Is it Wednesday already? I've been held hostage by macarons of late, around 600 hundred of them in the past two days and there will be more coming out of the oven in the weeks to come.

Which explains the lack of new recipes here lately. I'll be in a couple of bridal shows in the next few weeks, so if you know anyone who is getting married here in Richmond be sure to let them know about the following bridal seminars and showcases:

July 25th

"An Engagement"  at the Hilton Garden Inn, downtown

August 15th

"Wedology 101"  at the Wyndham Virgnia Crossings Resort

Thanks for all the suggestions for the dessert table! I'm already excited to test out some recipes that would make fabulous bite-size sweets. And yes, I'll not forget something fruity!

And the winners of the Crate and Barrel gift cards are:

Lady Wild  "The dessert table needs something with fresh fruit. Mini-pies,   dipped strawberries, etc."

Rouge Cook " Whenever I see dessert spreads, I always go for the cannolis, eclairs, tiramisu, anything with fresh berries, and anything chocolate."

Congratulations!

Peadee Fudge Pops

I finally got a chance to do an entry for Macattack the monthly challenge sponsored by Deeba and Jamie over at Mactweets blog where macaron-obsessed folks gather, cheer, whine and gain tremendous support in a united quest to overcome the finickiest confection ever created on this planet. The theme for this round is to “do something or add something you’ve never done before but wanted to try.”

I’ve always wanted to try olive oil in a ganache ever since I’ve seen this interesting combination in Pierre Hermé’s (PH) “Macaron" book. Fortunately, we made it in our class too (well, another team made this) and the instructor cautioned us repeatedly that olive oil and cocoa butter do not mix easily, you need to heat the olive oil to a certain temperature so the cocoa butter in the white chocolate ganache does not seize. As long as you keep this in mind, the ganache is fairly easy to make ... and extremely delicious. The “Hungry” Hubby rates this as his second favorite flavor with passion fruit milk chocolate still ranking as number one.

The way ganaches are made at PH is more meticulous than what baking books will have you do. With PH method, you add cream or any liquid to your partly (or wholly) melted chocolate slowly just like making mayonnaise. The reason is, the emulsion is better and you end up with a smooth and creamy ganache that feels absolutely sexy in your mouth.

Though French Meringue macarons are still the best in flavor, I do enjoy the challenge of Italian Meringue - PH way - and believe me I have sampled plenty of Italian meringue macarons made by many shops that are just so, so wrong and this is sad because this gives macarons a bad reputation. PH does not add any sugar to the whipped egg whites, all his sugar is in the syrup. What this does is lessen the meringue-like texture that most Italian Meringue macarons tend to have. After adding the sugar syrup to the whipped egg whites you use it almost immediately so the heat of your meringue will melt the confectioner’s sugar in your tant pour tant. I believe this reduces the sweetness problem in macaron shells. And you need to work fast otherwise your meringue will get too cool to melt the confectioner’s sugar.
And luckily, HH came home in time to take pictures just as I was mixing the whole macaron batter. This differs from the way I do my French meringue, so for now this applies only to the Italian Meringue.
 

It is best to use a bowl scraper. Have enough leverage. I had to stand on a 4-inch stool (I'm 5'4") to be able to beat this stiff meringue down without wearing out my shoulders.

Start at 3 'clock, sweeping the scraper under

continue sweeping clockwise

when you reach 9 o'clock bring up the scraper to form a small wave

At this point, immediately give the bowl a quarter turn counter-clockwise with your free hand and resume at 3 o'clock. Continue to do these motions until you feel you are reaching the desired consistency. The point when your batter reaches this is called "macaronage" although I heard my instructor say "the macaron". To do this you want to dig your scraper further below and do a big wave like this:

Testing "macaronage" with the big wave

The height of the wave should slowly flatten back into the batter and it might even leave a peak, but that should disappear once you tap the bowl on the countertop.

Macaron a l’Huile d’ Olive et Vanille

an original recipe by Pierre Hermé

Olive Oil Ganache

60 grams whipping cream
1/4 vanilla pod
90 grams olive oil Disisa
135 grams Ivoire couverture

Melt the couverture and bring the cream to a boil with the split and scraped vanilla pod. Remove the pod and pour the cream gradually into the chocolate. Emulsify with a rubber spatula and pour the olive oil at 35/40C - 95/104F. Leave to crystallise at room temperature. Set aside at 12 C- 54F.

Almond Sugar Mix for Macaron

200 grams whole white almonds
200 grams confectioner’s sugar

Process the whole white almond in a food processor, add the icing sugar and process once more. Sieve.

Green Macaron Mix

1)
400 grams almond-sugar mix
75 grams fresh egg whites
1 gram green food coloring
2)
200 grams caster sugar
50 grams water
75 grams old egg whites
1.5 grams egg white powder

Combine all ingredients together from list 1) ( do this only right before you begin your sugar syrup, otherwise you will end up with an unblendable mass). cook the water and caster sugar to 118 C- 245F. When the syrup reaches 108 C- 226F start whipping on medium speed the eggwhites with the egg white powder to stiff peaks. Pour slowly the cooked syrup in a trickle over the meringue. Leave to cool down to 50C-122F, take the bowl out and fold the meringue progressively into the first mixture. Add a third of the meringue to lighten the mixture and then beat in the rest of the meringue. Be aware of required flow of the batter.

Piping and baking the macarons

With a piping bag fitted with a no. 11 plain round nozzle, pipe macarons on tray lined with parchment paper. Bake in a convection oven, vent opened, at 160C- 320F for about 14/15 minutes. Once aked, slide the macarons on cooling rack to cool.

When the shells have cooled and when the ganache has reached pipable consistency, fill one shell with a nice dollop of ganache, top with another macaron, making sure to assemble 2 shells of the same size.

Store in refrigerator for at least 24 hours before consuming. Take out of refrigerator, 2 hours before consumption.

A perfectly creamy olive oil ganache

Cooking Notes
  The shells are almost the right thinness I wanted them to be and they were not sweet at all. It's amazing how mixing the batter makes all the difference. To mature the macarons, they need to be on a wire grate and be stored in a refrigerator with a 70% to 80% humidity for 24 to 36 hours.This might be difficult to achieve in a home refrigerator but this can be done by leaving a bowl of hot water inside for 10 minutes (I do not recommend this if you have other stuff in the fridge that might be sensitive to humidity).

Macaron "innards" after maturation

I was very pleased how the macaron shell allowed the flavor of the olive oil ganache to take center stage. This is why maturing the macarons is very important. Newly filled shells taste horrible because the filling has not had time to moisten the interior with its own essence. Ganaches take 24 to 36 hours and buttercream takes about 48 hours for the transformation to take place.
In choosing olive oil for this recipe make sure that it is first-press olive oil that is floral in scent, not the heavier variety with grassier notes.
The original recipe included three strips of green olives to put on top of the ganache but I had none available. Enjoy these macarons with Ceylon tea or coffee!

* Note. Colors of pictures are more vivid when clicked on to activate lightbox

Luscious apple tarts!

One evening after the new year, I had an odd compulsion to make puff pastry. It must have been triggered by this arctic blast that had sent people (me) scuttling indoors and despite the furnace running up my heating bill, my fingers remained ice cold. What better time to make puff pastry, right?
Some flour, some butter - okay, lotsa butter, ice water and icy fingers, you get one of the miracles of pastry. Multi-layered sheets of buttery heaven, how can one resist?
The one disadvantage of making puff pastry is the time commitment needed to produce it. It’s almost unheard of for a home cook to make their own and there are certainly store-bought ones that may be passable, but mastering the art of puff pastry is a worthwhile endeavor, I believe. Then again, there is still the time constraint.
Back in July, Helen showed me how to make rough puff pastry and I was amazed with the results. But you know me, curious to the very end, I wanted to compare them side by side.

Saffron, pears and pistachios

I also had some Iranian pistachio that I wanted to use in some dessert. If there are two things Iran is known for, it is for the quality of their pistachio and saffron. I did not have the heart to use it for pistachio paste, after all at 25 euros for 1kg, one must use it wisely. I leafed through “Sweet Seasons” by Richard Leach and found his roasted pear and mascarpone filling. I thought if I infused the cream with saffron, I could use that to fill a millefuielle and then sprinkle some ground roasted pistachios on top. It’ll look pretty...let’s hope the filling holds up.
I also wanted to do a repeat of the peach tart on rough puff pastry but this time use apples which was the original recipe anyway.

A fruit composition

Please excuse the abundance of pictures, I thought since it’s already 2010, I should improve my food photography and it takes patience (by not being too tempted by the dessert before good pictures are taken) and lots of practice (playing with different camera settings.)

This recipe for my regular puff pastry comes from by Bo Friberg. We used it in our Daring Baker’s challenge for the Gateau St. Honore and I found this to be one of the best and problem free puff pastry recipe that I have tried.

Regular puff pastry on its 4th turn

Regular Puff Pastry

Makes about 2 1/2 pounds.

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface (420 gr)
3/4 cup cake flour (105 gr)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (7 gr)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, well chilled (60 gr)
1 1/4 cups cold water (295.5 ml)
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (14 gr)
1 3/4 cups (3 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, well-chilled (405 gr)

Make the dough package: In a large mixing bowl, combine both flours with the salt. Scatter butter pieces over the flour mixture; using your fingers or a pastry cutter, incorporate butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.
Form a well in center of mixture, and pour the water into well. Using your hands, gradually draw flour mixture over the water, covering and gathering until mixture is well blended and begins to come together. Gently knead mixture in the bowl just until it comes together to form a dough, about 15 seconds. Pat dough into a rough ball, and turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Wrap tightly, and place in refrigerator to chill 1 hour.
Make the butter package: Sprinkle 1/2 tablespoon flour on a sheet of waxed or parchment paper. Place uncut sticks of butter on top, and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 tablespoon flour. Top with another sheet of paper; using a rolling pin, pound butter to soften and flatten to about 1/2 inch. Remove top sheet of paper, and fold butter package in half onto itself. Replace top sheet of paper, and pound again until butter is about an inch thick. Repeat process two or three times, or until butter becomes quite pliable. Using your hands, shape butter package into a 6-inch square. Wrap well in plastic wrap, and place in refrigerator until it is chilled but not hardened, no more than 10 minutes.
Assemble and roll the dough: Remove dough package from refrigerator, and place on a lightly floured work surface. Using a rolling pin, gently roll dough into a 9-inch round. Remove butter package from refrigerator, and place it in the center of the dough round. Using a paring knife or bench scraper, lightly score the dough to outline the butter square; remove butter, and set it aside. Starting from each side of the center square, gently roll out dough with the rolling pin, forming four flaps, each 4 to 5 inches long; do not touch the raised square in the center of the dough. Replace butter package on the center square. Fold flaps of dough over the butter package so that it is completely enclosed. Press with your hands to seal.
Using the rolling pin, press down on the dough at regular intervals, repeating and covering the entire surface area, until it is about 1 inch thick. Gently roll out the dough into a large rectangle, about 9 by 20 inches, with one of the short sides closest to you. Be careful not to press too hard around the edges, and keep the corners even as you roll out the dough by squaring them with the side of the rolling pin or your hands. Brush off any excess flour. Starting at the near end, fold the rectangle in thirds as you would a business letter; this completes the first single turn.Wrap in plastic wrap; place in refrigerator 45 to 60 minutes.
Remove dough from refrigerator, and repeat process, giving it five more single turns.Always start with the flap opening on the right as if it were a book. Mark the dough with your knuckle each time you complete a turn to help you keep track. Chill 1 hour between each turn. After the sixth and final turn, wrap dough in plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight before using.

Rough Puff Pastry
adapted from Michel Roux courtesy of Tartelette


2 1/4 cups (300gr) all purpose flour 


1 1/4 cup (300gr) unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/4-inch cubes 


1/2 teaspoon (3gr) salt

1/2 cup (125ml) ice-cold water 


Place the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the center. Add the butter and salt right in the well and work them together with the flour, using your fingertips, gradually drawing in more flour into the center. When the butter pieces have reached pea sized pieces and the mixture appears grainy, gradually add the ice water and mix until it is all incorporated. Do not overwork the dough. Roll it into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 20 to 30 minutes. 
On a lightly flour work area, roll the dough to an 8×4-inch rectangle. Fold it into three and give it a quarter turn. Roll it into another 8×4-inch rectangle again and fold it in three again. These are the first 2 turns. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate again for 30 minutes.
Give the chilled dough 2 more turns, rolling and folding as previously described. The pastry is ready then. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roasted Pear and Saffron Mascarpone Filling
adapted from Richard Leach, “Sweet Seasons”
1/2 cup / 118g roasted Pear puree * recipe to follow
1/2 cup / 118 g mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup / 118 g heavy cream
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon saffron threads
Bring the cream to a boil. Turn off the heat, add saffron and let infuse for 20 minutes. Strain the cream and chill.
Combine all ingredients for the filling in an electric mixer bowl and whisk until stiff. Refrigerate until ready to use.

*Roasted Pear Puree
5 Bartlett pears
2 tablespoons/ 30 g clarified butter
1/2 cup/ 118 g honey
4 tablespoons / 58 Per Williams liqueur ( I used rum)
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Peel, core and quarter pears. Place a heavy roasting pan n hot oven and heat pan for 10 minutes. Quickly and carefully add the butter and pears. Stir and then roast until nicely browned and tender, 10-15 minutes. Add honey and roast until honey begins to caramelize, an additional 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and deglaze pan with liqueur. Once cooled, puree pears in a food processor until smooth. Set aside.
Prepare puff pastry for millefeuille
Preheat oven to 400 F. Roll out puff pastry to 1/16 inch thick. Cut strips of 2” x 9”. Lay on baking sheet and chill for 10 minutes. Put into the oven and lay a baking sheet on top of it. Bake until the pastry is a blonde color, about 10 minutes. Remove the top baking sheet and continue to bake until golden brown, about 8-10 minutes more
When cool, divide the the 2”x9” sheet horizontally into 2”x4.5”. Pipe the mascarpone filling on one strip and put another on top. Chill for at least 3 hours before serving.

A Great Apple Tart
Adapted from Inn at Little Washington by Patrick O’Connell

2 apples


3 tbs. unsalted butter


1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon


2 tbs. heavy cream


6 tbs. Southern Comfort


1/3 cup sugar combined with 1 rounded tsp. cinnamon

Take out enough puff pastry to roll out to 1/8 inch thick and cut out 6 4-inch circles. (You can refrigerate left-over puff pastry for 3 days or freeze for a month.)Lay on baking sheet lined with parchment, dock each circle 5 times with a fork and refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour.
Cut apples, 1/8 inches thick. In a large saute pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the apples and cook for several minutes. Add the cinnamon and cream. Carefully add the Southern Comfort, averting your face, as it will ignite. Continue cooking until the apples are soft and pliable. Remove the apples and transfer to a plate and cool in refrigerator. Simmer the cooking liquid until reduced in half, set aside as you will use this to glaze the tarts after they come out of the oven.
Preheat oven to 400F.
Remove pastry rounds from refrigerator. Lay apple slices, slightly overlapping. Dust (a lot) the tarts with cinnamon sugar and bake for about 15-20 minutes until crust is brown. Remove the tarts from the oven and brush with reserved cooking liquid.

On left: regular , on right: rough puff pastry

Comparison of millefeuille innards:

On left: regular, on right: rough puff pastry, the regular puff was underbaked

Puff Pastry Notes
The most annoying thing with making the regular puff pastry was pounding chilled butter into form. I always tore my parchment papers. And then, when I was rummaging through a drawer, I found two silicone mats (silpats). I put my butter sticks between them, pounded them and this worked like a charm. You can use your fingers or a stainless steel scraper to form your butter block. I also found a bench brush effective in removing excess flour.
I found that the layers are more refined in regular puff pastry and ragged in the rough puff pastry version. Both taste just as good and are equally flaky, so depending on your time or level of adventure, either recipe should work specially for simple tarts and millefueille where you don’t want your pastry to rise too much anyway.

The glaze of the apple tart is important

Other notes
To be honest, I was not too happy with my mascarpone filling because it did not get too firm. I think my pears were not caramelized enough and had too much moisture in the puree. The flavor was very promising though and I would try this combination again.
For the apple tart, there was not enough glazing liquid. To increase it, I reserved the peelings and core from the apple and boiled it in a little water and adding a tablespoon of sugar. When all the flavor has been extracted, I added this to the glazing liquid and then whisked and reduced it.
This apple tart remains to be one of my favorite desserts to make at home.

*Come back tomorrow for my entry to mactweets as I tackle Pierre Hermé Italian Meringue macaron once more. I also have for you a delicious macaron filling!

It was like another world away, this place we refer to as the old world. My first time in Paris was surreal, I can’t believe I was there. Twelve days of eating, twelve days of trying to fit more into my belly, I was bursting at the seams, but I soldiered on, it was for research after all.
I have sampled as much macarons as I could and I’m glad I could now say which one is undoubtedly superior. Best hot chocolate? I have that for you too.
How about the best duck confit? You’d be surprised at what I think.
The French are great people, the myth that they are rude is simply just that, a myth. The most unfriendly of French are those I met at the restaurants around the touristy areas and I simply think they were just perpetuating the myth of their rudeness - part of the "tourist" package. More about that later.

Technical Discussion room

I am also very excited to share here  the completion of my 2-day macaron stage at Pierre Herme’s pastry program. It was intense and tiring but I have learned a lot and it will take me days to decipher my notes. It had a technical track and “Hungry” Hubby thought it was a chemistry class as I had graphs of ph-balances of different ingredients and how these affect your product. Did you all know that Pierre Herme and Laduree use the exact same recipe for their macaron shells? It’s the procedure that is different. Hmmn..not sure if I was supposed to divulge that. Anyway, if you all would like to know which method - French, Italian or Swiss meringue is best for you then check back in a week or two. I will be blogging about the food of Paris first then do a recap of the class.

Me, filling the mac shells

I have no excuse. I simply don’t. Sure I was a bit busy, sure I had family over for a visit but the plain truth was I let myself be distracted so much that to sit down and write a post was quite a challenge. I don’t think I can define this as blog “block”, I have a ton of ideas running through my head, but just the thought of putting them together to form delicious prose during sweeps month on TV (the month where shows put on their best episodes) was indeed no contest. Yes, I watch too much TV. I could probably produce 3 posts a week if I just turned the idiot box off, but what can I say, I follow way too many programs.

That does not mean I had not been baking or cooking. In fact, the kitchen’s been humming and I've been worse in my obsessions. I've been testing recipes one or several ways. I have spied several must-try recipes from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s new book “Rose Heavenly Cakes.” I’ve been researching different fillings, cake textures and frostings - trying to figure out ways to reduce sweetness without sacrificing moistness in cakes and “standability” in frostings and fillings. When my sister-in-law was here we talked shop (she has taken over the reins of our family restaurant/ bakeshop) and about how American cakes seem to be too sweet (particularly fillings and frostings) and wondered if I developed one that wasn’t, if it would sell at all. We also discussed my niece’s wedding. Three hundred guests are expected, three hundred cupcakes for giveaway and a full blown dessert table to be planned that would include macarons hopefully. Fun! Specially since my sister-in-law has an army of bakers working for her, all she and I have to do is to prototype and delegate. Now is that not a dream job? Anyway, the event is going to be in the Philippines so I guess I can say Petites Bouchees will be going International!

Anyway, this is a long recipe so I’ll keep my ramblings short. The genoise tasted a bit starchy - as if the cornstarch had not properly dissolved. I imagine the results would have been better if I had used Wondra flour. I made the genoise twice. Once with cake flour-cornstarch, the second with all-purpose flour-cornstarch. The cake flour version’s crumb was more fine than the all-purpose one but tastewise, was relatively the same.

I noticed a mistake I had made as I was typing out the recipe. I melted 3 tablespoons of butter for the clarified butter, the instructions meant to melt 4 tablespoons of butter and then take 3 tablespoons from the resulting clarified butter or buerre noisette. I do not think this would have changed the taste of the genoise too drastically though.
The passion fruit curd tasted very good, however, I thought the passion fruit syrup was overkill and made the whole cake too sweet and too “passion fruity”. I imagined a simple syrup mixed with rum would have balanced the curd better. My favorite part was making the White Chocolate Cream Cheese frosting and it complemented the flavor of passion fruit so well. More involved than regular Cream Cheese Frosting stiffened with powdered sugar, it does need to be refrigerated however it makes up for it by being silky and luxurious on the palate and not too sweet!

Passion Fruit Curd Filling

White Gold Passion Genoise

Batter
Clarified butter, preferably buerre noisette 3 tablespoons / 37 grams
Pure vanilla extract 1 teaspoon
large eggs 4 / 200 grams
superfine sugar 1/2 cup /100 grams
Wondra flour (see substitutions *) 3/4 cup /100 grams

Equipment: 9x2 baking pan, coated with baking spray with flour, then topped with parchment round.

Preheat oven to 350F/175C

Prepare the butter.In a medium microwavable bowl, or a saucepan over medium heat, warm the butter until almost hot (110 to 120F/40 to 50C). Stir in the vanilla, cover and keep warm.

Beat the eggs. In the bowl of a stand mixer, using a long-handled wire whisk, lightly combine the eggs and sugar. Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water and heat just until lukewarm to the touch, stirring constantly with the whisk to prevent curdling. Attach the whisk beater. Beat the mixture on high speed for a minimum of 5 minutes. The mixture will more than quadruple in volume and be very thick and airy. ( A handheld mixer will take at least 10 minutes.)

Make the batter. Remove almost 1 cup of the beaten egg mixture and whisk it thoroughly into the melted butter.
Dust about half the flour over the remaining egg mixture (sift if using the flour mixture below) and, with a large balloon whisk, slotted skimmer, or silicon spatula, fold in gently but rapidly until almost all the flour has disappeared. Repeat with the remaining flour until all traces of flour have disappeared.

Fold in the butter mixture just until incorporated. With a silicone spatula, reach into the bottom of the bowl to be sure to moisten all the flour. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface evenly with a small offset spatula. If you have beaten it logn enough, it will be about half full if using Wondra flour ( a little more than half full - 3/4 inch from the top of the pan - if using the flour mixture).

Bake the cake. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until the top of the cake is golden brown. This is a fragile cake so avoid opening the door of the open before the minimum baking time.
To prevent collapse of the delicate foam structure, unmold immediately after baking.

Unmold and cool the cake. Run a small metal spatula between the sides of the pan and the cake, pressing firmly against the pan, and invert the cake onto one of the preapred wire racks. Leaving the parchment in place, immediately reinvert the cake onto the second rack so that the firm upper crust keeps it from sinking. Cool completely. It will be about 2 inches high.

To clarify butter, heat 4 tablespoons/2 ounces/57 grams in a small heavy saucepan on very low heat. Cook uncovered, watching carefully to prevent burning. Move away any foam on the surface to check the progress. For plain clarified butter, when the liquid on top is clear and the white solids are resting on the bottom, remove it from the heat. To make buerre noisette, keep cooking the butter until the milk solids beome a deep brown. For either method, immediately pour the butter through a fine-mesh strainer, or a strainer lined with cheesecloth, into a heatproof cup.

Wondra flour is easiest to integrate into the batter and results in the most tender texture. You can substitute a combination of 1/2 cup/50 grams cake flour (or 1/2 cup minus 1 tablespoon/50 grams all-purpose-flour), sifted into the cup and leveled off, and 1/2 cup minutes 1 tablespoon/50 grams cornstarch. Sift the flour and cornstarch together before sifting over the egg mixture.

Classic Passion curd

about 3 large egg yolks 3 1/2 tablespoons/ 56 grams
sugar 1/2 cup/ 100 grams
unsalted butter , room temperature 3 tablespoons 42 grams
fresh or frozen passion fruit puree 1/2 cup / 100 grams
salt pinch

Make the classic passion fruit curd. Prepare a fine mesh sieve suspended over a medium bowl.

In a heavy saucepan, whisk the yolks, sugar, and butter until well blended. Whisk in 5 tablespoons of the passion puree and the salt. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula (be sure to scrape the sides of the pan), until thickened and resembling hollandaise sauce, which thickly coats the spatula, but is still liquid enough to pour. The mixture will change from translucent to opaque and begin to have a rich golden color on the spatula. Do not allow the mixture to come to a boil or it will curdle. Whenever steam appears, briefly remove the pan from the heat, stirring constantly to keep the mixture from boiling. When the curd has thickened and will pool thickly when a little is dropped on its surface, pour it at once into the strainer and press it through with the spatula. Gently stir in the remaining 3 tablespoons of passion puree and allow the curd to cool for 30 minutes. Cover tightly and refrigerate until no longer warm, about 3 hours. The passion curd keeps in an airtight jar or container for 3 weeks, refrigerated. (Longer storage dulls the fresh, vibrant flavor)

Passion Fruit Syrup

1/2 Tahitian Vanilla or 1 Madagascar bourbon vanilla bean ( or vanilla extract) (1/2 teaspoon)
sugar 3/4 cup / 150 grams
fresh or frozen passion puree 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons, divided / 136 grams

Make the passion fruit syrup. With a small knife, split the vanilla bean lengthwise in half.
In a small saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, place the sugar. Scrape the vanilla bean seeds into the sugar and rub them in with your fingers. Add the vanilla pod to the pan. Stir in 1/2 cup of the passion puree until all the sugar is moistened. (If using “Perfect Puree” concentrate, use only 5 tablespoons and dilute with 5 tablespoons of water.) Bring the mixture to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Cover it at once and remove it from the heat. Cool completely. Transfer it to a measuring cup with a spout and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of the passion puree. If the syrup has evaporated slightly, add water to equal 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons. Remove the vanilla pod just before applying the syrup. If not using the vanilla bean, stir in the vanilla extract.

White Chocolate Deluxe Buttercream
Makes: 2 1/2 cups/ 14.5 ounces/413 grams

White chocolate Custard Base
Makes: 2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons/ 7.5 ounces/ 213 grams

white chocolate containing cocoa butter, chopped 3.5 ounces 100 grams
unsalted butter, room temperature 3 1/2 tablespoons / 50 grams
1 large egg, at room temperature 3 tablespoons / 50 grams
about 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature 1 tablespoon / 18 grams

Make the white chocolate custard base. In a double boiler over barely simmering water, melt the white chocolate and the butter, stirring often until smooth and creamy. (Don’t let the bottom of the container touch the water.) Whisk the egg and yolk lightly to break up and then whisk them into the melted white chocolate mixture. Continue whisking and heating until an instant-read thermometer registers 140F/60C. The mixture will have thickened slightly. Remove it from the heat, transfer it to a bowl, and allow it to cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. It will take a minimum of 30 minutes. To speed cooling, cover and refrigerate. An instant read thermometer should register 65 to 70F / 19 to 21C.

Completed White Chocolate Deluxe Buttercream

Cream cheese, room temperature 6 ounces/ 170 grams
unsalted butter, room temperature 3.5 tablespoons / 50 grams
creme fraiche or sour cream 1/2 tablespoon / 7 grams
White Chocolate Custard base 2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons / 213 grams
pure vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon

Complete the Buttercream. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk beater, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until creamy. Beat in the creme fraiche until very smooth.Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Gradually beat in the white chocolate custard base and vanilla. Raise the speed to medium-high and beat until smooth, light, and creamy.

Compose the Cake. Use a long serrated knife and your fingertips to remove the top crust. Remove the parchment and scrape off any remaining bottom crust. Wash and dry the knife and split the genoise in half horizontally.

Brush the syrup evenly on the tops and bottoms of the cake layers. The genoise is now more tender and fragile and needs to be supported by a removable pan bottom or cardboard round when moved.

Spread a little buttercream on a 9-inch cardboard round or a serving plate and set a layer on top. If using the plate, slide a few wide strips of wax paper or parchment under the cake to keep the rim of the plate clean. Sandwich the layers with about 3/4 cup /183 grams of the passion fruit curd. Spread it almost to the edges; the weight of the upper layer will push it out a little. Frost the top and sides of the cake with about 2 cups/ 300 grams of the buttercream. With a small metal spatula, make swirls in the top. Refrigerate about 1 hour to set the buttercream. Apply small dabs of any remaining passion curd and, with the metal spatula, swirl them into the buttercream. If using the paper strips, slowly slide them out from under the cake.
 

I love chocolate. Who doesn’t? My craving goes into overdrive in the colder weather but I am guessing I’m not the only one. I am, however, very picky with what type of chocolate dessert I put into my mouth. I am not a chocolate snob, I’ll have a Kit Kat as the next person, but if it is homemade might as well make the best, right? I’m not talking about plated desserts with intricate designs and complicated sauces. My chocolate incarnation of choice is much simpler than that. I’ve been hoodwinked before by this dessert called “Death by Chocolate” hyped as a seven layer extravaganza, well it was more like a seven-layer flop. No, I prefer my chocolate simpler but full-strength. I prefer it in brownie doses.
I believe Alice Medrich has the best brownie recipes and it’s hard to fathom even trying anyone else’s. Except, of course if that someone is Thomas Keller. He has come out with a new book, “Ad hoc at home” and it is full of interesting and accessible recipes for the serious food enthusiast. I haven’t read this book in-depth yet, but I am loving those light-bulb moments where he gives you cooking tips and techniques.

The taste of this brownie reminds me of the flavor of Keller’s bouchons. It is intensely chocolatey, but I still prefer my brownies with more chew which is what I get when I make Medrich’s version. The “Hungry” Hubby though, loves this brownie version and that is saying a lot since he is not a dessert person.

Sorry for the short post, but I think I’ve said enough about my love of brownies here and here.

Yummy gooey chips

Brownies

Thomas Keller "Ad hoc at home"

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened alkalized cocoa powder
3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-tablespoon pieces
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 large eggs
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste
6 ounces 61 to 64% chocolate, chopped into chip-sized pieces ( about 1 1/2 cups)

Powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350F. We use a 9-inch square silicone mold, because it keeps the edges from overcooking; if you use a metal or glass baking pan, butter and flour it. Set aside.
Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt; set aside
Melt half the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Put the remaining butter in a medium bowl. Pour the melted butter and stir to melt the butter. The butter should look creamy, with small bits of unmelted butter, and be at room temperature.
In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, mix together the eggs and sugar on medium speed for about 3 minutes, or until thick and very pale. Mix in the vanilla. On low speed, add about one-third of the dry ingredients, then add one-third of the butter, and continue alternating the remaining flour and butter. Add the chocolate and mix to combine. (The batter can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.)
Spread the batter evenly in the pan. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until a cake tester or wooden skewer poked into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs sticking to it. If the pick comes out wet, test a second time, because you may have hit a piece of chocolate chip; then bake for a few more minutes longer if necessary. Cool in the pan until the brownie is just a bit warmer than room temperature.
Run a knife around the edges if not using a silicone mold, and invert the brownie onto a cutting board. Cut into 12 rectangles. Dust the tops with powdered sugar just before serving. (The brownies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.)
 

Cupcakes and macarons seem to be the dessert of choice this October. I had so much fun making these and thought you all would want to see what this obsessive macaron maker was up to. The above dessert table was for a bead store opening. The Fandangled Bead store is located at the Shops at Stony point. I can't believe the selection of beads in this store.  I can see how gorgeous it would be to decorate a cuppie with beads except I have to make sure that no one eats the beads: "Warning, take beads off before eating!"

My other store event was for the 30th anniversary of Rostov's Coffee. The "Hungry" hubby has been getting coffee from them since 1985 and they have the best selection in my opinion. We like to mix the following beans (equal amounts): Excelso and Yirgacheffe.  And boy, did we underestimate how much macarons and cupcakes were needed. Since the owner was also having an oyster roast with other finger foods, I told her not everyone was going to eat dessert. Well, that day the weather was freezing and it was raining. Guess what the customers wanted first when they came in: coffee. And what went so well with coffee? Macarons! The 200+ macarons disappeared in 45 minutes. The 156 cupcakes? 30 minutes later.

Cupcake tower 1

Cupcake tower 2

Chocolate-Espresso/ Vanila Vanilla macarons

Caramel/ Pistachio/Passion fruit

In hindsight, it probably was not a good idea to put the macarons by the coffee area.

Chocolate cupcakes were the first to disappear

Owner said, she would order 500 of each next time. Ofcourse, I hope she was joking.

And here's another little project for a small wedding. Rose cuppies.

Rose chocolate cupcakes

If you are all like me, the second the mercury drops below 65F you are already plotting the stream of apple desserts that are going into the oven. I’ve already baked the first apple pie before the official fall season began and even if that ended with a bit of drama - the filling juices escaped the bottom crust - it was a delicious mess.

When I received Rose Levy Beranbaum’s new book “Rose's Heavenly Cakes”, I hurriedly earmarked her apple upside-down cake and her apple-cinnamon crumb coffee cake - both looked absolutely well...uh...heavenly!
I quickly stocked up on apples and warned the “Hungry” Hubby not to eat any of them. You have to be clear with HH regarding which fruits are meant for straight consumption, he is a veritable fruit-eating fiend and there is always some type of contention whenever he is out of his own stash of fruits and starts to covet the plums, figs and especially the apples meant for my baking pleasure.

Because of some time constraints on baking day, I decided to go with the apple upside-down cake which appeared to be the simpler of the two. At first, I thought RLB forgot the cinnamon in the recipe, I mean how can you have apples without cinnamon? I was tempted to add 1/2 a teaspoon but my rule was always to follow the recipe faithfully the first time, see how it turns out and then make adjustments to my own taste as needed.
 

Have a slice!

Apple Upside-down cake

from Rose Levy Beranbaum's "Rose's Heavenly Cakes"

Apple and Walnut Filling

1 1/4 pounds of apples ( about 2 large) 3 1/4 cups, 1 pound
lemon juice, freshly squeezed 1 tsp.
light brown sugar, preferably Muscovado 1/3 cup, firmly packed, divided, 2.5 oz.
unsalted butter 4 tbs., divided, 2 oz
walnut halves 2/3 cup

One 9x2-inch round cake pan, encircled with a cake strip, bottom coated with shortening, topped with a parchment round; baking stone optional

Preheat the oven, twenty minutes or more before baking, set an oven rack in the lower third of the oven, set a biking stone, if using, on the rack and preheat the oven to 350F/175C.

Make the apple topping. In a medium bowl, toss together the apples, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar. Allow the mixture to sit for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 1/2 hours. Drain the apples, reserving their liquid.
In a small heavy saucepan, preferably nonstick, melt the butter. Use about 1 tablesppon to coat the parchment-lined bottom and the sides of the cake pan.
Add the remaining brown sugar and the reserved liquid that has drained from the apples to the butter remaining in the saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly with a light-colored silicone spatula, then stop stirring, but leave the spatula in place to judge the color, and simmer for about 3 minutes, until bubling thickly and deep amber in color.
Pour this mixture (do not scrape) into the prepared cake pan, tilting to coat the entire bottom. Don’t worry if the mixture hardens; it will melt during baking. Place the apple slices, overlapping slightly, on the bottom and around the sides of the pan. Set aside.

Toast the walnuts. Spread the walnuts evenly on a baking sheet and bake for about 7 minutes to enhance their flavor. Stir once or twice to ensure even toasting and avoid over-browning. Cool completely. Chop coarsely and set aside.

Batter
about 3 large egg yolks, at room temperature 3 1/2 tbs., 2 oz.
sour cream 1/2 cup divided, 4.2 oz.
pure vanilla extract 1 1/4 tsp. ,
cake flour (or bleached all-purpose) 1 1/2 cup (or 1 1/3 cup), sifted into the cup and leveled off, 5.3 oz.
superfine sugar 3/4 cup, 5.3 oz
baking powder 3/4 tsp.
baking soda 1/4 tsp.
salt 1/4 tsp.
unsalted butter (65F to 75F) 9 tbs., 4.5 oz

Mix the liquid ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk the yolks, 2 tbs. of the sour cream, and the vanilla just until combined.
Make the batter. In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and the remaining sour cream. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Raise the speed to medium and beat for 1 1/2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Starting on medium-low speed, gradually add the egg mixture to the batter in two parts, beating on medium speed for 30 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Using a silicone spatula, drop the batter in big blobs on top of the apples. then smooth the surface evenly with a small offset spatula while keeping the apples in an attractive pattern.
Bake the cake. Place the pan in the oven on the stone, if using it. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown, a wire cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center.
Unmold and cool the cake. Run a small metal spatula between the sides of the pan and the cake, pressing firmly against the pan, and invert the cake at once onto a serving plate. Leave the pan in place for 1 to 2 mintues before lifting it off. If any apple slices have stuck to the pan, use a small metal spatula to place them back on the cake. Scatter the toasted walnuts on top. Serve warm or room temperature.

Cooking Notes:
I was a bit disappointed that the caramelization was not as dark as I wanted it to be and all of it seemed to have pooled to the sides and left the center apple slices quite anemic-looking. It might have been because I did not use Muscovado sugar, but I suspect it was more of my omission of the baking stone. Do not be deceived by its looks for this dessert was devoured immediately after dinner when I took it to my friend’s house - not a crumb was left! It was interesting that six adults have already polished off most of the cake when one of their kids came up to the table and asked what’s for dessert. Oops...all gone.
More interesting was that HH was not even a “cake person” and yet he happily indulged in a good-sized slice. I myself am partial to tarts and pies rather than cakes. The apple upside-down cake has such a thin layer of cakiness which was not too sweet at all and had a tangy flavor that may have come from the sour cream or juice from the apple slices
This is definitely going into my regular rotation of apple-themed desserts and next time I will make the bourbon-whipped cream that was suggested with the cake. I don’t think I’m going to be adding any cinnamon to it either because it tasted fine the way it was yet I’m sure there will be a nagging feeling that is going to stay with me if I do not try that out.

I love condensed milk. I have not used it much in baking, but really, I should experiment with it more often. It is a common sweetener in Asian countries. I remember drizzling it in between a hot pandesal to have as breakfast or as a nighttime snack. It’s great drizzled on fruit too, from papaya to avocado and to the popular Filipino Fruit salad. I also know it makes a great pastry cream without cornstarch and this method is widely used in the Philippines.
I am happy that Pichet Ong frequently employs this sweet alternative to sugar throughout his book “The Sweet Spot” . I’ve always wanted to make his condensed-milk pound cake and was waiting for an opportunity to present itself.
This past weekend, we visited “hungry” hubby’s aunt in DC. Tea-time is a favorite in-between/after meal custom at her house and slices of pound cake with tea seemed like an ideal combination at the moment. The rain that hounded us all weekend even added to the desire to just hang out and drink tea.

Condensed Milk Pound Cake
from Pichet Ong’s “The Sweet Spot”

1 cup (8 ounces/226 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
1 1/3 cups (7 ounces/200 g) all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup (3 3/4 ounces/ 106 g) sugar
1 vanilla bean, chopped, or tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup (8 1/2 ounces/ 239 g) sweetened condensed milk
3 large eggs

Preheat the oven 325 F. Generously butter an 8 1/2x 4 1/2 loaf pan and set aside.
Sift together the flour and baking powder and set aside.
Put the sugar and the chopped vanilla bean, if using, in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade and pulse until the vanilla bean is finely ground. Sift through a fine-mesh sieve and return the sugar mixture to the food procesor. If not using the vanilla bean, just put the sugar in the processor.
Add the butter and salt and process until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl occasionally. Add the condensed milk and pulse until well incorporated, about 15 times, scraping down the sides of the bowl once. Add the sifted dry ingredients and pulse until no traces of flour remain, about 10 times. Add the eggs and pulse just until combined, about 5 times. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, add the vanilla extract if using and finish mixing by hand to fully incorporate the eggs.
Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan. Bake until the top is dark golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool completely in the loaf an on a rack, then unmold.

 

A close-knit crumb

Cooking Notes

There were no gotchas at all with this recipe. It’s as simple as whirring it all together in a food-processor. How easy is that? My pound cake did not attain the dark brown color that was shown in the book, I’m not sure if it was because I used two smaller loaf pans than the one specified in the recipe.

Standing in line in the rain for cupcakes

The gloomy weather did not stop me from falling in line outside Georgetown Cupcake to savor the best cupcake in DC.

Lavash baker at Yas Bakery

We also did manage to visit several ethnic grocers to stock up on some ingredients not readily available in Richmond, Va.
Ahh and there’s nothing like warm lavash right out of the tandoor oven! I could easily fold this unleavened bread, while it is still soft, in several layers and stuff it in my hungry mouth with or without butter.

And now, I think I'm ready to brew some cardamom tea to go with my pound cake.

So I had high hopes for this - Pierre Herme’s foie gras macaron. I tasted it when I took his class last year and if there was heaven in a macaron, this was it! The combination of foie gras and milk chocolate was pure genius and the balance of flavor and texture is like nothing I’ve ever tasted.
I should have tackled the recipe immediately while the experience was still fresh in my head. But you know them Frenchies, verboseness in instructions is not a trait. You’d do well to read between the lines. Just check out the recipe below and you will know what I mean.

I love a challenge anyway specially when it comes to these bite-sized pastry favorite. The biggest problem facing me was how to cook the foie gras. All the instruction I got from the class was “to cook it until you smell it.” I was even told that the temperature to use was 350 F. I did get advise from twitter (I forgot from whom, but thanks!) to cook it at 250 F if I did not want to see my foie gras dissolve into a puddle of delectable, albeit useless, oil. My foie was already cut into slices which was probably not a good idea to start with and it did shrink quite a bit and lost more than half of its original weight. It was then that I recalled another tidbit from a year ago...use a water bath!
Well, too late.
After I strained the foie gras through a sieve, I was left with 95 g of foie from 350g - yes folks, I was left with less than a third of what I began with. Pathetic, really and I had to reduce the recipe ratios accordingly. I wondered why PH did not just give it a whir in the food processor but I eventually figured he wanted to sieve out the stringy veins and come out with a very smooth puree. With the great Pierre Herme, it is not about quantity but quality.
To make matters more challenging, PH uses gellan - a gelling agent that I have had no success in using. I always ended up with graininess and the results were no different this time either. It said to boil the mixture which didn’t make any sense because wouldn’t that dissolve my foie further? Well, I went with blind faith and no, the foie didn’t disappear and my gelee set in record time ...but ... was ... GRAINY!

Times like these are when you want to cut your losses and forget about it. But I wanted to see how close (or how far) the taste was going to be so I soldiered on.

Place a dab of chocolate to attach gelee

Cover with more ganache!

Macaron Shells
See here for Italian Meringue version and here for the French Meringue which was the one I used. I used red powdered food coloring and gold shimmer dust for the shells.

Check out the impromptu video I made here about making macarons via the French Meringue method.

A cross section of the Foie Gras Macaron

Chicken Broth

500 g bottled water
1 cube chicken bouillon

Boil together and refrigerate.

Gelee de Foie Gras

125 g Chicken broth
250 g Foie gras mi-cuit
25 g Sugar
2 drops Tabasco
.4 g Black Pepper from Sarawak
4 g Gellan

Method:

Pass the foie gras through a fine sifter. Mix the hot bouillon with the foie gras puree, Tabasco, pepper and the Gellan. boil together. Add the sugar and emulsify.
Use right away.

Pour foie gras gelee in a frame. Spread flat and refrigerate. Cut 1.5 cm squares and freeze.

Milk Chocolate Ganache

125 g cream
125 g Milk chocolate

Boil the cream and pour a third over the chocolate. Stir from the center out. Repeat the process adding the hot cream in two more additions.
Keep refrigerated.

 

Cooking Notes:

Surprise! Surprise! All was not lost. I was expecting to bite into the horrible texture of the gelee but amazingly enough the texture must have transformed overnight and everything was smooth and creamy. The downside was it did not have enough of the foie gras punch that I remembered from my first taste a year ago. I knew, I should have put a bigger gelee in the macarons, but when I tasted the gelee by itself I thought it was too “chickeny” - probably from the bouillon - so I used half as much.
I should have trusted the “Picasso of Pastry.” PH is all about balance, I should have trusted that the milk chocolate ganache would round out the flavor of the foie gras gelee, instead I played it safe and ended up with a muted taste.
For the milk chocolate ganache I mixed Valrhona 75% Jivara and 25% Guanaja. Another winning combination and the best chocolate ganache I have ever made! Yes, those percentages were a tip from PH himself and I encourage you all to try it.

I will definitely make this again. Besides tasting delectable, it makes a luxurious gift too!

Macarons make great gifts!