Category Archives: Pastries

Something fantastic from scratch

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Today I did what any rational 20 something college graduate with a decent job and foot up on the corporate ladder at a prestigious marketing agency would do… I resigned. I thought I would cry (because that’s what I do in uncomfortable situations), I thought I would screw up the speech I had been rehearsing in my head for the past several weeks, I thought I would chicken out.

I have been struggling to find happiness in a job I spend 10-12 hours a day at for the past two years, and for the first time in a very long time something made me smile… an acceptance letter from the Culinary Institute of America.

I’m still a little in shock that in about 3 weeks I will not have a steady source of income (or a use for my degree from a top 25 university) and that I actually had the guts to leap off the cliff (probably because I’m still falling and don’t know yet if the deep warm Mediterranean ocean is at the bottom of the cliff like I hope) but I did it.

I received the acceptance letter the week before I took the GMAT (needless to say,studying became a lot harder) and as I was in my kitchen doing math drills while treats were in the oven I had an epiphany… in culinary school my homework would be baking! I called my mom and we both just starting laughing because we knew right then and there that studying for the GMAT was irrelevant to my future (I still took the test and the score can get me into a great business school if I ever chose – options to appease my father).

I’m going to have so much more time to bake a blog! This is going to be amazing…. Now to make up for lost time I have a fantastic recipe. It is inspired by the morning buns at Tartine in San Francisco. Basically it’s croissant dough, with cinnamon sugar and a hint of orange. I hate orange, with a passion. If people ask… i’m allergic (yes, i’m one of those people). So I created a peach version. Enjoy! My mom did…she ate 3 in one day!

Recipe (my own):

Croissant dough (this is a simpler version that does not use levain and poolish like the straight croissant dough in a previous post):

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • ½  cup sugar
  • ½ cup warm water
  • ½ cup milk
  • 1 Tablespoons butter melted
  • 1 package yeast
  • 1 teaspoons vanilla
  • 100 grams butter
  • 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • All-purpose flour for rolling
Peachy Sugar coating:
  • 2 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • 1 – 1.5 oz package of freeze dried peaches (i used just peaches – you can also sub with a different fruit)
  • 4 tablespoons melted butter

Directions

  • Pour the milk into a large mixing bowl. Add the yeast and mix
  • Add the flour, salt, sugar, melted butter and vanilla. Mix again with your hands until all flour is incorporated (or use a stand mixer with a dough hook and deprive your arms of the fine sculpting they will get from lots of kneading) Let the dough rest for about 30 minutes.
  • Transfer dough to a clear container and let the dough undergo its bulk rise/ fermentation in a warm 75- 80 ° F place for about 90 minutes
  • Every 30 minutes give the dough a turn: dampen your hands (so the dough doesn’t stick) with warm water and gently pull dough up from the bottom of the bowl and fold onto the top a few times – this takes the place of kneading the dough.
  • Transfer the dough to a large plastic bag, press to flatten in a rectangle and chill in the fridge for 2 to 3 hours (or freeze).
  • While dough is chilling prepare the butter. Cut the cold butter into cubes and pound the cubes with a rolling pin until they come together into a sheet about 8” x 12”. While doing this incorporate the ½ cup of flour. You want the butter mass to be similar in consistency to the dough, and to be slightly pliable without getting to warm. Once you have your rectangle place on parchment paper and keep cool until ready to use.

  • When you are ready to begin laminating take the dough out of the fridge and roll out into a rectangle about 12 “ x 20” on a very well floured surface.

  • Work quickly to place the butter block in the center of the dough. Fold the right and left portions of the dough over the butter as if folding a letter.

  • Immediately turn the dough 90 degrees and roll it again into a rectangle about 12” x 20”. Fold the dough over itself like a letter once more. (This is the first “turn”). Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, but not long enough for the butter to re-harden.

  • Take the dough out and on a well floured surface turn the dough a second time; roll it out into a 12” x 20” and fold the dough over itself like a letter.
  • Refrigerate for an hour and repeat the turning process again. But this time after you fold up the dough (you should have about 8” x 12” block about 2” thick) wrap in plastic wrap or parchment and freeze for about 1 to 2 hours. If you plan on baking them in the morning keep the dough in the freezer until just before you go to bed and transfer to the fridge for the night.
  • Make the peach sugar by placing the freeze-dried peaches in the food processor and pulsing until a fine powder (it may help to add some of the sugar because of its abrasive nature).
  • mix ground peaches with the rest of the sugar and cinnamon.
  • Roll the croissant dough out to about a 18″ x 12″ rectangle on a very well floured surface.  Make sure you are constantly rotating the dough so it does not stick, or worse the butter breaks through the bottom or top layer and gets very sticky!
  • Once the dough is rolled out to size pour melted butter over the dough and sprinkle with enough of the sugar mixture to make a thick paste like coating. (you want about half of the sugar mix left to coat the final baked buns)
  • Roll the dough up into a log, like rolling cinnamon rolls and cut off the scraggly ends.
  • Cut the remaining dough into 12 equal pieces.(you may want to put the log in the refrigerator to stiffen up a little to make slicing easier).
  • Grease a regular-sized muffin tin.
  • Cut the dough into 12 equal pieces and place in a the greased muffin pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temp for an hour or in the fridge to bake-off early in the morning.
  • When ready to bake, preheat the over to 425°F and let the buns come to room temperature for 30 minutes if they have been in the fridge.
  • Bake at 425°F for 10 minutes then reduce heat to 375°F and bake until golden brown. You make want to rotate the pan to keep the cooking even. 
  • coat each bun with the remaining sugar (they should be buttery enough to stick, but enough a little extra butter only makes them better)

Another Beauty for Yeastspotting!

Cherry Danish

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Have you ever craved the smell of something? I know this might sound extremely weird, but sometimes I just want to smell a certain thing. usually its the smell of a sweet yeast dough cooking. Something about the smell makes me feel loved and comforted. everyone knows this smell. It’s what draws people to the cinnabun and pretzel stands at malls. It’s what makes waking up on Sunday mornings as a kid memorable. It’s one of the few things I remember my mom making when I was a kid.

The past week I’ve struggled with work and life and all of these adult things that now fill my life. I went and saw a movie only to cry for a solid 2 hours (note to all – The Descendants is not what I expected out of a film with Mr. Clooney existing in Hawaii). I knew only one thing could shake the mood I was in, baking.

I felt better as soon as I started to smell the yeast blooming in the milk. Any remaining tension disappeared while kneading the dough. How could the problems of my life really be so bad if I still have everything I need to bake?

I didn’t really know where I was going when I made the dough. Maybe a cake? Maybe sweet rolls? Maybe something different. As the dough proofed I investigated the pantry and made the best discovery: sour cherry jam! from there I just went with what ever came to mind, and I have to say…. the end product surprised and impressed me.

It might have been a restless 5:30 this morning when my cherry creation went into the oven, but it was worth it. There’s no better smell coming out of a kitchen in the morning than one of these!

Recipe all my own

Pastry Dough:

1 Cup milk

1 Package instant yeast

1/2 Cup sugar

3 Cups flour

1/2 cup almond meal

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 stick butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

Cherry Filling

1 8.5oz container of sour cherry jam

1 cup frozen cherries

1/4 cup flour

juice of 1 lemon

Topping

1 egg

1 tablespoon cream

1/2 cup blanched slivered almonds

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon honey, or as needed

Directions

  • Warm milk to about 100 degrees, add a pinch of a sugar and the package of yeast. Let bloom
  • In a large bowl mix flour, almond meal, sugar and salt
  • Once the yeast is activated add the milk mixture  and the melted butter to the dry ingredients. mix to combine
  • transfer the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth
  • place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour
  • while the dough is rising make the filling. Place the jam and frozen cherries in a bowl and microwave until the jam is loose. add the lemon juice and the flour mix and set aside.
  • get out your largest kitchen towel and cover generously with flour.
  • place the risen dough on the towel and begin rolling until the dough is about the size of the cloth.
  • spread the filling out over the entire surface of the dough
  • gently roll the dough up into a log
  • to shape the dough make the log into a U-shape and the twist
  • place the dough on a lined sheet pan cover with plastic wrap and let rise for at least an hour, preferably over night. It will double to triple in size
  • When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400° and mix the egg and cream together. Brush the egg mixture over the entire dough.
  • sprinkle the almonds over the pastry and place small cubes of the butter throughout the topping.
  • last, drizzle about a tablespoon of honey over the almonds
  • place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes rotating half way through, if the dough looks dry, drizzle more honey over the danish
  • let cool before slicing

Check out other awesome pastries over at Yeastspotting!

Cinnamon Raisin Honey Buns

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I made these cinnamon rolls to win someone over.  I know it’s not ethical, but sometimes, bribery is necessary. I’m not asking for huge favors or anything illegal, just for people to be nice. So I bribe people with pastries. It usually works…

These perfectly golden swirls of deliciousness were made to boost team moral at work. We’ve been overworked, stressed and spending way too much time with each other, so I bribed. I could have brought in a box of donuts or bagels, but let’s be honest… knowing that someone has taken the time to make something for you makes it that much more special. And knowing that they weren’t from some cardboard canister makes them even better. I have to say… the bribe was successful. And I was able to use my colleagues as guinea pigs without them knowing.

I knew I wanted to make cinnamon rolls but I wanted to make a little bit more sophisticated rolls than the frosting smeared cinnabun type. I wanted to make refined cinnamon rolls, the type you would find in a Parisian pastry shop, so based off of recent trials I decided to make my standard sweet yeast dough, a light cinnamon sugar filling and a honey glaze. I am hooked on the honey glaze after the pain aux raisin second attempt success.

These were delicious. They were exactly what I were hoping they would be. I’m going to declare this a yet another victory… for my baking, and for team moral. And another for yeastspotting.

Recipe

Yeast dough

3 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 packet instant yeast

1/2 cup milk (100°F)

1/2 cup water (100°F)

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

zest of 1 lemon

1/3 cup of raisins

Cream for pre-baking

Honey for glaze

Directions

  • Make the dough by mixing the flour, sugar and salt together in a large bowl
  • mix the water and milk together and add the yeast
  • When the yeast has started to foam, add the mixture to the dry ingredients and mix.
  • Add in the butter and vanilla and continue to mix.
  • knead the dough a few times on the counter then place the dough in a clean, buttered bowl and let rise for at least an hour.
  • mix the sugar, cinnamon and lemon zest together in a small bowl and set aside
  • After the dough has risen, dump it out onto a well floured surface. Roll the dough out into about a 18 x 12 inch rectangle.
  • spread the soft butter over the dough, then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture and the raisins.
  • Starting with one of the longer sides, roll the dough into a log. 
  • Using a serrated knife cut off the scraggly ends. Then cut the remaining log into 12 rolls. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and let proof until they have doubled in size. You can either bake the rolls now, or place in the refrigerator over night (like I did). 
  • To bake, preheat the oven to 375°F, and brush the top of the rolls with cream.
  • Bake for about 20 minutes until they are a deep golden color, you may want to rotate the sheet halfway through baking so the rolls cook evenly. 
  • Heat about 1/3 cup of honey in the microwave for 20 seconds until very liquid.
  • spread the honey over the rolls and let sit for a few minutes before eating and sharing. 

Pain aux Raisin

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I love a challenge. I love nothing more than someone (usually my dad) being blown out of the water by a professional pastry, and then trying to recreate it on my own. I know I’m at a disadvantage with non-professional ovens and a lack of training, but I love it. Sometimes truly amazing things are created, other are… well… learning experiences.

About a month ago I was fortunate enough to visit Bouchon Bakery in Yountville. It was 7:30 on a Sunday morning and there was a line out the door already! after staring at the bakery case for 15 minutes it was our turn to order and WOW, it was worth every penny. The star of the show was a pain aux raisin. This spiral danish had raisins and currants and had the perfect flakiness and flavor. I have been determined to make them ever since. I Finally had a chance to attempt recreating this beautiful pastry this weekend. I spent a lot of time looking for a recipe. I was really hoping to find a Thomas Keller recipe, but had no such luck, so I started browsed cook books and the internet looking for anything I could find And surprisingly there was not a lot on yeastpotting (so I guess I should add mine). Every pain aux raisin recipe I found used brioche dough, and this just didn’t seem right to me. I knew from the way the pastry tasted and looked that it was a croissant/danish-like laminated dough. But all the recipes had one other thing in common, pastry cream! I never would have thought there was a custard in there, but all recipes said so, as well as raisins soaked in rum or hot water. So I made croissant dough, along with some homemade pastry cream and rum soaked raisins and currants.

It was somewhat time-consuming, but when it’s broken down into elements it wasn’t too tough. I made the croissant dough using 1/2 the tartine recipe I used when I made croissants a few months ago. I also turned to tartine for the pastry cream recipe, it used fewer eggs than most and resulted in a not overwhelming rich and heavy cream. It also had an amazing pearl of wisdom in the recipe, if you see that your pastry cream is grainy you can use an immersion or counter top blender to smooth out the overly cooked egg. This really beats having to throw out a batch and start all over!

Anyways, this was definitely a learning experience for me. By no means did my danishes turn out bad, they just weren’t what I wanted. They looked like what comes in any continental breakfast basket at a Marriott, not something straight out of a pastry shop. I think this was because of a few things – I think I rolled the croissant dough too thin, I think i should have rolled the buns (forgive me for the kindergarten analogy) hamburger and not hot dog way, and I should have cut the danishes thicker. All things I now know for the next attempt. Also, while I’m sure the classic pain aux raisin has pastry cream in it, I’m not sure if the Bouchon roll did. Looking back at the photo from the shop, the layers of dough do not look like they are separated by anything but raisins and currants.

Also, there was so much pastry cream left over there’s a bonus recipe – apple tart!

Recipe

Pain aux Raisin

Half batch of Croissant dough

pastry cream (below)

1 cup mix of raisins and currants

1 cup boiling water

1/2 teaspoon rum extract

1 egg or milk ( for a wash before baking)

1/2 cup of apricot or fig preserves

Directions

  • Make the croissant dough and start the turning process. I did this starting at night, letting the dough rise and incorporating the butter in the morning. I then did the first and second turn.
  • Make the pastry cream and let cool.
  • In a small bowl pour the boiling water over the raisins and currants and add the rum extract (you could also use rum instead of water and extract). Let the fruit soak for at least an hour before draining and blotting dry with a paper towel.
  • finish the croissant dough with the last turn and roll the dough out into a large rectangle, probably about 12′ x 18″. I like to do this on a layer of plastic wrap, it makes rolling the dough into a log much easier later. 
  • using an offset spatula, spread a thin layer of pastry cream over the dough.
  • sprinkle the raisins and currants over the pastry cream.
  • starting with the edge closest to you, roll the dough into a log (like rolling cinnamon rolls). I like to use the plastic wrap and pull it in the direction away from me to create a nice tight roll. As I mentioned before, next time I will start rolling with one of the shorter sides.
  • let the dough sit in the fridge until firm. several hours or over night. The longer the dough is refrigerated the easier the danishes will be to cut.
  • cut the log into slices about 1/4 inch think and place onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment or a silpat. Next time I will be cutting them thinker, probably about an inch. 
  • Preheat the oven to 425° F and let the rolls proof.
  • create either a milk or egg wash and brush over the top. I tried both and you can see how it affects them. (left is milk, right is egg wash)
  • Bake the pastries for about 15-20 minutes until nice and golden brown.
  • While the pastries are baking heat the apricot/ fig preserves in a small pan with 1/4 cup of water. 
  • Let the pastries cool for a few minutes, and then coat with the thinned out fruit preserves. 

Pastry cream

2 cups whole milk

1/2 vanilla bean, cut open down the middle, seeded

1/4 tsp of salt

4 Tbls cornstarch

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

4 Tbls butter, cut in small cubes

Directions

  • Heat the milk, vanilla seeds and salt in a pan and put over medium heat, and bring to a boil.
  • In a large mixing bowl, whisk the sugar, cornstarch and eggs until smooth.
  •  Slowly add 1/2 of the milk mixture into the egg and whisk constantly to temper them.
  • Add the remaining milk and return the whole thing to the saucepan.
  • Cook until you get a thick consistency, whisking non-stop.
  • Remove from heat and pour into a bowl through a thin sieve, let cool for 10 minutes and then incorporate the butter, one tablespoon at a time, until smooth.
  • If the cream is grainy now is the time to use the blender
  • Cover the surface with plastic wrap, directly touching the cream, let cool completely in the refrigerator.
So I tried again. When I baked off the first batch I didn’t use all on my dough and I made some tweaks. I cut the rolls about an inch thick, I then let them proof for about an hour until they got much larger. I also read on the Bouchon bakery menu that they coat theirs with honey so I tried that as well.
What a difference these changes made!

Croissants

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I had a really hard time finding something special enough to make to be my first real recipe post. I struggled with picking a recipe I felt was special enough for weeks, maybe months. But while flipping through the Tartine Bread book I found it – 100% handmade from scratch croissants.

I don’t particularly like croissants, but one can’t deny that they’re special. If you disagree I dare you to look at through the pictures in the Tartine Bread book of the yeast dough, butter, laminating, folding, cutting, rolling and proofing and tell me you still feel that way.

I grabbed my starter (that has been alive and well for 9 months), weighed out my water and flour, and mixed the leaven right away. I created the poolish of water, flour and the packaged yeast (I feel like a cheater using it) as well. I followed the recipe (below), let the dough rise, punched it down a few times and put it in the biggest ziplock I could find. Then I realized it was a Sunday night (that meant 5 days of work were standing between me and finishing these croissants), and I sadly put my hard work in the freezer.

All week as I fed my starter after work I wondered how my dough was doing. I opened the freezer took it out anxiously on Thursday and saw the air bubbles still there, and placed it in the fridge to thaw out. Friday all I could think about was getting home to my dough! I might have left early because I was so anxious. I rolled the dough out, smashed a disturbing amount of butter into a rectangle and folded it up into the beautifully smooth yeast dough. I rolled it out an hour later, folded it up nice and tight and repeated the process 2 more times. Finally I rolled the dough out, and starting cutting the triangles.

All of a sudden it dawned on me, there will be way more croissants than I can eat – I should make half of them chocolate. And so I took some bittersweet chocolate chips out of the pantry and wrapped them up in the second half of the dough. Covered 2 trays of pretty little uncooked pastries with plastic wrap and put them in the fridge.

I honestly couldn’t stay asleep, these needed to be in the oven. At 5 am I couldn’t pretend to sleep anymore, got the dough out of the fridge, heated the oven up and made an egg wash. In the oven they went and I sat on the floor, right in front of the oven window waiting for them to rise and brown.  Best decision I’ve made in a long time. Turns out I was right, I don’t like croissants. I love them! And the effort and anticipation made them taste that much better.

Recipe (adapted from Tartine Bread):

Poolish:

200 grams all-purpose flour

200 grams water (75 ° F)

3 grams active dry yeast

Leaven:

1 Tablespoon mature starter

220 grams all-purpose flour

220 grams water (80 ° F)

Croissants:

450 grams whole milk (room temperature)

300 grams leaven

400 grams poolish

1000 grams bread flour

28 grams salt

85 grams sugar

10 grams active dry yeast

400 grams butter

½ cup all-purpose flour

All-purpose flour for rolling

Egg wash:

2 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon heavy cream

Directions:

To make poolish, mix flour, water and yeast in bowl and let stand 3-4 hours room temperature or in the fridge overnight.

To make the leaven, mix the mature starter in a bowl with water and flour and let stand for several hours, or until when a small amount dropped in water floats.

To make the croissants:

  • Pour the milk into a large mixing bowl. Add the poolish and leaven and mix by squeezing with your hands.
  • Add the flour, salt, sugar, and yeast. Mix again with your hands until all flour is incorporated. Let the dough rest for about 30 minutes.
  • Transfer dough to a clear container and let the dough undergo its bulk rise/ fermentation in a warm 75- 80 ° F place for about 90 minutes

  • Every 30 minutes give the dough a turn: dampen your hands (so the dough doesn’t stick) with warm water and gently pull dough up from the bottom of the bowl and fold onto the top a few times – this takes the place of kneading the dough.
  • Transfer the dough to a large plastic bag, press to flatten in a rectangle and chill in the fridge for 2 to 3 hours (or freeze).
  • While dough is chilling prepare the butter. Cut the cold butter into cubes and pound the cubes with a rolling pin until they come together into a sheet about 8” x 12”. While doing this incorporate the ½ cup of flour. You want the butter mass to be similar in consistency to the dough, and to be slightly pliable without getting to warm. Once you have your rectangle place on parchment paper and keep cool until ready to use.

  • When you are ready to begin laminating take the dough out of the fridge and roll out into a rectangle about 12 “ x 20” on a very well floured surface.

  • Work quickly to place the butter block in the center of the dough. Fold the right and left portions of the dough over the butter as if folding a letter.

  • Immediately turn the dough 90 degrees and roll it again into a rectangle about 12” x 20”. Fold the dough over itself like a letter once more. (This is the first “turn”). Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, but not long enough for the butter to re-harden.
  • Take the dough out and on a well floured surface turn the dough a second time; roll it out into a 12” x 20” and fold the dough over itself like a letter.
  • Refrigerate for an hour and repeat the turning process again. But this time after you fold up the dough (you should have about 8” x 12” block about 2” thick) wrap in plastic wrap or parchment and freeze for about 1 to 2 hours. If you plan on baking them in the morning keep the dough in the freezer until just before you go to bed and transfer to the fridge for the night.
  • When you’re ready to shape the croissants, like 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats.
  • Roll the dough out into a rectangle about 18” x 24” and about a ½ inch thick. Cut in half (I like to use a pizza cutter) to create two long 9” x 24” rectangles. Cut each rectangle into 6 to 8 equal sized triangles (or rectangles if you plan to fill with chocolate)
  • Roll up each triangle (or rectangle with chocolate inside) starting with the wider end and place on the prepared baking sheets at least 1 ½ inches apart. Let rise at a warm room temperature for about 2 hours – they should be 50% larger than their original size. (You can cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge over night at this step as well)
  • When ready to bake preheat the oven the 425° F.
  • Make the egg wash and brush over every inch of the croissants. Bake until the croissants are deep golden brown, crisp and flakey, about 30 minutes.

      • Serve warm.