Tag Archives: Dessert

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, and the sunrise wasn’t too shabby either.  I guess my problems can’t be that bad…

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!

Povitica

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I have been a horrible blogger this month. Not only have I not had time to post anything, I have barely had time to bake. I have been amazingly busy a work the past several weeks, USC football has taken over my Saturdays and I recently became a fan of an exercise class (bizarre and totally out of character). I have been obsessed with the Bar Method; It’s Pilates, yoga and ballet all mixed into an hour leaving my limbs feeling like jello. I really like it but it’s having adverse effects on my baking… My arms were so sore as I was kneading a dough this past week!

Since I felt so bad about not making anything for a while I decided to try something I’ve seen all over the food universe, Povitica. It has every element of baking I love all combined into a beautiful swirled package. Yeast, check. Eastern European, check. Some crazy technique I’ve never tried before, check. What is there not to love? I even forgot the part about chocolate! This really might be one of the better things I’ve ever made. It’s similar to a babka, but the dough is flakier. My oh so poetic father called it a giant rugelach. Regardless of what you compare it… It’s delicious! And I promise it is worth following each step of the directions very carefully.

This most important part of making this is the rolling of the dough. The recipe does not make a large quantity of dough, but it rolls out to be incredibly large! This is all due to rolling the dough out on a kitchen towel. I had my doubts about this… I was about to start flouring my counter to use as a work surface at first, but then I kept reading the directions. You want to roll the dough out so thin that you can see the pattern of the towel underneath. When you think the dough can’t get thinner, roll it out more. I’ve never rolled a yeast dough out that thin, so I wanted to try it. I got my towel out, floured it, placed the ball of dough down and went to work.

This was AMAZING. The dough was paper-thin by the time I finished. The recipe wasn’t anything out of the normal, so I knew it wasn’t the ingredients that let the dough get so thin. It’s the towel underneath! It seems like the towel helps the dough stay in place as it gets thinner. It really is remarkable to watch what is happening as you roll each time. I made a batch of croissant dough the next day using a towel as a work surface and it worked brilliantly there too.This bread went very quickly. I made a second loaf (that is what the pictures are of) on Saturday as it was pouring rain outside. It turned out well, but the rain affected the dough a bit and it was not as flakey as the first.Also I think the proofing time between the shaping and baking is very important. If your dough is to dense, it will not cook through all the way and be doughy in the center (like my pictured second loaf).

Povitica (recipe from passionateaboutbaking)

Ingredients

To activate the Yeast:
½ tsp sugar
¼ tsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp warm water
1½ tsp dry yeast
Dough:
½ Cup  2% milk
¾ Cup sugar
¾ tsp salt
1 large egg
1/2 vanilla bean,scraped
1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 cups all-purpose flour
Topping:
1 egg white, beaten with fork
1½ tsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp melted butter
Filling Ingredients:
1¾ cups (10 oz) walnuts, ground
¼ cup 2% milk
¼ Cup unsalted butter
1 egg yolk beaten with fork
½ vanilla bean, scraped
½ Cup sugar
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
Directions
  • In a small bowl, stir sugar, flour, and the yeast into warm water
  • Allow to stand for 5 minutes.
To Make the Dough:
    • In a medium saucepan, heat the milk up to just below boiling (about 180°F/82°C), stirring constantly so that a film does not form on the top of the milk. You want it hot enough to scald you, but not boiling. Place the half vanilla bean in the milk.  Allow to cool slightly, until it is about 110°F/43°C.
    • one it is cool enough to handle take the vanilla bean out and scrap the seeds on the inside out with a small sharp knife.
    • In a large bowl, mix the scalded milk,vanilla, sugar, and the salt until combined.
    • Add the beaten eggs, yeast mixture, melted butter, and 2 cups of flour.
    • Blend thoroughly and slowly add extra flour, mixing well until the dough starts to clean the bowl
    • Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead, gradually adding flour a little at a time, until smooth and does not stick.
    • Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover loosely with a layer of plastic wrap and let rise an hour and a half in a warm place, until doubled in size. I usually put mine in the oven so there is no draft.
To Make the Filling
    • In a large bowl mix together the ground walnuts, sugar and cocoa. {I whizzed the walnuts, cocoa, and sugar in the food processor}
  • Heat the milk and butter to boiling, add the vanilla bean, and scrape into the hot liquids like for the dough.
  • Pour the liquid over the nut/sugar mixture.
  • Add the egg yolk and mix thoroughly.
  • Allow to stand at room temperature until ready to be spread on the dough.
  • If the mixture thickens, add a small amount of warm milk {This is important}
To Roll and Assemble the Dough:
  • Spread a clean sheet or cloth over your entire table so that it is covered.
  • Sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons to a handful of flour
  • Place the dough on the sheet and roll the dough out with a rolling-pin, starting in the middle and working your way out, until it measures roughly 10-12 inches in diameter
  • Spoon 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of melted butter on top.
  • Using the tops of your hands, stretch dough out from the center until the dough is thin and uniformly opaque. You can also use your rolling pin, if you prefer.
  • As you work, continually pick up the dough from the table, not only to help in stretching it out, but also to make sure that it isn’t sticking.
  • When you think it the dough is thin enough, try to get it a little thinner. It should be so thin that you can see the color and perhaps the pattern of the sheet underneath. I mean seriously… in relation to my large rolling pin you can see how huge this rolls out to be! and it’s only 2 cups of flour!!
  • Spoon filling evenly over dough until covered.
  • Lift the edge of the cloth and gently roll the dough like a jelly roll
  • Once the dough is rolled up into a rope, gently lift it up and place it into a greased loaf pan in the shape of a “U”, with the ends meeting in the middle. You want to coil the dough around itself, as this will give the dough its characteristic look when sliced
  • Brush the top of the loaf with the beaten egg white and sprinkle with granulated sugar. 
  • Cover pans lightly will plastic wrap and allow to rest for about 15 minutes.
  • Heat oven to moderate 400°F.
  • Remove plastic wrap from dough and place into the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes.
  • Turn down the oven temperature to slow 325°C and bake for an additional 45 minutes, or until done. {Check the bread at 30 minutes to ensure that the bread is not getting too brown. You may cover the loaves with a sheet of aluminum foil if you need to.}
  • Remove bread from oven and brush with melted butter.
  • Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 20-30 minutes, still in the bread pan. Remember, the bread is heavy about 2.5 and it needs to be able to hold its own weight, which is difficult when still warm and fresh out of the oven. Allowing it to cool in the pan helps the loaf to hold its shape.
  • It is recommended that the best way to cut Povitica loaves into slices is by turning the loaf upside down and slicing with a serrated knife.

Off to Yeastspotting it goes!

Lemon Layer Cake

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This past weekend was my Grandma’s 86th birthday. It was a pretty casual lunch and she asked no one to bring presents. She really didn’t want a big celebration and made it clear, but I couldn’t resist baking her a cake… well actually two (but I’ll get to that later).

I haven’t made a proper layer cake in years. I used to make layer cakes with heaps of butter cream all the time when I first got serious about baking. But after a while the allure of cakes faded for me, and I looked to expand my repertoire. I thought long and hard about what to make for my grandma’s birthday. As I’ve mentioned before, she didn’t grow up on overly sweet frosted spongy cakes so I tried to be careful in selecting what I would make for her. I decided on white cake filled with lemon curd and iced with a lemon frosting for my return to the layer cake. I thought this would be the perfect not too overly sweet cake.

The best part is the cake came together pretty quickly. Start to finish with time for cooking, cooling, making butter cream, lemon curd and assembling, I was done in under 4 hours. I thought this was pretty impressive. After years of just going along with recipes I’ve finally proven to myself that 10 or 15 minutes of forethought and planning cuts much more time off of the back-end of the process.

Here are a few of my tips for layer cake success:

  • Making the filling and frosting before baking the cake is probably one of the best things someone making a layer cake can do.
  • Go to your grocery store bakery department, and ask really nicely for a cake box, and maybe possibly a cake board without seeming greedy. Batting eyelashes and being overly appreciative seem to go a long way at my store.
  • give yourself enough time for the cakes to cool – frosting does not stick to a warm cake.
According to Grandma, I really out-did myself by bringing her a plum cake as well. For some reason prune plum season has lasted much longer than usual and I had to make one last cake while I still can for the year. Grandma loved both. My dad’s sister and her family were so excited to see a plum cake! My grandma hasn’t made them in years, and for some reason my aunt never took to making her own. They were over the moon to see their old favorite make an appearance. I don’t mean to brag but my uncle said that my plum cake is better than any he remembers Grandma making. I’ll take that compliment!
Recipe  (all are Martha Stewart)
Swiss Meringue Butter cream
Ingredients
3 large egg whites
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 sticks butter (1 1/4 cups) room temperature and cut into tablespoon sized pieces
Directions
  • Place the egg whites and sugar in a large bowl. Set over a pot of simmering water.
  • With a whisk or hand-mixer, slowing beat the egg white mixture constantly as it heats up. You want the eggs to reach 160°F and the sugar to dissolve.
  • Remove the egg whites from the heat and add the vanilla. Using an electric mixer (I prefer a hand mixer, but a stand mixer works great too) beat the egg whites on high until they become light and fluffy like a meringue. 
  • With the mixer still on high, add the butter one tablespoon at a time making sure each piece is fully incorporated before adding the next.
  • either use immediately, or keep in the fridge until ready to use.
Cake
Ingredients
    • 3 cups cake flour, (not self-rising)
    • 2 teaspoons baking powder
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
    • 2 1/4 cups sugar
    • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    • 1 cup milk
    • 8 large egg whites

Directions

    • Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9-by-2-inch round cake pans; line bottoms with parchment paper rounds. Butter parchment, and dust with flour, tapping out excess; set aside.
    • In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla.
    •  With mixer on low-speed, add flour mixture in three parts, alternating with milk and beginning and ending with flour; beat until just combined. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; set aside.
    • In the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on low-speed until foamy. With mixer running, gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar; beat on high-speed until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 4 minutes. Do not overbeat.
    •  Gently fold a third of the egg-white mixture into the butter-flour mixture until combined. Gently fold in remaining whites.
    • Divide batter evenly between prepared pans, smoothing with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until cakes are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool 20 minutes. Invert cakes onto rack; peel off parchment. Reinvert cakes, and let them cool completely, top sides up.

Lemon Curd
Ingredients
6 large egg yolks
Zest of 2 lemons
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
12 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces
Directions
  • Prepare an ice bath fitted with a medium bowl; set aside.
  •  Whisk together yolks, zest, juice, and sugar in a small saucepan. Set over medium heat, and stir constantly with a wooden spoon. Cook until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the wooden spoon, 5 to 7 minutes.
  • Remove pan from heat. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, stirring until incorporated. Pass through a fine mesh sieve into prepared medium bowl. Stirring frequently, let stand until cool.
  • Place a sheet of plastic wrap directly on surface of curd to prevent skin from forming; wrap tightly. Refrigerate until firm and chilled, at least 1 hour. Store refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
Assembly
  • Using a serrated knife, cut the tops of the cakes off to create a level surface. Flip the first cake upside down on your cake board or stand.
  • Place 1/4 of your butter cream in a plastic bag, and cut a corner off to create an easy and cheap piping bag.
  • Carefully line the outside of the cake with a layer of frosting. This is going to be the boundary that keeps the lemon curd in the center of the cake so it is very important that you do not skimp on the frosting here.
  • Next put about a cup of the lemon curd in the center of the cake. and stack the second cake on top.
  • Stir the extra lemon curd into the remaining butter cream to create a lemon frosting.
  • Next start with about 1/2 of the frosting on top of the cake and gently push it over the sides using an offset spatula. Add more ass needed.
  • I lice to run the spatula in an up and down motion as I go around the cake to create an old-fashioned look. Finish with the extra frosting on the top, making a dice design. You could also add a few lemon slices or candied lemon peel.

Apple Cream Tart

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Late at night I have a habit of wondering into the kitchen “just to see what’s there”. I’ve already eaten dinner, and usually frozen yogurt, so I have no real reason to be browsing the fridge.  But then out of the corner of my eye I see un-used pastry cream in my fridge and cringe at the thought of throwing out my hard work. The original use of the cream was the pain aux raisin, and they barely put a dent in the batch of this yummy pudding like vanilla custard. I wanted to take a spoon to it, but something told me I would regret that in the morning. So I baked.

Pastry cream has so many uses, mostly as fillings in things like eclairs, cream pies, fresh berry tarts and the like. All of these just sounded (1) too rich and (2) like too many steps late at night. So I scoured my arsenal and came across a disk of pie dough and some apples. Perfect! All the makings of an impressive dessert without too much effort and barely any down time since the pie dough was already chilled and the pastry cream was made too.

This was pretty delicious. You could easily use a pre-made crust or tart shell, or even a puff pastry sheet. For my pie recipe, check out the apple pie I made a few weeks ago.

Recipe

1 pie crust

Pastry cream

2 cups whole milk

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

1/4 tsp of salt

4 Tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

4 Tablespoons butter, cut in small cubes

3 large apples

Juice on one lemon

1/4 cup apricot/fig jam or honey (anything neutral and sweet)

Directions

  • Make pastry cream:
    • 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.
  • Pre-heat the oven to 375° F
  • Roll out pie crust and place into a 10 inch tart pan. Keep in fridge until ready to use.
  • Slice apples. You can use an apple slicer and cut each wedge in half (like I did) or cut them by hand. Place in a bowl and toss with lemon juice so they do not turn brown.
  • Take crust out of the fridge. Fill with pastry cream.
  • start placing apples in a ring on top of the pastry cream
  • Complete the apple topping and brush with a tablespoon or two of melted butter.
  • Place the tart on a cookie sheet and bake for about 40 minutes or until golden on top
  • place the jam or honey in a sauce pan or microwave and heat with a tablespoon of water until it is a spreadable consistency. Glaze the top of the tart.
  • Let tart cool and set up before slicing. Also, unlike most things I make this should be kept in the fridge, not the counter top so it doesn’t go bad.

Plum Cake

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 I wait all year for Italian Prune Plums season.  I try my best to be patient, but I get antsy. I try to use other stone fruits in an old family cake recipe, and while the cakes are great, they just aren’t plum cake.

This recipe is family treasure. I have talked about it before. It’s one of the few things I hope my future children will learn and keep passing down the way my dad’s mom taught my mom and she taught me. I feel like I’m part of a bigger picture when I make this cake. I know where it comes from, and it came a long way. The original recipe was written down in Hebrew with measurements in handfuls and made with what was available. My grandma translated and standardized the recipe in terms of cups and ingredients when she moved to America.

Theres a special tang to this cake. The mixture of lemon, butter, sugar and plums is not quite sour, but creates a little pucker. The dough underneath is sweet and yeasty. The fragrance of the sweet yeast, and tart plums overwhelms you as you take it out of the oven.  It’s always a game to see how long it takes for my dad to find his way to the kitchen when one of these are baking – usually somewhere in the range of the oven door opening and the cake being placed on the counter.

My dad refer’s to this as “the holy grail”. His mom used to make one in late summer and freeze it until his birthday on Christmas. Legend has it, my grandfather would keep a knife close by the cake and cut sliver by sliver to eat, until half was gone in a day. My dad has continued the tradition. He eats it for breakfast, after lunch, for mid-afternoon snacks and dessert…how he is not overweight is beyond me.

While my dad has never baked a single thing in his life, he loves to supervise the plum cake process. “Make the dough sweeter”… “you need more lemon” and my personal favorite, “Make a nice DRY dough” are some of his usual contributions as he steals my halved and pitted plums out of the bowl they sit in with lemon juice. (I threaten to take fingers off when he does this, but I’ve started to realize it’s a battle not worth fighting).

He really loves this cake. I make several of them during the 2 or 3 week window around late August to September when they are available. I really should freeze one this year for his birthday, or maybe freeze the plums. But I have a feeling he would find it and eat it before then.

I’m scared generations of German grandmas are rolling over in their graves as I share this recipe that has never been shared with non-family members, but how could I not share my favorite thing ever. This one is going to yeastspotting too!

Recipe 

Cake dough:

3 cups all-purpose flour

½  cup sugar

½ cup warm water

½ cup milk

3 Tablespoons butter melted

1 package yeast

1 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Plums

2 lbs italian prune plums, or as many as fit in your pan

½ cup sugar

juice of 1½ a lemon

6 Tablespoons melted butter

Directions:

To make cake:

    • Mix flour and sugar together on a large mixing bowl
    • Place warm water, warm milk and yeast in a small bowl and let proof 
    • Pour yeast mixture into the flour and add the extract and butter. Mix together. I prefer to use my hands (t’s the way I learned to make it), but you can do this in a stand mixer with a dough hook
    • Add more flour if needed to create a dough. You want it to spring back and not be too sticky
    • If mixing by hand knead a few times on a floured surface (this is my favorite part) when you poke the dough it will spring back at you if it is ready. 
    • Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl in a warm, draft-free place to rise for about an hour, or until doubled in size
Plums:
    • Cut plums in half, remove pits and place in a bowl with lemon juice 
Assembly:
    • Grease a 13 x 9 glass baking dish
    • Take the dough out of the proofing bowl and roll out into a rectangle and press into the baking dish 
    • arrange the plums on top of the dough pressing them down firmly 
    • pour the lemon juice over the plums along with the butter
    • Sprinkle with sugar
    • Cover with plastic wrap; let proof for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350° F
    • After it has risen for a second time bake for 35 – 45 minutes or until the top is golden, the juices are bubbling and the dough the glass is nicely browned
    • Serve warm, or have it room temperature for breakfast the next morning, or really anytime

Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Cookies

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I have tried and failed enough times over the years to say I know what I’m doing when it comes to the cookie. A few years back I stumbled across a recipe for chocolate chip, I don’t remember where, but it was perfect. It was chewy in the center, a crunchy edge and a nice buttery flavor.  I stopped looking for a better recipe once I found this one. I have tinkered with the types of chocolate, method and cooking time to fit my preferences, but never strayed far from the foundation of the recipe.

I love this recipe because I know I can whip out a batch of scratch made, love filled cookies in under an hour. The secret is getting your ingredients room temperature without sacrificing the integrity of them. #1 butter – when it is in the wrapper, you can microwave it for about 7 seconds at a time flipping it to get it soft without completely melting one side. #2 eggs – to get them luke warm right out of the fridge, put them in a bowl with hot water for about 5 minutes. Works like a charm every time. I use the tricks all the time with cookies, cakes, anything I’m making without the forethought to take things out of the fridge hours before.

Anyways, my mom really wanted cookies. But lately I’ve wanted to make things that I can work on making better. So I stepped out of the chocolate chip box and went for oatmeal – Oatmeal dark chocolate currant to be exact. I used my basic chocolate chip recipe with some tweaks. The results were pretty good, but I feel like there is room for improvement. Next time, I will use another egg – the dough seemed to dry, and I feel like the finished product could have been fluffier with the addition of an extra egg.

Recipe (my own)

½ cup (1 stick) butter

½ cup sugar

½ cup molasses

1 egg

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup flour

1 cup oats

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

6 oz (1 cup) dark chocolate chunks

1 cup currants (or raisins)

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350° F, line 2 cookie sheets with parchment or silpats and take all cold ingredients out of the fridge to bring to room temperature.
  • In a small bowl mix flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside
  • Beat butter sugar and molasses together with a hand mixer until light and very fluffy (about 5 minutes) 
  • Add egg and vanilla extract and beat for another 5 minutes. You want the mixture to look like a butter cream.
  • Add the dry ingredients, and mix until almost everything is incorporated
  • add the chocolate and dried fruit
  • beat until everything comes together, but do not over mix (makes for a tough cookie)
  • using an ice cream scoop that is between 1½ and 2 inches large, scoop cookies into the prepared baking sheets.  The cookies will come out of the scoop easiest, if you wet the scoop first. 
  • gently flatten the cookies with wet hands (once again, this prevents the dough from sticking)
  • Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes (depending on your oven) rotating about halfway through
  • When taking the cookies out of the oven slide the parchment or silpat off the sheet right away, this will help the cookies stop cooking.
  • Let cool… or not

Chocolate Class at the Culinary Institute in Napa

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I don’t have a great cake or pastry recipe to write about today. I would usually be disappointed that I did not have something new and interesting to share, but I today I have something rather unique. This past weekend I took a class at the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena (in the Napa Valley) all about chocolate and confections at home.

I have been going to cooking classes my whole life. When I was 9 or so on a trip to Paris with my family I took a pastry class at the Ritz hotel and it made a lasting impression on me. I still remember exactly what we made that day – fruit tarts with pastry cream brushed with apricot jelly and flourless chocolate cake (that ended up all over my little brother’s face). In retrospect, that day may single-handedly be responsible for my fearless approach to trying new complex recipes.

Since that day in the belly of the Ritz kitchen I have been hooked on cooking classes. I’ve found myself anywhere from L’Academia Barilla in Parma, Italy to the local Sur La Tables and other stops in between. These experiences have been some of the most memorable days of my life, and this past weekend is no exception.

I picked this chocolate and confections class because I don’t know as much as I’d like to when it comes to chocolate. I knew what tempering was, but was not versed in the techniques and science behind it.   And no matter how much you read, sometimes it really helps to see a professional chef do things the right way.

The class consisted of 6 recipes – 3 confections prepared by the Chef (Peanut brittle, English toffee and almond dragees) and 3 different chocolate truffles (recipes below) prepared by the students that were broken up into teams of 2.  The chef also demonstrated techniques in tempering, sculpting and air brushing. All in all, it was an amazing day. If you have ever considered taking a class like this, I highly recommend it. Right now I’m looking into the week-long pastry bootcamp. Anyone want to join me?

Below are as many pictures as I was able to take when my hands weren’t covered in chocolate.

Below the chef is tempering chocolate

This technique is called tabling. The goal is to cool about 1/3 the total melted chocolate by pouring it out onto cold marble and moving it around (the marble absorbs the chocolate’s heat)  until it is “fudgy”.

You then add the cooled chocolate back into the non-tabled melted chocolate and mix it together. And you mix a lot, or “agitate” to create the proper structure necessary in chocolate to create the sheen you see on expensive truffles, chocolate bars and sculptures.

Don’t you just want to stick your finger in it? You should! To “test the temperature” of course – it has to be between 89° – 91° F to properly set. (A thermometer should be used, but it just doesn’t seem as fun)

This tempered chocolate was used throughout the class in various ways: to coat the english toffee and truffles, to make chocolate curls, and the day before the instructor made an amazing chocolate sculpture.

This sculpture is solid chocolate, with small accents made of modeling chocolate. It’s possible because when you temper chocolate properly it becomes extremely strong. The chef finished the piece during the class by spraying it with more tempered chocolate to give it texture and sheen.

This class really was amazing. I was skeptical of how much I would learn or get out of the instruction, but the teacher and his TA were both very helpful and more than willing to answer all types of questions. (He even gave me advice about shaping my bread). And we got a goodie box to take home – deadly in an 8 hour drive back to so Cal.

And of course as we left the Napa Valley I had to visit any aspiring baker’s mecca – Bouchon Bakery. At 730 in the morning, with an 8 hour drive ahead of us, the 20 minute line seemed daunting, but it was so worth it! The macarons were the size of the palm of my fist! and the croissants were a beautiful golden color. And then donuts; a true example of deliciously edible art.

We loaded up on caffeine a few muffins and pastries. Each time someone would take a bite it was followed by “this is the best ______ I’ve ever ate”. And I now have a new goal: conquering the pain aux raisin.

For all of you out there that cannot make it to the CIA (in Napa or New York) I have included the recipe for peanut brittle. It’s amazing. Dare I say better than See’s.

Enjoy!

Recipe (Peter P. Greweling)

Peanut Brittle

1 lb Sugar

4 oz Water

12 oz Light corn syrup

1 lb Unsalted blanched raw whole peanuts

1 tsp Salt

1 oz Butter, unsalted, soft

1 ½ tsp Vanilla extract

1 ½ tsp Baking Soda

Directions

Lightly oil a 10 x 15 inch sheet pan and an offset palette knife

Combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a large sauce pan. Bring to a boil and stir constantly. Cover and boil for 4 minutes.

Remove the cover, insert thermometer, and cook without stirring till it reached 240° F.

Add the Peanuts and cook while stirring till 320° F, or until the batch is light brown.

 

 

 

Remove from the heat, mix in the salt, butter, vanilla and baking soda thoroughly.

Pour onto the prepared pan and spread to the edges using the oiled palette knife.

 

 

 

Allow to cool to room temperature. Break into the desired size pieces and store in an airtight container.

 

Key Lime Pie Is Better With Company

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I had looked forward to this past weekend for weeks. One of my best friends from high school had her closest friends from college coming to town. While seeing these girls should be enough to excite me, I knew the visit guaranteed one thing – a barbecue in my favorite backyard, and a reason to bake.

While I really could spend all day in the kitchen, sometimes I have to remind myself that the people I’m baking for are more important than the things I am baking. I had plans of making something time-consuming and fancy, but I wanted to spend time with these people instead of baking my day away.

I wanted to make something refreshing, and would pair well with spicy mexican food we were having for dinner. Living in southern California I eat mexican food all the time but don’t ever have dessert. All I remembered from my favorite restaurant’s menu is flan and deep-fried ice cream… neither screamed barbecue to me (or portable). But mexican food uses lots of limes… and my key lime pie is always a hit and requires a minimal effort.

Recipe

Crust:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

6 tablespoons melted butter

up to 1/4 cup sugar (depending on your preference)

OR

1 store-bought graham cracker crust

Filling:

1 14oz can fat-free sweetened condensed milk

2 eggs

1/2 cup lime juice

Whipped cream optional but highly recommended*

Directions:

Crust

  • Preheat oven to 350 F
  • Melt butter, and mix in bowl with graham cracker crumbs and sugar to taste.  Transfer mixture into an ungreased pie pan and press crumbs firmly down into pan and up the sides
  • Bake for 10 minutes

Filling:

  • Zest and juice limes (about 3-4 depending on how juicy the are)
  • Whisk sweetened condensed milk, eggs, lime juice and zest together
  • Pour filling into graham cracker crust (you should wait for it to cool, but you can pour it in warm as well)
  • Place pie in the over and cook until and the filling is firm. 25 – 30 minutes. Let cool before decorating with whipped cream and serving

But let’s be honest, as great as this pie is the barbecue is what deserves more attention. My friend’s parents have the most amazing cottage in the heart of Laguna Beach. It’s such a hidden gem – there are so many overly large, modern, sterile homes in town now, and their house and backyard utilize the land some much better than any of those. I really appreciate their backyard, and I cannot say enough about the most fabulous garden I’ve seen.

My friend’s mom, Margie, not only grows these amazing larger than life sunflowers, but also has tomatoes, nectarines, squash, avocados, peppers, strawberries, fave beans and maintains a bee hive.

As soon as I heard there was squash in the garden I went on a hunt for the blossoms (I’m a sucker for ricotta filled and fried or my favorite – on pizza). It was dusk and the flowers had started to close, Margie noticed one of them vibrating on realize it was a bee trapped inside.  Needless to say, the right thing to do was pass the flower around so everyone could feel the bee freaking out inside.

The best part of this garden has to be the tomatoes. Margie has around 60 plants, and she uses them so well; Fresh salsa, guacamole, and my new favorite dish, her simple shrimp ceviche.

Recipe:

1 lb pre-cooked, shelled and deveined shrimp

1 about 16 oz container of Pico de Gallo (Trader Joe’s works well)

1/2 white onion, chopped

juice of 2 limes

several handfuls of cherry tomatoes

salt and pepper

Enjoy! And thank you to the fabulous Bell clan for a wonderful night

Grape Focaccia

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Bread amazes me. It’s the under appreciated universal dietary staple. You can go anywhere in the world, and there is some type of chewy cooked leavened dough. Every country, even region has their own unique take on it. Think about how amazing this is – baguette, lavash, naan, chinese steamed mantou and even pita are all yeast raised doughs that were developed thousands of years ago.

After some research I discovered that the first “bread” was eaten over 30,000 years ago in areas of Europe. It was a mixture of grains ground down between rocks and mixed with water, most likely cooked over fire. There are records of Egyptians buying a flat bread in 1,200 BC and Sumerians eating a barley flat cake around the same time. Ancient civilizations from all over the world all created their own versions of bread out of their indigenous grains – maize in the Americas, rice in the far east, and sorghum in sub-Saharan Africa.  (I don’t know why I think this is so fascinating but, but I’m truly astonished) All of these ancient civilizations separately discovered that leaving the dough to rest resulted in it rising! I know I probably sound like a mad scientist going off on a weird tangent, but I think it’s amazing that so many civilizations separated by mountains and oceans and thousands of miles all developed leavened bread.  It’s pretty cool.

Now, it is much more convenant to go to the store and pick up a loaf of white spongy preserved stuff than make your own. But its really not hard to make a great tasting bread. In all seriousness, if neanderthals could make bread, any person reading this blog is capable too!

I think the best way to start is with one of the more basic breads out there, Focaccia. I like this bread for many reasons: you can put what ever you want on it, you can forget that it’s proofing for hours without any serious consequences to texture or flavor, and you don’t have to shape it.  It’s also great to take a bbq, pot luck or party.  Homemade bread just screams impressive.

Recipe (adapted from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice)

4 ½  cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons instant yeast

2 cups water, at room temperature

6 Tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon sourdough starter (optional)

20 grapes, halved

2 springs fresh rosemary

1/2 cup olive oil

Directions:

  • Mix flour, yeast and salt in large mixing bowl
  • In a separate bowl mix water, olive oil and starter if using
  • Pour the liquids over the dry ingredients and mix with hands (or stand mixer) to incorporate. The dough will be shaggy at first, but keep mixing and it will come together. Add up to an extra cup of flour of it seems to sticky.
  • Transfer the dough to a clear container (so you can check the rising) and place in a warm, draft free place.
  • every hour or so check on the dough. If its risen above your container fold it over its self by using damp hands to pull dough from the bottom of the mass up and over onto the top. Let it proof and fold it over its self for around 6 hours. Or you can refrigerate the dough overnight to develop a deeper flavor. It will look like this when ready:
  • Pour 1/4 cup of olive oil into a rimmed 11 x 17 inch baking sheet.  Pour the dough out onto the pan as well.
  • Pour an additional 1/4 cup of olive oil over the dough and use your fingers to spread the dough out as much as possible. Let the dough relax for 10 minutes and continue to spread the dough out.
  • Place the grapes and rosemary on the focaccia ( I recommend cut side up, as the ones I had with the Skin up burnt)
  • Preheat the oven to 500 F and let the dough rise for about 30 minutes while the oven heats.  Bake focaccia untill crisp and golden brown – about 25 to 30 minutes.

Grape and Rosemary Focaccia

Peach Cake

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One of my favorite flavors in a baked good is yeast. Sourdough bread, maple bars, cinnamon rolls, challah – it’s all good.  My love for yeasted pastries and breads is so real that I have cultivated my own sourdough starter. While I love using my starter to make interesting breads, my absolute favorite thing to do with yeast is an active dry application, my Grandma Helga’s fruit cakes.

Grandma is from Germany, or Poland, or a city that is now Poland, but was annexed by Germany when she was growing up before World War 2. All of her recipes are characteristically Eastern European, and have a very strong Jewish influence.  Her cakes are not what American’s think of as cakes. No buttercream, no pretty stacked layers of the spongy stuff, and not overly sweet. These fruit cakes are a yeasted dough, similar to challah or brioche, with a layer of fruit and either a streusel topping or a dusting of sugar.

I grew up on two version: apple cake with a streusel crumb topping, and plum cake with lemon juice, melted butter and sugar poured on top. The plum cake is a family favorite made with italian prune plums that are only in season towards the end of summer ( I’m already checking the farmer’s market for them). Legend says that Grandma used to make one of these cakes when the plums were in season and freeze it so my dad could have his favorite cake on his birthday (Christmas day) when he was younger.

My mom learned how to make these cakes after my parents got married, and she would make them occasionally. I would help as much as I could, and after dough was all mixed we would always separate the dough into halves and one of the halves into quarters. My mom would make the real sized cake, and me and my sister would both have our own ball of dough to make our own miniatures. I remember loving the smell of the proofing dough; I’d even sneak in to take a pinch off of the dough ball and eat it raw.

Since then, I’ve taken over the cake baking. I started playing around with the recipes and straying from the traditional apple or plum. Any type of stone fruit works well in place of plums; nectarines are fantastic, so are apricots and even cherries. But today I used peaches, correction – A peach. It was so big I only needed one!

Since I was on the fence about if I should make a cake or a tart using James’ giant peach, I thought I’d try a hybrid idea and add a layer of a frangipane-like almond cream to a yeasted base. To add some extra texture to the cake and tie the flavors together, I decided to use almond meal in the place of some of the flour in the dough as well. Success!

Too much of a success – my dad cut into it before I was able to take a picture of the finished product. And our pastry loving pup wouldn’t leave my side as I was photographing it. Ill be submitting this to yeastspotting!

Layla is a seriously strange dog. If that were a steak she would have no interest, but pastry! carbs! She goes nuts for the stuff. Dogs really do resemble their owners…

Recipe

Cake dough:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup almond meal

1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup luke warm water

1/2  cup milk

3 Tablespoons butter melted

1 package yeast

1 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Filling:

3.5 oz (1/2 tube) almond paste

4 Tablespoons sugar

2 eggs

1-2 Tablespoons cream or milk

Peaches

1 peach the size of your head

4 tablespoons sugar

juice of 1/2 a lemon

Directions:

To make cake:

  • Mix flour, almond meal and sugar together on a large mixing bowl
  • Place warm water, warm milk and yeast in a small bowl and let proof
  • Pour yeast mixture into the flour and add the extracts and butter. Mix together. I prefer to use my hands, but you can do this in a stand mixer with a dough hook
  • Add more flour if needed to create a dough. You want it to spring back and not be too sticky
  • If mixing by hand knead a few times on a floured surface before placing in a lightly oiled bowl
  • Place in a warm, draft-free place to rise for about an hour, or until doubled in size

To make filling:

  • Place almond paste in food processor and pulse to break up.
  • Add sugar and keep pulsing (the sugar crystals will help break up the paste further)
  • Add the eggs and keep the processor running
  • Add a tablespoon of cream or milk, if it seems to stiff and that it would not be pour-able, add 1 more tablespoon.
Peaches:
  • Cut peach
Assembly:
    • Grease a 13 x 9 glass baking dish
    • Take the dough out of the proofing bowl and roll out into a rectangle and press into the baking dish
    • Poor the almond cream filling over the dough
    • arrange the peach slices on top of the filling carefully
    • Squeeze half of a lemon over the peaches
    • Sprinkle with sugar
    • Cover with plastic wrap and let proof for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375° F
    • After it has risen for a second time bake for 45 minutes to an hour – until the top is golden and the dough the glass is nicely browned.
    • Serve warm, or have it room temperature for breakfast the next morning, or really anytime

Brioche Peach Cake on Foodista

Brioche Peach Cake