alex, and Jenny. A huge thank you to them for doing what so many of us have never had to do. Here you have a group of well over 1,000 people around the world, all with varying abilities and tastes, and as with everything in life you simply can't please everyone. I give kudos to all those who do all the research necessary to choose a recipe for the Daring Baker's group.

Usually I'm rather challenged and pretty excited about the monthly challenges. But this cake just didn't do it for me, and I'm sure that this is just a personal opinion. The cake prep itself was very straight-forward, as was the icing. The real challenge in this cake was in making the caramel, so that's good that bakers who had never made their own caramel got a chance to do so. The cake just turned out so very sweet, even with the addition of a huge amount of fleur de sel in the icing, it was still almost inedibly sweet. I brought it to dinner for a friend's birthday, and suffice it to say that this dessert-loving group ate very little of their servings and then declined taking home the leftovers. This was not a good sign! I think the cake would have been better either unfrosted, or with a cream cheese frosting. Something to cut the sweet factor waaaay down.

So, making this cake was a good experience in caramel, but I don't think I would make it again. My always reliable taste-testers were unimpressed, and there are simply too many other great cakes out there and too little time!

The recipe can be found on the Web site of Shuna Fish Lydon, who created it.

Chocolate Espresso Macarons

More and more, I am being associated with the macarons I bring to various parties and events. After 1 1/2 years of making them, I think I finally have the right recipe and "touch"...it takes a lot of practice to get that touch. But really, once you have it you have it, and you suddenly become a macaron superstar in your circle of friends and family.

So for a recent event I brought along a few batches of macarons: chocolate, salted butter caramel, and espresso. The other two recipes are already on the blog, the espresso ones are new so I will post about them here.

These suckers pack a punch of espresso, they taste great with coffee or hot chocolate and require nothing more than a bit of espresso powder.

For Macarons:
1 1/4 cups confectioner's sugar
1 cup almond flour
3 egg whites at room temperature
3 Tb. granulated sugar
pinch of cream of tartar
caramel coloring

Blend the confectioner's sugar and the almond flour in a food processor. Begin to whip the egg whites in a stand mixer until they start to froth. Add a pinch of cream of tartar, and as they foam up more gradually add the granulated sugar. Beat until stiff.

Add the almond mixture to the egg white mixture and fold until the mixture begins to flow "like magma". I would say this will take about 40 - 60 turns of the spatula.

Fill pastry bag fitted with 1/4 " tip and make 1 inch mounds on cookie sheets lined with either parchment or a silpat. Let sit for at least 20 minutes. Sift a bit of espresso powder (not too much) on each macaron before baking. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 12 minutes.

Chocolate/Espresso Filling
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2 teaspoons corn syrup
1/2 cup cream
1 Tb. butter
1 tsp. espresso powder


Chop the chocolate into small pieces and place in a small to medium bowl. Heat the cream, espresso powder and corn syrup until hot and bubbles form on the outside edge of the cream. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let sit for 1 minute. Add the butter and stir until it comes together. Refrigerate until ganache is at a spreadable consistency.

Spread ganache over the flat side of one macaron cookie. Top with another macaron.

.

The Best Pumpkin Pie You'll Ever Eat

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin pie. It's always rather gloppy and heavy, you could ball it up and throw it at the person sitting opposite you if you really wanted to. That's not appealing to me in my pie, or my dinner guest. So while perusing my Thanksgiving edition of Bon Appetit magazine, I saw an entire section devoted to the almighty pumpkin. Intrigued by some pretty good looking recipes, I decided to take on their "Pumpkin Butterscotch Pie" and go one further: I used a REAL pumpkin. No can 'o pumpkin puree for moi, I got the real thing. I had never done this in my life, and didn't know if it would make a difference.

OH MY GOD. The difference was astounding. The real pumpkin made the pie really light and smooth, almost like a light custard, rather than heavy like canned pumpkin tends to be. I've vowed that from now on, this will be my pumpkin pie recipe, and real pumpkin will be my partner in crime.

I'm cooking for zee French for Thanksgiving this year (well, not all zee French, only 3), and I'm pretty sure they've never thought to make a pumpkin into a pie. This pie will surely amaze.

(To get pumpkin puree, slice pie pumpkin (not Halloween carving pumpkin) in half, remove seeds and strings, turn upside down in about 1/2 inch of water in a pan, and bake at 350 until the pumpkin is soft, about 45 minutes. Remove the flesh from the pumpkin shell, puree in a food processor until smooth. Let cool before you use it for the pie.)

Pumpkin Butterscotch Pie

Crust:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp salt
10 tsp chilled, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubews
3 Tb. ice water

Filling:
3/4 cup packed golden brown sugar, divided
2 Tb. unsalted butter
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup Scotch (I didn't use this)
1 1/4 cups whipping cream
1 cup canned pumpkin (or puree of one small pie pumpkin)
3 large eggs
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground allspice

Crust:
Mix flour, sugar and salt in processor. Add butter. Using on/off turns, process until very course meal forms. Add 3 Tb.ice water. Using on/off turns, process until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if too dry. Gather dough into ball and flatten into disk. Wrap and chill for one hour.

Roll out dough to 12 - 13 inch round. Transfer to 9 inch diameter glass pie dish. Fold edges under and crimp as you wish. Chill dough until firm, about one hour.
(I used a tart pan with high sides, and i froze the dough for one hour, it eliminates bubbles while baking).

* Crust can be made one day ahead, cover unbaked crust and keep chilled.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line crust with sheet of foil. Fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake 20 minutes. Remove foil with beans. Bake until just beginning to turn golden brown, piercing with fork if bubbles form, about 15 minutes longer. Cool completely.

Filling:
Combine 1/2 cup brown sugar, butter and salt in medium saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil until deep brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add Scotch, then cream (mixture will bubble a lot) and whisk until smooth. Return to medium hea t and stir until most caramel bits dissolve. Strain butterscotch mixture into small bowl. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.

Whisk remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar and pumpkin in large bowl. Whisk in eggs, then spices. Add reserved butterscotch mixture, whisk to blend.

*Can be made one day ahead, cover and chill, rewhisk before using.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour filling into crust. Bake until just set, about 50 minutes. Cool to room temperature, about 3 hours.

*Can be made 8 hours ahead, store at room temperature.

Chocolate-Glazed Chocolate Tart with Fleur de Sel

If you are looking for an incredible easy dessert recipe for a chocoholic in your life, this is BY FAR the one. I jokingly refer to it as "chocolat/chocolat/chocolat" because it's basically three layers of chocolate: a chocolate cookie crust, a very smooth and truffle-like dark chocolate interior, and it is finished off with a gorgeous, shiny chocolate glaze.

The entire tart takes very little time or effort to make, and once served it disappears in no time. I've had friends beg me for the recipe, they like it so much. I found the recipe in the Paris edition of Gourmet Magazine (September, 2008...by the way, this edition is full of fabulous recipes). I have made the tart quite a few times, and after some experimentation I found that a sprinkling of fleur de sel on the finished tart makes the chocolate taste even better...it's that sweet and salty thing everyone loves. Plus, the fleur de sel looks so pretty on the shiny glaze.

Ingredients:
Crust:
9 chocolate graham crackers or chocolate cookies, finely ground (to make one cup)
5 Tb. unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar

Filling:
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
9 oz. bittersweet chocolate (not more than 65% cacao), chopped
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt

Glaze:
2 Tb. heavy cream
1 3/4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 tsp light corn syrup
1 Tb. warm water

For Crust:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Stir together all ingredients an dpress evenly onto the bottom and up the sides of a tart pan with a removable bottom. Bake until firm, about 10 minutes. Cool for 15 - 20 minutes

For Filling:
Bring cream to a boil, then pour it over the chocolate and let stand for 5 minutes. Gently stir until smooth. Whisk together eggs, vanilla and salt in another bowl, then stir into the melted chocolate.
Pour filling into cooled crust. Bake until filling is set about 3 inches from the edge, but center is still wobbly. This will be about 20 - 25 minutes.
Cool completely in pan on rack, about one hour.

For Glaze:
Bring cream to a boil and remove from heat. Stir in chocolate until smooth. Stir in corn syrup, then warm water.
Pour glaze onto tart, then tilt and rotate tart so glaze coats top evenly. Let stand until glaze is set, about one hour.
Sprinkle fleur de sel over top of glaze. (optional)

*Tart is best the day it is made. If you need to make it earlier, make it without the glaze and chill for one day. Bring it to room temperature, then add the glaze.

Daring Baker's Challenge for October: Pizza!

When I discovered that this month's Daring Baker's Challenge was homemade pizza, I was all at once happy, relieved, confident and a bit under-challenged. Happy because who doesn't love pizza? Pizza is a mainstay of my regime....love it, at least once a week. Relieved, confident and under-challenged? Well, that's because I make pizza just about once a week, using this exact recipe! Oh well...at least it's something I love to make and the family loves to eat!

The recipe is excellent. It makes some great pizza dough. Some of the best I've ever had, even in a pizza restaurant. It's easy, too. The trick is, you MUST let the dough rest overnight, and you MUST be sure to use ice water and cold flour. I've made this pizza dough so many times and it hasn't always come out great, usually because I skipped one of those two steps.

I decided to make two pizzas: one with olive oil, cheese (asiago/parmesan/mozzerella blend), figs and prosciutto for me and my husband, one with tomato sauce, cheese and pepperoni for the kids. As usual, they were gobbled up in one sitting!

Here's the recipe, and a big thank you to Rosa of Rosa's Yummy Yums for the challenge and sharing one great recipe with a lot of new pizza makers!

RECIPE SOURCE: “The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering The Art of Extraordinary Bread” by Peter Reinhart. Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA. Copyright 2001. ISBN-10: 1-58008-268-8, ISBN-13: 978-158008-268-6.

***************

~ BASIC PIZZA DOUGH ~
Original recipe taken from “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart.

Makes 6 pizza crusts (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter).

Ingredients:
4 1/2 Cups (20 1/4 ounces/607.5 g) Unbleached high-gluten (%14) bread flour or all purpose flour, chilled - FOR GF: 4 ½ cups GF Flour Blend with xanthan gum or 1 cup brown rice flour, 1 cup corn flour, 1 cup oat flour, 1 ½ cup arrowroot, potato or tapioca starch + 2 tsp xanthan or guar gum
1 3/4 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Instant yeast - FOR GF use 2 tsp
1/4 Cup (2 ounces/60g) Olive oil or vegetable oil (both optional, but it’s better with)
1 3/4 Cups (14 ounces/420g or 420ml) Water, ice cold (40° F/4.5° C)
1 Tb sugar - FOR GF use agave syrup
Semolina/durum flour or cornmeal for dusting

DAY ONE

Method:
1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer).

2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water.

NOTE: If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for the same amount of time.The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour, so that it clears the sides. If, on the contrary, it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a teaspoon or two of cold water.
The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50°-55° F/10°-13° C.


5. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Gently round each piece into a ball.

NOTE: If the dough sticks to your hands, then dip your hands into the flour again.

6. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.

7. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to thee days.

NOTE: You can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag if you want to save some of the dough for any future baking. In that case, pour some oil(a few tablespooons only) in a medium bowl and dip each dough ball into the oil, so that it is completely covered in oil. Then put each ball into a separate bag. Store the bags in the freezer for no longer than 3 months. The day before you plan to make pizza, remember to transfer the dough balls from the freezer to the refrigerator.

DAY TWO

8. On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours.



9. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F/260° C).

NOTE: If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a jelly pan. Do not preheat the pan.

10. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly pan with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss.


NOTE: Make only one pizza at a time.
During the tossing process, if the dough tends to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue the tossing and shaping.
In case you would be having trouble tossing the dough or if the dough never wants to expand and always springs back, let it rest for approximately 5-20 minutes in order for the gluten to relax fully,then try again.
You can also resort to using a rolling pin, although it isn’t as effective as the toss method.

11. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter - for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the back of the jelly pan, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan.




12. Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.


NOTE: Remember that the best pizzas are topped not too generously. No more than 3 or 4 toppings (including sauce and cheese) are sufficient.

13. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for abour 5-8 minutes.


NOTE: After 2 minutes baking, take a peek. For an even baking, rotate 180°.

If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone or jelly pane to a lower shelf before the next round. On the contrary, if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone or jelly.

14. Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.

Pierre Hermé's "Financiers"

I've been eyeing the recipe for Financiers in my Pierre Hermé cookbook for a long, long time. This is a treat I've had in France a few times, but not enough to be a real pro at what they should taste like. And usually they are not made of chocolate, but there seems to be nothing wrong with a chocolate financier! So my intrigue was at a high, all I needed was an excuse to bake them. My excuse? My French class was hungry for a treat. Enough said.

Basically, they are a chocolate almond cookie. The name translates more or less to "banker", because the pastry shop where they originated catered to many of the "financiers" in the bourse district of Paris. They are traditionally shaped like a bar of gold, but now you see them baked in boat-shaped molds. I used a baking pan with multiple mold shapes (flowers, hearts, bundts, etc.) and they turned out great.
Because of the almond flour, they are very moist and can be kept at room temperature for a number of days. Easy to make, yummy to eat...my kind of treat!

Ingredients:
3 /12 ounces (100 g) bittersweet chocolate
3 lg eggs
1/2 cup plus 1 Tb. sugar
1 cup finely ground almond powder or finely ground blanched almonds
1 stick plus 1 Tb. unsalted butter at room temperature
1/3 cup plus 2 Tb. tepid water
1/3 cup plus 2 Tb. all purpose flour, sifted

Preheat your oven to 350. Butter and flour molds (rectangular, boat shaped, something that holds about 3 Tb. water. Adjust cooking time if you have different sized molds). Place molds on jelly roll pan.

Melt chocolate in bowl over and not touching simmering water. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. It should be just warm to the touch when you use it.

With an electric stand mixer, whisk the eggs, sugar and almond powder together on medium-high speed until it is pale. Reduce speed to medium, add butter in 4 or 5 peaces and beat until just incorporated. On low speed, add chocolate and mix to blend. Add the water, increase speed to medium, and beat until it comes together.
Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour. (This batter can be kept covered airtight in the refrigerator for a couple days).

Spoon batter into molds until they are almost filled, and bake for 15 - 18 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cookie rack and cool for 3 minutes, then remove cookies from the molds. Cool them airtight to room temperature.

Optional: add a sprinkling of cocoa powder or confectioner's sugar

Chocolate Tart with Salted Butter Caramel

I noticed a few years ago that the salted butter caramel rage had hit France with a vengeance. You could find it everywhere: from Pierre Hermé and Ladurée's macarons to Berthillon's ice cream, everyone had this flavor in their repertoire. And they still do, it's extremely popular over there, and will probably remain so since it's soooo delish. It's just catching on in the U.S. (we're always a few years behind France in all things hip and trendy). In fact, I noticed that Starbucks even has a salted butter carmel hot chocolate...which kind of scares me yet intrigues me at the same time....don't know if I should try it or run from it.

So I was invited to a friend's for dinner tonight and was in charge of all things sweet. It's my favorite contribution, of course, and I wanted to do something that would please all ages, since 50% of us were under 5. So I went to my old Bon Appetit magazines and found this yummy looking tart that seemed almost like a candy bar, with its caramel and chocolate combo. I had all the ingredients. Had the time. Had the patience for caramel....so I went for it.

The tart in itself is super easy to make. You only bake one thing: the crust. And the crust is very yummy with the little bits of cocoa nibs (which are probably not necessary if you don't have them or want to invest in them). The hardest part is the caramel, but that's not even hard, you just have to be sure not to burn it. I take it off the stove when it is uniformly amber in color, about 7 - 9 minutes into its boil. The final result of this tart is not unlike a snickers bar without the nuts. It's sweet, but daaarn good. The caramel, if you cook it correctly, will be soft and perfect under the very nicely softened layer of chocolate ganache. The tart is good, damn good. In fact, we scarfed the whole tart down in a matter of minutes, it's pretty addictive. It was requested to go in my "repertoire"...and so it shall. The only thing I would change would be to add just a bit more fleur de sel, the salt did not come out as much as I would have liked.

So, for a pretty easy yet impressive dessert, I highly recommend this one. Plus, it's trendy now, you could be hip like Starbucks!

You can find the recipe at Bon Appetit's web site, Epicurious. com.

Tarte Tatin

Tarte Tatin is the fancy French way of saying "Upside Down Apple Pie". This pie has four ingredients: puff pastry, apples, sugar and butter, and it is one of the most common desserts in all of France. You can order this in Paris restaurants or enjoy it in country homes. The best thing about it is it's simple, anyone can make a tarte tatin. I learned how to make this tart from the family I lived with when I was in France as an undergrad, "Madame" used to make these in a matter of minutes, or so it seemed. She had that Frenchy-french way of whipping all sorts of goodies up in no time.

Now that it's the fall, and apples are plentiful and the temperatures are dropping, it seems like a great time to whip up a nice, warm tarte tatin. I made one for my family last weekend, and my children loved it, my husband was reminded of the tarte tatin he had on a trip to Paris, and I was feeling rather guilty for all the butter and sugar involved. But 'tis the season, so they say.... we must eat tart.

Ingredients:
4 granny smith apples
3/4 cup sugar (or 1/2 cup if you want less sugar)
3/4 stick unsalted butter
1 sheet puff pastry, defrosted

Use a 9 or 10 inch oven proof saute pan (with sloping sides).
Peel, core and slice apples in quarters.
Melt butter in the pan, then add sugar. Remove pan from heat, and place apples cut side down on top of the butter/sugar mixture. Pack them in tight, and cut small pieces of apple to fill in any gaps.
Replace on heat and let sugar carmelize to a golden amber.
Meanwhile, cut a circle of puff pastry about one inch wider than the pan.
Once apples are carmelized, place the puff pastry on top of the apples and roll the overhand in (it's ok, it will shrink).
Preheat oven to 350. Place pan in oven for 30 - 40 minutes, until puff pastry is golden brown.
To serve, carefully and quickly flip the pie over on a serving platter (holding pan with one hand, platter with the other).
Serve with vanilla ice cream or creme fraiche. Use cinnamon if you like it!

Homemade Cinnamon Bread...yummmm

After what I would call a humongous hiatus from my kitchen due to some of the worst months of my lifetime, I seem to be trying to make up for lost time at record speed. I was in the kitchen most of the last few days, making everything from bread to pie to homemade tomato sauce. And what they say is true, it is so incredibly therapeutic. Not good for the waistline, but therapeutic nonetheless.

Yesterday was a chilly day here in Cincinnati, and with the fall chill always comes my desire for homemade bread. My Peter Reinhart book The Bread Baker's Apprentice gets its greatest workouts in the fall and winter months, when I'm dying for the smell of yeasty bread wafting through my house, and especially for that of cinnamon. Better than the best air freshener, that's for sure. So yesterday I cracked the sucker open once again and decided to try Reinhart's recipe for cinnamon bread. Well, technically his recipe is for Cinnamon Raisin Walnut bread, but I have picky toddlers in my midst, those who thumb their noses at any foreign objects in their otherwise uniformly smooth bread dough. So I forwent the fun stuff and kept it to the basic cinnamon.

This recipe was easy. I mean Eeeeeassssy. Throw ingredients in your Kitchenaid mixer, blend, rise, done. Of course, I have a Kitchen aid mixer, so that helps enormously with the toughest part: kneading. But really, the recipe is neither difficult nor time consuming and the results are, well....my family of four has already eaten 1 1/2 loaves of this stuff, and it has been less than 12 hours since it was baked. There you go, we are gluttons...but only for the good stuff.

Cinnamon Bread (A Variation of Peter Reinhart's Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread):

3 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour
4 tsp. granulated sugar
1 1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. instant yeast
1 large egg, slightly beaten
2 Tb. shortening or butter, melted
1/2 cup buttermilk or whole milk, at room temp.
3/4 cup water, at room temp.

for cinnamon swirl:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 Tb. ground cinnamon

For cinnamon topping:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 Tb. ground cinnamon

Stir together the flour, sugar, salt and yeast in the bowl of an electric mixer (or by hand if you don't have an electric mixer). Add the egg, shortening (butter), buttermilk and water. Stir together or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment until the ingredients form a ball. Adjust with flour or water as necessary.

Sprinkle flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter, begin to knead. Or, with an electric mixer, use the dough hook. Knead by hand for about 10 minutes, by maching for about 6 - 8 minutes. (If you want to add raisins and nuts add them during the final 2 minutes of the mixing, you may need to add them by hand to evenly distribute them.)

Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it to coat it with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and ferment at room temperature for about 2 hours or until doubled in volume.

Divide dough into 2 equal pieces. Mix your cinnamon and sugar together and set aside. Roll the dough pieces out into two 5 x 8 inch rectangles. Sprinkle 1/2 the cinnamon and sugar mixture on each rectangle. Tightly roll up the dough, from the short side up, pinching tightly after each roll. Place loaves in lightly oiled loaf pans and mist the tops with spray oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap.

Proof for 60 - 90 minutes, or until the dough comes up above the lip of the pan and is about doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 350. Place loaf pans on a baking sheet, but be sure they are not touching.

Bake for 20 minutes, then turn the pan 180 degrees and continue to bake for about 20 - 30 more minutes. The finished bread will be golden brown on top and on the sides and will make a hollow sound when thumped on the bottom.

Immediately remove the bread from the pans, brush melted butter on top, and roll them in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. This gives them a wonderfully sweet crunch.
Let cool for about an hour before serving.

Daring Baker's Challenge for September: Lavasch Crackers

Ok, so no, these are not my crackers. But wow, they do look nice! Sowhere's the photo you ask? I took photos, I swear I did!! They are sitting in my husband's camera in his office. I've waited all weekend, and finally decided I'll just have to be a slacker daring baker and just post without the photos. When they come home, I will post them! In the meantime, here's my story:

This month's challenge came from one of my favorite cookbooks: The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart. Man, can he ever explain how to do bread. I have made multiple recipes from this book, and he really holds your hand from beginning to end. Thus producing lovely bread!

On the other hand, lavasch crackers were not really my thing. No, I didn't dislike the recipe, (I hate when posters moan and groan about a recipe...they should just get over it and on with it). It's the sweet tooth in me, I just get more excited about a recipe that makes me lose sleep at night and anticipate how it will turn out. This recipe not a showstopper, however it was a very reliable and "baker-friendly" recipe, a good one to have on hand if you ever want to make your own crackers. I guess that's the thing...I kind of find it easier to purchase the crackers and make the dip! Although our hostess, Shel, did give us the added bonus of making our own vegan (read: no animal product) spreads. I made white bean hummous and tapenade.

Here is the recipe for the Lavasch:

The key to a crisp lavash,...is to roll out the dough paper-thin. The sheet can be cut into crackers in advance or snapped into shards after baking. The shards make a nice presentation when arranged in baskets.

Makes 1 sheet pan of crackers

* 1 1/2 cups (6.75 oz) unbleached bread flour or gluten free flour blend (If you use a blend without xanthan gum, add 1 tsp xanthan or guar gum to the recipe)
* 1/2 tsp (.13 oz) salt
* 1/2 tsp (.055 oz) instant yeast
* 1 Tb (.75 oz) agave syrup or sugar
* 1 Tb (.5 oz) vegetable oil
* 1/3 to 1/2 cup + 2 Tb (3 to 4 oz) water, at room temperature
* Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, or kosher salt for toppings

1. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt yeast, agave, oil, and just enough water to bring everything together into a ball. You may not need the full 1/2 cup + 2 Tb of water, but be prepared to use it all if needed.

2. For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Knead for about 10 minutes, or until the ingredients are evenly distributed. The dough should pass the windowpane test (see http://www.wikihow.com/Determine-if-Bre … ong-Enough for a discription of this) and register 77 degrees to 81 degrees Fahrenheit. The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), satiny to the touch, not tacky, and supple enough to stretch when pulled. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

or

2. For Gluten Free Cracker Dough: The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), and slightly tacky. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

3. Ferment at room temperature for 90 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size. (You can also retard the dough overnight in the refrigerator immediately after kneading or mixing).

4. For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Mist the counter lightly with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. Press the dough into a square with your hand and dust the top of the dough lightly with flour. Roll it out with a rolling pin into a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. You may have to stop from time to time so that the gluten can relax. At these times, lift the dough from the counter and wave it a little, and then lay it back down. Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap while it relaxes. When it is the desired thinness, let the dough relax for 5 minutes. Line a sheet pan with baking parchment. Carefully lift the sheet of dough and lay it on the parchment. If it overlaps the edge of the pan, snip off the excess with scissors.

or

4. For Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Lay out two sheets of parchment paper. Divide the cracker dough in half and then sandwich the dough between the two sheets of parchment. Roll out the dough until it is a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. Slowly peel away the top layer of parchment paper. Then set the bottom layer of parchment paper with the cracker dough on it onto a baking sheet.

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Mist the top of the dough with water and sprinkle a covering of seeds or spices on the dough (such as alternating rows of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, kosher or pretzel salt, etc.) Be careful with spices and salt - a little goes a long way. If you want to precut the cracker, use a pizza cutter (rolling blade) and cut diamonds or rectangles in the dough. You do not need to separate the pieces, as they will snap apart after baking. If you want to make shards, bake the sheet of dough without cutting it first.

5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crackers begin to brown evenly across the top (the time will depend on how thinly and evenly you rolled the dough).

6. When the crackers are baked, remove the pan from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. You can then snap them apart or snap off shards and serve.

Daring Baker's Challenge for August: Eclairs au chocolat!!

I almost fell off my chair when I found out that this month's DB challenge was CHOCOLATE ECLAIRS. I love all things French, and I especially love all things Pierre Herme! Since I bought his book I have amazed myself at how wonderful his recipes turn out. Needless to say, this challenge wasn't for every-day eclairs, it was for PIERRE HERME eclairs! It's like having a French pastry shop in your kitchen!

One thing you have to understand about eclairs. A French eclair is a delicate pastry filled with wonderful pastry cream. Chocolate ones are filled with chocolate pastry cream, coffee ones are filled with coffee pastry cream. These should not be confused with the Dunkin Donuts huge bavarian cream filled "eclair". No no no, that will not do! I saw so many DB folks filling their eclairs with bavarian cream and just thought NO!!!....you must use the fabulous pastry cream by Pierre Herme!! If you make it, you'll know why...

Anyway, long story short, I made the recipe and had no troubles whatsoever (lots of folks had problems with the "puff" part). I made both chocolate and coffee eclairs. For the coffee ones, I just made a vanilla pastry cream but added 3/4 cup espresso to it, and used a coffee glaze (espresso mixed with confectioners sugar). With my extra egg whites, I made chocolate macarons, just for a 1-2 French whammy.



I served these at my birthday party and people were asking me who did the catering. They were the first thing devoured from the buffet table! That's when you know you have a hit!!!

So a huge thank you to Tony Tahhan and to MeetaK for this fantastic challenge, I think everyone is a lot more comfortable with French pastry now!!

Here's the recipe, fear not its length!!

Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Éclairs
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• Cream Puff Dough (see below for recipe), fresh and still warm

1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the oven into thirds by
positioning the racks in the upper and lower half of the oven. Line two baking sheets with
waxed or parchment paper.

2) Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 2/3 (2cm) plain tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough.
Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long, 4 to 41/2 inches (about 11 cm) chubby fingers.
Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff.
The dough should give you enough to pipe 20-24 éclairs.

3) Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes, slip the
handle of a wooden spoon into the door to keep in ajar. When the éclairs have been in the
oven for a total of 12 minutes, rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Continue
baking for a further 8 minutes or until the éclairs are puffed, golden and firm. The total baking
time should be approximately 20 minutes.

Notes:
1) The éclairs can be kept in a cool, dry place for several hours before filling.

Assembling the éclairs:

• Chocolate glaze (see below for recipe)
• Chocolate pastry cream (see below for recipe)

1) Slice the éclairs horizontally, using a serrated knife and a gently sawing motion. Set aside the
bottoms and place the tops on a rack over a piece of parchment paper.

2) The glaze should be barely warm to the touch (between 95 – 104 degrees F or 35 – 40
degrees C, as measured on an instant read thermometer). Spread the glaze over the tops of
the éclairs using a metal icing spatula. Allow the tops to set and in the meantime fill the
bottoms with the pastry cream.

3) Pipe or spoon the pastry cream into the bottoms of the éclairs. Make sure you fill the bottoms
with enough cream to mound above the pastry. Place the glazed tops onto the pastry cream
and wriggle gently to settle them.

Notes:
1) If you have chilled your chocolate glaze, reheat by placing it in a bowl over simmering water,
stirring it gently with a wooden spoon. Do not stir too vigorously as you do not want to create
bubbles.

2) The éclairs should be served as soon as they have been filled.

Pierre Hermé’s Cream Puff Dough
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• ½ cup (125g) whole milk
• ½ cup (125g) water
• 1 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature

1) In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to the
boil.

2) Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium
and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together very
quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. You
need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough
will be very soft and smooth.

3) Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using your
handmixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time,
beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough.
You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again do
not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again by the time you
have added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it
should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.

4) The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs as directed above.

Notes:
1) Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately.

2) You can pipe the dough and the freeze it. Simply pipe the dough onto parchment-lined baking
sheets and slide the sheets into the freezer. Once the dough is completely frozen, transfer the
piped shapes into freezer bags. They can be kept in the freezer for up to a month.

Chocolate Pastry Cream
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by PierreHermé

• 2 cups (500g) whole milk
• 4 large egg yolks
• 6 tbsp (75g) sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted
• 7 oz (200g) bittersweet chocolate, preferably Velrhona Guanaja, melted
• 2½ tbsp (1¼ oz: 40g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1) In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy‐bottomed saucepan.

2) Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture.Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.

3) Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat).Stir in the melted chocolate and then remove the pan from the heat.

4) Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice‐water bath to stop the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it remains smooth.

5) Once the cream has reached a temperature of 140 F remove from the ice‐water bath and stir in the butter in three or four installments. Return the cream to the ice‐water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completely cooled. The cream is now ready to use or store in the fridge.

[bNotes:[/b]
1) The pastry cream can be made 2‐3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.

2) In order to avoid a skin forming on the pastry cream, cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the cream.

3) Tempering the eggs raises the temperature of the eggs slowly so that they do not scramble.

Chocolate Glaze
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 1 cup or 300g)

• 1/3 cup (80g) heavy cream
• 3½ oz (100g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 tsp (20 g) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature
• 7 tbsp (110 g) Chocolate Sauce (recipe below), warm or at room temperature

1)In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and slowly begin to add the chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.

2) Stirring gently, stir in the butter, piece by piece followed by the chocolate sauce.

Notes:
1) If the chocolate glaze is too cool (i.e. not liquid enough) you may heat it briefly
 in the microwave or over a double boiler. A double boiler is basically a bowl sitting over (not touching) simmering water.

2) It is best to glaze the eclairs after the glaze is made, but if you are pressed for time, you can make the glaze a couple days ahead of time, store it in the fridge and bring it up to the proper temperature (95 to 104 F) when ready to glaze.

Chocolate Sauce
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 1½ cups or 525 g)


• 4½ oz (130 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup (250 g) water
• ½ cup (125 g) crème fraîche, or heavy cream
• 1/3 cup (70 g) sugar

1) Place all the ingredients into a heavy‐bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure to stir constantly. Then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens.

2) It may take 10‐15 minutes for the sauce to thicken, but you will know when it is done when it coats the back of your spoon.

Notes:
1) You can make this sauce ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for two weeks. Reheat the sauce in a microwave oven or a double boiler before using.