Clumbsy Cookie

Let's roll it up really fast!

2010-07-27T23:50:00.004+01:00

Oh my! I didn’t realise it’s the 27th already! Well in fact it’s almost the 28th!

The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an Ice-cream filled Swiss Roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home

I pretty much followed the recipe and directions (strange for me I know)… maybe I’m growing up…

The Swiss rolls:
• 6 medium sized eggs
• 1 C / 225 gms caster sugar /8 oz+ extra for rolling
• 6 tblsp / 45gms/ 3 oz of all purpose (plain) flour + 5 tblsp/40gm /2.5 oz of natural unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted together
• 2 tblsp /30ml / 1 fl oz of boiling water
• a little oil for brushing the pans

For the filling:
• 2C / 500 mls/ 16 fl oz of whipping cream
• 1 vanilla pod, cut into small pieces of about ½ cm (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
• 5 tblsp / 70gms/2.5oz of caster sugar

Pre heat the oven at 200 deg C /400 deg F approximately. Brush the baking pans ( 11 inches by 9 inches ) with a little oil and line with greaseproof baking paper. If you have just one pan, bake one cake and then let the pan cool completely before using it for the next cake. In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and sugar and beat till very thick; when the beaters are lifted, it should leave a trail on the surface for at least 10 seconds. Add the flour mixture, in three batches and fold in gently with a spatula. Fold in the water. Divide the mixture among the two baking pans and spread it out evenly, into the corners of the pans. Place a pan in the centre of the pre heated oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes or till the centre is springy to the touch. Spread a kitchen towel on the counter and sprinkle a little caster sugar over it. Turn the cake on to the towel and peel away the baking paper. Trim any crisp edges. Starting from one of the shorter sides, start to make a roll with the towel going inside. Cool the wrapped roll on a rack, seam side down. Repeat the same for the next cake as well. Grind together the vanilla pieces and sugar in a food processer till nicely mixed together. If you are using vanilla extract, just grind the sugar on its own and then add the sugar and extract to the cream. In a large bowl, add the cream and vanilla-sugar mixture and beat till very thick. Divide the cream mixture between the completely cooled cakes. Open the rolls and spread the cream mixture, making sure it does not go right to the edges (a border of ½ an inch should be fine). Roll the cakes up again, this time without the towel. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge till needed, seam side down.

The only different things I’ve made is that I used a milk chocolate ganache instead of the chocolate fudge and I added cherries to my whipped cream for filling the swiss roll. My ice creams were ginger and cherry, and they were beautiful together!

Assembly:
Cut the Swiss rolls into 20 equal slices ( approximately 2 cms each ). Cover the bottom and sides of the bowl in which you are going to set the dessert with cling film/plastic wrap. Arrange two slices at the bottom of the pan, with their seam sides facing each other. Arrange the Swiss roll slices up the bowl, with the seam sides facing away from the bottom, to cover the sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze till the slices are firm (at least 30 minutes). Soften the vanilla ice cream. Take the bowl out of the freezer, remove the cling film cover and add the ice cream on top of the cake slices. Spread it out to cover the bottom and sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze till firm ( at least 1 hour). Add the fudge sauce over the vanilla ice cream, cover and freeze till firm. ( at least an hour). Soften the chocolate ice cream and spread it over the fudge sauce. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4-5 hours till completely set. Remove the plastic cover, and place the serving plate on top of the bowl. Turn it upside down and remove the bowl and the plastic lining. If the bowl does not come away easily, wipe the outsides of the bowl with a kitchen towel dampened with hot water. The bowl will come away easily. Keep the cake out of the freezer for at least 10 minutes before slicing, depending on how hot your region is. Slice with a sharp knife, dipped in hot water.

Want a slice? Or the whole thing maybe? I know I would eat it again if I still had it...

Chocolate chip cookie ravioli

2010-07-15T23:22:00.002+01:00

There are 3 things you must know about me:

1st: I love cookies (you didn’t know that, right?)

2nd: I always seem to have leftover cookie dough around (not literally around me, it’s usually frozen, although the other day I went to the gym with a bit of dough stuck to my elbow, gross I know…)

3rd: I love to come up with different way of using said leftover dough (as you may have noticed here, here, here or even here)

These Cookie Ravioli are just another fun idea you can use when you (like me) have bits of frozen dough or you can even go completely wild and make them on propose for this!

You’ll need chocolate chip cookie dough, sugar cookie dough, a round cookie cutter, a fork and a small brush, that’s all.

To make the ravioli, start by rolling the sugar cookie dough and cut circles with the cookie cutter. Then measure about a teaspoon of the chocolate chip cookie dough, roll it and place it in the middle of half the circles (the other half will go on top).

Brush the sides of the circles (around the chocolate chip cookie dough balls) with a small pastry brush with water. Place another circle of sugar cookie dough on top and press around with a fork to seal it. Bake in a pre heated oven at 180ºC (350ºF) until the edges are golden brown.

I also imagine you can add a lot more things to the filling to make these extra yummy. Things like bananas, peanut butter, jams, caramel (or all of them together) will work really well too.

I like my ravioli with tomato sauce, so for fun I served these with raspberry jam. What do you usually do with leftover dough? And have you counted the times I wrote dough?

Foodbuzz 24x24: A baking class to "baking virgins"

2010-06-27T21:16:00.002+01:00

I have 2 friends that were virgins. Baking virgins, that is! Cookies, cakes, pastries, all new stuff to them… Poor things, they had no idea!… I’m talking of not knowing what a pinch (of salt) means. I’m talking about not knowing what creaming butter is or the difference between mixing and whisking. Really, they needed help! They needed a big sweet help!

I offered to give them a basic baking class, because I believe that a person that can bake cookies is a happier person! Cristina took the pictures and Sandra was the hands-on girl. Check out our fun afternoon while these girls lost their baking virginity!

Fisrt things first. Let’s talking about the recipes. At this point they still didn’t believe they were going to be able to bake those things!

The ingredients for the sugar cookies. Basic ingredients, basic cookies, basic happiness!

Sandra got right into action making the sugar cookies! I’m drying her sweat with a towel, she was not used to that kind of effort!

Nothing like putting your hands in the dough! Work it girl, work it! You can do it!

Sandra had those cookie cutters since last Christmas waiting to be used, in case you were wondering why we were doing snow flakes cookies in the Summer. I guess she’ll bake lots of cookies this Christmas now that she learned!

Sugar Cookies

• 125 gr butter
• 125 gr sugar
• 250 gr flour
• 1 egg
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla

Mix the butter with the sugar, add the egg whisked with the vanilla. Mix the flour with the baking powder then add to the butter-sugar-egg mixture. Mix just until well incorporated. Take to the fridge for a couple of hours. Roll the dough, cut in the desired shapes and bake in a pre heated oven at 180ºC (350ºF) for about 8-10 minutes.

By special request of the girls we did “Areias”. These are very popular cookies here in Portugal and the name can be translated to “sand cookies”. They’re like a shortbread kind of cookie flavoured with lemon and covered with cinnamon sugar.

Why does everybody love raw dough? Yummy, it’s lemony!

Rolling little balls of dough. Come on, even a kid can do this!

Areias (“Sand” cookies)

• 100 gr sugar
• 200 gr butter
• 300 gr flour
• 1 lemon (zest)
• ¼ tsp salt
• Cinnamon sugar

Mix the softened butter (but not melted) with the sugar. Add the flour, lemon zest and salt. Mix with your hands or with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, just until it all comes together. The dough should be soft but not sticky. Roll little balls and bake them in a 180ºC (350ºF) preheated oven. They should take about 10 minutes to bake. When they’re out of the oven and when they’re still hot (but not so hot you’re gonna burn yourself) dip them in a bowl of cinnamon sugar and shake the excess with your hands.

We also baked some oatmeal cookies. These were like an “everything cookie”, we added lots of add-ins. Cinnamon, coconut, all kinds of seeds, they had it all… I wanted to show the girls the kind of things they could add to drop cookies.

What’s that? An ice-cream scoop? We’re gonna have ice cream now? Isn’t it cute that baking virgins don’t know you can scoop cookie dough?

While the oatmeal cookies were in the oven we had to take a break to wash the dishes. That was Cristina’s job because she looks stylish doing the dishes, scarf and all…

You can not have a basic baking class without a basic chocolate cake. Everybody need to know how to make chocolate cake. They should teach that at school!

I think Sandra was having a blast mixing the cake!

Instead of cake we made muffins (they take less time to bake)! I won’t show you the pictures of what happened to that bit of batter that was left in the bowl, but you can guess it…

1 Bowl Chocolate Muffins

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup butter
• ½ cup boiling water
• ½ cup chocolate powder*
• 1/4 tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking powder

* Chocolate powder is highly available in Portugal and used more than actual cocoa powder. It’s a mixture of cocoa powder, with sugar, vanilla and emulsifier. If you want to make it with cocoa powder, just use a bit less (1/3 cup) and you might wanna add a bit of vanilla too.

Beat the eggs with the sugar. Add the melted butter and mix well. Add the powders (flour, salt, chocolate and baking powder) and mix to incorporate. Finally add the boiling water mixing softly until you have a nice uniform batter that will be less thick than most cake batters because of the water. Scoop the batter into muffin cases and bake in a 180ºC (350ºF) preheated oven until a toothpick comes out clean. We had some cinnamon sugar left from the “Areias” and sprinkled that on top before baking them, it adds a nice crunch.

Last but not least we made scones! These are British style scones and are my absolute favourites! In fact from all the things we baked, scones were the girl’s favourite thing! The recipe came from an old book, I can’t even credit it. I’ve been using this recipe for ages…

My favourite Scones

• 250 gr flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 30 gr sugar
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1,5 dl yogurt
• 1-2 tbsp milk
• 60 gr butter

Mix all the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt and sugar) with a whisk. Add the yogurt and softened butter. Mix with your hands (you should not over mix) until it’s all combined. If the dough is a bit dry add 1 or 2 tbsp of milk. If the the dough it to wet add a bit of flour. The dough should be dense but soft and not stick. Roll it high (2.5cm - 1 inch) and cut your scones with a round cookie cutter. Bake in a preheated oven (200ºC - 400ºF) until they’re just golden brown on top.

So here they are, all our baked goods and the two (very proud) not baking virgins anymore!

What a sweet afternoon! We sure had fun… and we sure ate a lot!

Meringue, mousse, ice cream. What's not to like?

2010-06-27T00:51:00.000+01:00

Hey June! What happened to you? You're almost gone... But don't go without having this dessert!

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.

This is going to be short and sweet. Just like this dessert ;) This month I (almost) followed the recipe exactly. Almost... The main change was that I made an ice cream with the mascarpone cream. It's getting hot here, I needed an ice-cream (I always do anyway). The other thing is that I made it in layers. I like layering stuff, don't ask why. Oh, and I used Baileys. Just because.

Recipe 1: Chocolate Meringue

3 large egg whites
½ cup plus 1 tbsp (110 grams) white granulated sugar
¼ cup (30 grams) confectioner’s (icing) sugar
1/3 cup (30 grams) cocoa powder

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 200º F (95º C) degrees. Line two baking sheets with silpat or parchment and set aside. Put the egg whites in a bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Increase speed to high and gradually add granulated sugar about 1 tbsp at a time until stiff peaks form. (The whites should be firm but moist.) Sift the confectioner’s sugar and cocoa powder over the egg whites and fold the dry ingredients into the white. (This looks like it will not happen. Fold gently and it will eventually come together.) Fill a pastry bag with the meringue. Pipe the meringue into whatever shapes you desire. Alternatively, you could just free form your shapes and level them a bit with the back of a spoon. (Class made rounds, hearts, diamonds and an attempt at a clover was made!) Bake for 2-3 hours until the meringues become dry and crisp. Cool and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Recipe 2: Chocolate-Baileys Mascarpone Mousse

1 ½ cups (355 mls) heavy cream (cream with a milk fat content of between 36 and 40 percent)
grated zest of 1 average sized lemon
9 ounces (255 grams) 72% chocolate, chopped
1 2/3 cups (390 mls) mascarpone
pinch of nutmeg - didn't use it
2 tbsp (30 mls) Grand Marnier (or orange juice) - used Baileys

Put ½ cup (120 mls) of the heavy cream and the lemon zest in a saucepan over medium high heat. Once warm, add the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let sit at room temperature until cool.Place the mascarpone, the remaining cup of cream and nutmeg in a bowl. Whip on low for a minute until the mascarpone is loose. Add the Grand Marnier and whip on medium speed until it holds soft peaks. (DO NOT OVERBEAT AS THE MASCARPONE WILL BREAK.) Mix about ¼ of the mascarpone mixture into the chocolate to lighten. Fold in the remaining mascarpone until well incorporated. Fill a pastry bag with the mousse. Again, you could just free form mousse on top of the pavlova.

Recipe 3: Mascarpone Cream (Ice cream)

1 recipe crème anglaise
½ cup (120 mls) mascarpone
2 tbsp (30 mls) Sambucca (optional) - didn't use it
½ cup (120 mls) heavy cream

Prepare the crème anglaise. Slowly whisk in the mascarpone and the Sambucca and let the mixture cool. Put the cream in a bowl and beat with electric mixer until very soft peaks are formed. Fold the cream into the mascarpone mixture.I've churned mine and transformed into an ice cream!

Recipe 4: Crème Anglaise (a component of the Mascarpone Cream above):

1 cup (235 mls) whole milk
1 cup (235 mls) heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
6 large egg yolks
6 tbsp (75 grams) sugar

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale yellow. Combine the milk, cream and vanilla in a saucepan over medium high heat, bringing the mixture to a boil. Take off the heat. Pour about ½ cup of the hot liquid into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly to keep from making scrambled eggs. Pour the yolk mixture into the pan with the remaining cream mixture and put the heat back on medium. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens enough to lightly coat the back of a wooden spoon. DO NOT OVERCOOK. Remove the mixture from the heat and strain it through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until the mixture is thoroughly chilled, about 2 hours or overnight.

Layers of crunchy, airy, creamy and chocolatey! Really, what's not to like???

Croquembouche: "pops" & tiny ones

2010-05-27T20:06:00.021+01:00

I'm back from Spain! It was awesome, as always. As soon as I got back it was time for Croquembouche.

Here's a caramelized profiterol (croquembouche style) pop!

The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a Piece Montée, or Croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.

Pate à Choux

¾ cup (175 ml.) water
6 Tbsp. (85 g.) unsalted butter
¼ Tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup (125 g.) all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
For Egg Wash: 1 egg and pinch of salt

Pre-heat oven to 425◦F/220◦C degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Preparing batter: Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely. Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan. Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly. Add 1 egg. The batter will appear loose and shiny. As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes. It is at this point that you will add in the next egg. Repeat until you have incorporated all the eggs.

Piping: Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip (I piped directly from the bag opening without a tip). Pipe choux about 1 inch-part in the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1 inch high about 1 inch wide. Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. You want them to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top. Brush tops with egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten with pinch of salt).
Baking: Bake the choux at 425◦F/220◦C degrees until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 350◦F/180◦C degrees and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 20 minutes more. Remove to a rack and cool. Can be stored in a airtight box overnight.
Filling: When you are ready to assemble your piece montée, using a plain pastry tip, pierce the bottom of each choux. Fill the choux with pastry cream using either the same tip or a star tip, and place on a paper-lined sheet. Choux can be refrigerated briefly at this point while you make your glaze. Use one of these to top your choux and assemble your piece montée.

Hard Caramel Glaze:

1 cup (225 g.) sugar
½ teaspoon lemon juice

Combine sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan with a metal kitchen spoon stirring until the sugar resembles wet sand. Place on medium heat; heat without stirring until sugar starts to melt around the sides of the pan and the center begins to smoke. Begin to stir sugar. Continue heating, stirring occasionally until the sugar is a clear, amber color. Remove from heat immediately; place bottom of pan in ice water to stop the cooking. Use immediately.

I simply got all my profiteroles filled and caramelized (and drizzled with more caramel) and instead of turning them into a Croquembouche I put them on sticks. I like to put things on sticks. Things look cute on sticks.

Assembly of your Piece Montée: You may want to lay out your unfilled, unglazed choux in a practice design to get a feel for how to assemble the final dessert. For example, if making a conical shape, trace a circle (no bigger than 8 inches) on a piece of parchment to use as a pattern. Then take some of the larger choux and assemble them in the circle for the bottom layer. Practice seeing which pieces fit together best. Once you are ready to assemble your piece montée, dip the top of each choux in your glaze (careful it may be still hot!), and start assembling on your cake board/plate/sheet. Continue dipping and adding choux in levels using the glaze to hold them together as you build up. When you have finished the design of your piece montée, you may drizzle with remaining glaze or use ribbons, sugar cookie cut-outs, almonds, flowers, etc. to decorate.

Pistachio Crème Patissiere

1 cup (225 ml.) whole milk
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
6 Tbsp. (100 g.) sugar
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
2 Tbsp. (30 g.) unsalted butter
3 Tbsp. pistachio paste
a few drops green food coloring (optional)

Dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup of milk. Combine the remaining milk with the sugar in a saucepan; bring to boil; remove from heat. Beat the whole egg, then the yolks into the cornstarch mixture. Pour 1/3 of boiling milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the eggs do not begin to cook. Return the remaining milk to boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, continuing whisking. Continue whisking (this is important – you do not want the eggs to solidify/cook) until the cream thickens and comes to a boil. Remove from heat and beat in the butter and vanilla. Pour cream into a stainless steel/ceramic bowl. Press plastic wrap firmly against the surface. Chill immediately and until ready to use.

Besides the pops and just for the fun of it, I did a tiny cronquembouche: an individual serving. I started with those miniature profiteroles...

... filled them with a very small tip. And then it was time to build up. Oh and drizzle with caramel and caramel and more caramel!

Crunch, crunch, crunch.......

A cookie with a hole

2010-05-19T16:42:00.002+01:00

I just finished packing. I should go to bed because tomorrow I leave early, but I’m here instead writing a post. Also in the afternoon instead of doing all sorts of stuff I had to do, I did a little something for you. Why? Well, because you deserve it.

Today I have no recipe, just an idea. And it’s not even my idea, but I just had to share. This is just a cute way to serve Chocolate Chip Cookies, so use your favourite recipe (or check this chart to find a good CCC recipe).

I saw this a while ago in a hotel webpage, just in a picture of one of the rooms. I don’t even remember the hotel, but I do remember the cookie!

So to do it you’ll need cookie dough, shot glasses and round cookie cutters with 2 different sizes. Get your favourite Chocolate chip cookie dough (in my case I used one that I had frozen) and bake your cookies. Use a big scoop to make big cookies (I sprinkled my dough with demerara sugar for extra crunch). Right after you take them out of the oven and they’re still soft press the cutters like in the picture to make a perfect round cookie with a round hole in one side.

Make sure the cutter you use for the hole is slightly wider than your shot glasses, so they fit inside. Fill the shot glass with cold milk, put it in the Chocolate chip cookie hole and serve… or eat it yourself!

I wish I had a few more to eat on my way to Seville tomorrow… Ok, it’s definitely bed time for me now. I’m so gonna have sweet dreams now!

It's steaming hot here!

2010-04-27T10:57:00.006+01:00

So it’s that time of the month, Daring Bakers' time!

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet*.

* I could't find suet here so I've used one of the alternatives: lard.

I’ve done a few steamed cakes before, but in one of those special ovens that have that option. In a restaurant I used to do a chestnut steamed cake that was to die for. But steaming a cake like this (in a pan) it was something new to me. I went with the sponge type recipe provided and did 2 flavors: Hazelnut-Nutella and Peanut Butter Cup. And just for fun I also steamed a Chocolate Chip Cookie!

Here are some step-by-step pictures and the recipes I’ve used:

My pan ready to steam, with my homemade steamer: a round cooling rack. I’ve used small containers, first because they are cute and second because they take less time to cook (that means less waiting time to eat).

This is my "Peanut Butter Cup" inspired steamed cake. It doesn’t contain actual Peanut butter cups, but it’s like a giant one: a chocolate sponge with a peanut butter filling. Yum!

Steamed “Peanut Butter Cup” Pudding

(100 grams/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
(1/4 teaspoon) salt
(1.5 teaspoons) baking powder
(100 grams/4 ounces) vanilla cake crumbs
(75 grams/3 ounces) caster sugar
(75 grams/ 3 ounces) lard
(1) large egg
(6 to 8 tablespoons) Cold milk
3 tbsp cocoa powder
2/3 cup peanut butter

Sift flour, salt, cocoa powder and baking powder into bowl. Add cake crumbs, sugar and lard. Mix to a soft batter with beaten egg and milk. Turn half the batter into a buttered 1 litre/ 2pint pudding basin. Add the peanut butter in the middle and top with the rest of the batter. Cover securely with buttered greaseproof paper or aluminum foil. Steam steadily for 2.5 to 3 hours (mine took less time because I’ve used smaller containers). Turn out onto warm plate, Serve with sweet sauce to taste such as custard, caramel or a sweetened fruit sauce.

Let's peek inside?

Do you like the look of this one? Or do you think you'll like the Hazelnut-Nutella best?

Nutella. Enough said.

Steamed Hazelnut-Nutella Pudding

(100 grams/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
(1/4 teaspoon) salt
(1.5 teaspoons) baking powder
(100 grams/4 ounces) toasted, skinned and grinded hazelnuts
(75 grams/3 ounces) caster sugar
(75 grams/ 3 ounces) lard
(1) large egg
(6 to 8 tablespoons) cold milk
2/3 cup Nutella

Sift flour, salt and baking powder into bowl. Add hazelnuts, sugar and lard. Mix to a soft batter with beaten egg and milk. Turn half of the batter into a buttered 1 litre/ 2pint pudding basin. Add the Nutella in the middle and cover with the rest of the batter. Cover securely with buttered greaseproof paper or aluminum foil. Steam steadily for 2.5 to 3 hours (mine took less time because I’ve used smaller containers). Turn out onto warm plate, Serve with sweet sauce to taste such as custard, caramel or a sweetened fruit sauce (I didn’t serve with any sauce because the Nutella inside was enough).

Yep, that's good stuff.

Last, but definitely not least. Here’s a chocolate chip cookie that I also decided to steam last minute, from dough that I had frozen. Unfortunately I only had space to do one single cookie and I kind of regret that… It was quite interesting. It obviously didn’t have the crunchiness I love, but it was moist, cakey and chewy.

I don’t know if it was all this steaming yesterday, but today it’s steaming hot here! I leave you with the cookie and I’m off to the beach!

Pizza Waffles

2010-04-12T15:53:00.005+01:00

What do you want, pizza or waffles? What kind of a question is that? I want both!!!

Here’s something fun you can try next time you’re doing pizza at home: Pizza Waffles! I think this could be a cool idea for a party too. All you need is a waffle iron, your favourite pizza dough (homemade or store-bought) and toppings for your pizza!

PIZZA DOUGH

300 gr (10.7 oz) flour
150-170 ml warm water
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 package dry yeast

In a mixer with the hook attachment mix the flour, yeast, oil and salt. Slowly add in the water (use as little as much as you need) until your dough forms a ball that is not sticky or dry. Beat the dough in the mixer for about 5 minutes (you can do it by hand to for about 15 m). Leave the ball of dough to rise in a warm place covered with a cloth until it doubles in size. If you’re doing a normal pizza at this point stretch or roll out the dough and put in a tray or pizza wheel leaving it to rise once again for about 45 m. Put your pizza toppings and bake in a hot pre heated oven (200ºC/ 400ºF).

For the pizza waffles: After the dough’s first rise, take small portions and make balls with the dough (don’t worry to make them perfect). Leave them to rise once more in a floured tray until they double their volume again. They’re ready for your waffle iron. Make sure it’s hot! Cook the balls of pizza dough until they start to golden, don’t get them too cooked because they’re still gonna go in the oven.

Put your cooked pizza waffles in a tray, spoon a little bit of tomato sauce and the toppings of your choice (I’ve used tomato sauce, roasted chicken, mushrooms, sliced black olives, oregano and shredded mozzarella cheese). Put it on you oven’s grill (hot) just until the cheese is melted.

Guess how took a bite? Guess that's a hard guess…

Chocolate with fried eggs

2010-04-03T20:48:00.006+01:00

Did I just say chocolate with fried eggs? Oh yes I did! Wanna see it?

Easter is here and it means chocolate and eggs. Usually I would play with chocolate eggs, but this year I decided to play with fried eggs! Made out of chocolate of course, I’m crazy but not that crazy! Plus I wanted to play with my chocolate tablet mould, so I’ve made a chocolate tablet with a tiny fried egg in each chocolate square. Here’s how you can do it as well:

Start by doing the yolks: melt white chocolate and colour a part of it bright yellow (You’ll need a food colouring that can be used directly in chocolate). You can use a pastry bag with a small tip, a zip log bag with a tiny cut or (what I’ve used) a small paper cone. Just make small dots on each tablet square. Refrigerate for a few minutes.

With the rest of the melted white chocolate make the egg whites: put it in a paper cone (or any alternative) and start by going around the yolks and cover them. Make sure you have a realistic egg yolk-egg white ratio. Refrigerate again until they’re set, so they don’t bleed.

There you have it, the fried eggs! Now, where’s the bacon? Or in this case the chocolate…

I’ve used milk chocolate and I tempered it with the seeding method. But that’s optional, if you don’t want to temper it, just keep it in the fridge after unmolding. Poor the chocolate into the mould and when it’s all covered tap it gently on the table to prevent any air bubbles.

Refrigerate until set. It’s ready to unmold when it looks kind of foggy. Just invert the mould onto a table and it should release pretty easily. If it doesn’t release it’s not ready, so keep it in the fridge for a while longer.

So you see? You CAN have chocolate with fried eggs! Tiny tiny fries eggs, that is!

Eat eggs, eat chocolate, eat your eggs WITH chocolate… and have a happy Easter!

Apple pie tian

2010-03-27T17:34:00.006+00:00

So... you though you were gonna get rid of me? Nop, here I am! And guess what? I brought dessert! I know you're allways up for that!

The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

As you can guess I didn’t follow the orange road. I was more in an apple mood, so I decided to turn the whole Tian into a sort of "apple pieish thing". I’ve also done mine much higher than suggested in the recipe, using a plastic mould I've made with the same size as the cookie cutter.

For the Pate Sablée:

2 medium-sized egg yolks at room temperature
Granulated sugar: 6 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon; 2.8 oz; 80 grams
Vanilla extract: ½ teaspoon
Unsalted butter: ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons; 3.5 oz; 100 grams ice cold, cubed
Salt: 1/3 teaspoon; 2 grams
All-purpose flour: 1.5 cup + 2 tablespoons; 7 oz; 200 grams
Baking powder: 1 teaspoon; 4 grams

Put the flour, baking powder, ice cold cubed butter and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. In a separate bowl, add the eggs yolks, vanilla extract and sugar and beat with a whisk until the mixture is pale. Pour the egg mixture in the food processor. Process until the dough just comes together. If you find that the dough is still a little too crumbly to come together, add a couple drops of water and process again to form a homogenous ball of dough. Form into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit. Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface until you obtain a ¼ inch thick circle. Using your cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough and place on a parchment (or silicone) lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until the circles of dough are just golden.

For the Apple Segments:

The number of apples you’ll need will depend on their size and the thickness you’ll slice them. Peel and core the apples and cut them into 4. Cut slices and cook them for a couple of minutes in the caramel (recipe follows). Remove from the caramel and cool on a plate, trying to separate each slice so they don’t glue once cooled.

For the Apple Jam/Butter:*

6 apples
1 cinnamon stick
5 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
½ cup water

Cut the apples into medium chunks, leaving the core, skin and all. Put in a pan with the rest of the ingredients and cook for about 20 minutes in medium heat. Purée the whole mixture and pass it thru a sieve. Return to the stove and cook until it thickens a bit more, also depending on your liking. * I usually make big batches of this and keep it in the freezer divided in plastic bags.

For the Whipped Cream:

Heavy whipping cream: 1 cup; 7 oz; 200 grams
3 tablespoons of hot water
1 tsp Gelatine
1 tablespoon of confectioner's sugar
Apple jam/butter (see recipe above) 1 tablespoon
1 tsp cinnamon

In a small bowl, add the gelatine and hot water, stirring well until the gelatine dissolves. Let the gelatine cool to room temperature while you make the whipped cream. Combine the cream in a chilled mixing bowl. Whip the cream using a hand mixer on low speed until the cream starts to thicken for about one minute. Add the confectioner sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high. Whip the cream until the beaters leave visible (but not lasting) trails in the cream, then add the cooled gelatine slowly while beating continuously. Continue whipping until the cream is light and fluffy and forms soft peaks. Transfer the whipped cream to a bowl and fold in the orange marmalade.

For the Caramel:

Granulated sugar: 1 cup; 7 oz; 200 grams
Water: 1.5 cups + 2 tablespoons; 14 oz; 400 grams

Place the sugar in a pan on medium heat and begin heating it. Once the sugar starts to bubble and foam, slowly add the water. As soon as the mixture starts boiling, add the apple slices. Reserve the leftover the caramel mixture in a small bowl — you will use this later to spoon over the finished dessert. When the dessert is assembled and setting in the freezer, heat the kept caramel sauce in a small saucepan over low heat until it thickens and just coats the back of a spoon (about 10 minutes). You can then spoon it over the orange tians.

Assembling the Dessert:

Make sure you have some room in your freezer. Ideally, you should be able to fit a small baking sheet or tray of desserts to set in the freezer. Line a small tray or baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone sheet. Lay out 6 cookie cutters onto the parchment paper/silicone. Have the jam, whipped cream and baked circles of dough ready to use. Arrange the apple slices at the bottom of each cookie cutter. Make sure the segments all touch either and that there are no gaps. Make sure they fit snugly and look pretty as they will end up being the top of the dessert. Once you have neatly arranged one layer of apple slices at the bottom of each cookie cutter, add a couple spoonfuls of whipped cream and gently spread it so that it fills the cookie cutter in an even layer. Leave about 1/4 inch at the top so there is room for dough circle. Using a butter knife or small spoon, spread a small even layer of apple jam on each circle of dough. Carefully place a circle of dough over each ring (the side of dough covered in marmalade should be the side touching the whipping cream). Gently press on the circle of dough to make sure the dessert is compact. Place the desserts to set in the freezer to set for 10 minutes. Using a small knife, gently go around the edges of the cookie cutter to make sure the dessert will be easy to unmold. Gently remove the cookie cutter, add a spoonful of caramel sauce and serve immediately (I’ve spread my caramel on a layer that crystallized making a crème brulée effect).

Now if you excuse me I’m gonna leave you to eat that missing piece on the photo! Enjoy Spring (or Autumn if that’s the case), have fun and check all the other Daring Bakers’ Tians!

Tiny Tiramisu

2010-02-27T18:17:00.010+00:00

Yep, I did say it was tiny...

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

I was given these adorable tiny chocolate cups at Christmas and since then I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to use them. The Daring Bakers’ Tiramisu was the perfect excuse! Aren’t they cute? Not to mention that they’re so tiny, that you don’t even have to worry about eating a couple, or 3 or 4 or…

TIRAMISU COMPONENTS:

2 cups/470ml brewed espresso, warmed
1 teaspoon/5ml rum extract (optional)- I've used white chocolate liquor
1/3 cup/75gms mascarpone cheese
36 savoiardi/ ladyfinger biscuits (you may use less)
2 tablespoons/30gms unsweetened cocoa powder
Tiramisu cream made with pastry cream, whipped cream and zabaglione

LADYFINGERS/ SAVOIARDI BISCUITS

(Recipe from Cordon Bleu At Home), makes approximately 24 big ladyfingers or 45 small ladyfingers)

3 eggs, separated
6 tablespoons /75gms granulated sugar
3/4 cup/95gms cake flour, sifted (or 3/4 cup all purpose flour + 2 tbsp corn starch)
6 tablespoons /50gms confectioner's sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 F (175 C) degrees, then lightly brush 2 baking sheets with oil or softened butter and line with parchment paper.Beat the egg whites using a hand held electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gradually add granulate sugar and continue beating until the egg whites become stiff again, glossy and smooth.In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly with a fork and fold them into the meringue, using a wooden spoon. Sift the flour over this mixture and fold gently until just mixed. It is important to fold very gently and not overdo the folding. Otherwise the batter would deflate and lose volume resulting in ladyfingers which are flat and not spongy.Fit a pastry bag with a plain tip (or just snip the end off; you could also use a Ziploc bag) and fill with the batter. Pipe the batter into 5" long and 3/4" wide strips leaving about 1" space in between the strips (I've made little round buttons). Sprinkle half the confectioner's sugar over the ladyfingers and wait for 5 minutes. The sugar will pearl or look wet and glisten. Now sprinkle the remaining sugar. This helps to give the ladyfingers their characteristic crispness.Hold the parchment paper in place with your thumb and lift one side of the baking sheet and gently tap it on the work surface to remove excess sprinkled sugar.Bake the ladyfingers for 10 minutes, then rotate the sheets and bake for another 5 minutes or so until the puff up, turn lightly golden brown and are still soft.Allow them to cool slightly on the sheets for about 5 minutes and then remove the ladyfingers from the baking sheet with a metal spatula while still hot, and cool on a rack.Store them in an airtight container till required. They should keep for 2 to 3 weeks.

MASCARPONE CHEESE

(Vera’s Recipe for Homemade Mascarpone Cheese, makes 12oz/ 340gm of mascarpone cheese)

500 ml whipping (36 %) pasteurized (not ultra-pasteurized), preferably organic cream
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a wide skillet. Reduce the heat to medium-low so the water is barely simmering. Pour the cream into a medium heat-resistant bowl, then place the bowl into the skillet. Heat the cream, stirring often, to 190 F. If you do not have a thermometer, wait until small bubbles keep trying to push up to the surface.It will take about 15 minutes of delicate heating. Add the lemon juice and continue heating the mixture, stirring gently, until the cream curdles. Do not expect the same action as you see during ricotta cheese making. All that the whipping cream will do is become thicker, like a well-done crème anglaise. It will cover a back of your wooden spoon thickly. You will see just a few clear whey streaks when you stir. Remove the bowl from the water and let cool for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, line a sieve with four layers of dampened cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Transfer the mixture into the lined sieve. Do not squeeze the cheese in the cheesecloth or press on its surface (be patient, it will firm up after refrigeration time). Once cooled completely, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (in the sieve) overnight or up to 24 hours.Vera’s notes: The first time I made mascarpone I had all doubts if it’d been cooked enough, because of its custard-like texture. Have no fear, it will firm up beautifully in the fridge, and will yet remain lusciously creamy.Keep refrigerated and use within 3 to 4 days.

WHITE CHOCOLATE TIRAMISU CREAM

For the zabaglione:

2 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar/50gms
1/4 cup/60ml Marsala wine (I've used white chocolate licor)

For the vanilla pastry cream:

1/4 cup/55gms sugar
1 tablespoon/8gms all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon/ 2.5ml vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup/175ml whole milk
60 gr/ 2oz white chocolate (chopped)

For the whipped cream (I forgot to use it!!!):

1 cup/235ml chilled heavy cream
1/4 cup/55gms sugar
1/2 teaspoon/ 2.5ml vanilla extract

For the zabaglione: Heat water in a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, place a pot with about an inch of water in it on the stove. Place a heat-proof bowl in the pot making sure the bottom does not touch the water.In a large mixing bowl (or stainless steel mixing bowl), mix together the egg yolks, sugar, the Marsala (or white chocolate liquor). Whisk together until the yolks are fully blended and the mixture looks smooth.Transfer the mixture to the top of a double boiler or place your bowl over the pan/ pot with simmering water. Cook the egg mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 8 minutes or until it resembles thick custard. It may bubble a bit as it reaches that consistency.Let cool to room temperature and transfer the zabaglione to a bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

For the pastry cream: Mix together the sugar, flour and vanilla extract in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. To this add the egg yolk and half the milk. Whisk until smooth.Now place the saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring constantly to prevent the mixture from curdling.Add the remaining milk a little at a time, still stirring constantly. After about 12 minutes the mixture will be thick, free of lumps and beginning to bubble. Add the chopped white chocolate and mix until it's melted. Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic film and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

For the whipped cream: Combine the cream, sugar and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric hand mixer or immersion blender until the mixture holds stiff peaks. Set aside.

To assemble the Tiramisu (the traditional way): Mix together the warm espresso and liquor whisking to mix well. Set aside to cool.In a large bowl, beat the mascarpone cheese with a spoon to break down the lumps and make it smooth. This will make it easier to fold. Add the prepared and chilled zabaglione and pastry cream, blending until just combined. Gently fold in the whipped cream. Set this cream mixture aside.Workings quickly, dip 12 of the ladyfingers in the sweetened espresso, about 1 second per side. They should be moist but not soggy. Immediately transfer each ladyfinger to the platter, placing them side by side in a single row. You may break a lady finger into two, if necessary, to ensure the base of your dish is completely covered.Spoon one-third of the cream mixture on top of the ladyfingers, then use a rubber spatula or spreading knife to cover the top evenly, all the way to the edges.Repeat to create 2 more layers, using 12 ladyfingers and the cream mixture for each layer. Clean any spilled cream mixture; cover carefully with plastic wrap and refrigerate the tiramisu overnight.To serve, carefully remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle the tiramisu with cocoa powder using a fine-mesh strainer or decorate as you please. Cut into individual portions and serve.

My notes: I went with a white chocolate theme on this one, I’ve used it instead of the Marsala, in the pastry cream and mixed with the coffee instead of the rum. I’ve also made the biscuits very small and round to fit the little chocolate cups, and used only one at the bottom. I topped it with the tiramisu cream (made without the whipped cream because I completely forgot! Oh well, less fat then…). I finished with the traditional dust of cocoa powder and immediately popped a couple into my mouth!

Can I call it Tiramisyummm?!

Happy valentine's (bracelet) day!

2010-02-14T19:28:00.003+00:00

Happy Valentines Day, or as I’ve eared yesterday “singles awareness day”, witch I thought it was quite funny!

It’s nice to receive cookies today, isn’t it? It would also be nice to receive a bracelet, wouldn’t it? What about a bracelet made with cookies?

You’ll need a small heart cutter and something to make a small holes. I’ve used a round pastry tip, but a straw would work just fine too.

Oh, you’ll need some sugar cookie dough as well! You may want to dye it red for extra “valentineness”!

Last time I posted a sugar cookie post, I mentioned I was always trying out new recipes. Someone on the comment section was nice enough to refer this recipe to me and that’s the one I’ve used here. It’s excellent!

Cut and bake as many hearts as you want. Then get a ribbon and put your cookies in it thru the hole, making your bracelet as big or small as you desire. Tie it and you’re good to go! It makes nice necklaces too!

Now you can have your bracelet… and eat it too!

Nanaimo Spoons

2010-01-26T16:04:00.006+00:00

Before I started to read food blogs I had never heard of Nanaimo Bars. Before this month I had never eaten one either. Now, not only I ate Nanaimo Bars, but I’ve also eaten Nanaimo Spoons…

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca.

Lets start with the Graham Crackers, one of the components of the bars/ spoons. I’ve made homemade graham crackers before, but I’d have to say I liked these ones better! Plus these are graham crackers feet, and that makes them even cooler!

Gluten-Free Graham Crackers

1 cup (138 g) (4.9 ounces) Sweet rice flour (also known as glutinous rice flour)*
3/4 cup (100 g) (3.5 ounces) Tapioca Starch/Flour*
1/2 cup (65 g) (2.3 ounces) Sorghum Flour*
1 cup (200 g) (7.1 ounces) Dark Brown Sugar, Lightly packed
1 teaspoon (5 mL) Baking soda
3/4 teaspoon (4 mL ) Kosher Salt
7 tablespoons (100 g) (3 ½ ounces) Unsalted Butter (Cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen)
1/3 cup (80 mL) Honey, Mild-flavoured such as clover.
5 tablespoons (75 mL) Whole Milk
2 tablespoons (30 mL) Pure Vanilla Extract

* I didn’t make mine gluten-free, so I’ve used the same amount of wheat floor (half AP, half whole wheat).

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine the flours, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pulse on low to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse on and off, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal. If making by hand, combine aforementioned dry ingredients with a whisk, then cut in butter until you have a coarse meal. No chunks of butter should be visible. In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the honey, milk and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky. Turn the dough onto a surface well-floured with sweet rice flour and pat the dough into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, about 2 hours, or overnight. Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of sweet rice flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be quite sticky, so flour as necessary. Cut into 4 by 4 inch squares. Gather the scraps together and set aside. Place wafers on one or two parchment-lined baking sheets. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes. Repeat with the second batch of dough. Adjust the rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius). Gather the scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and reroll. Dust the surface with more sweet rice flour and roll out the dough to get a couple more wafers. Prick the wafers with toothpick or fork, not all the way through, in two or more rows. Bake for 25 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. Might take less, and the starting location of each sheet may determine its required time. The ones that started on the bottom browned faster. When cooled completely, place enough wafers in food processor to make 1 ¼ cups (300 mL) of crumbs. Another way to do this is to place in a large ziplock bag, force all air out and smash with a rolling pin until wafers are crumbs.

For Nanaimo Bars — Bottom Layer

1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
1/4 cup (50 g) (1.8 ounces) Granulated Sugar
5 tablespoons (75 mL) Unsweetened Cocoa
1 Large Egg, Beaten
1 1/4 cups (300 mL) Gluten Free Graham Wafer Crumbs (See previous recipe)
1/2 cup (55 g) (1.9 ounces) Almonds (Any type, Finely chopped)
1 cup (130 g) (4.5 ounces) Coconut (Shredded, sweetened or unsweetened)

Melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa in top of a double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, nuts and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8 by 8 inch pan. I've pressed my mixture into spoons.

For Nanaimo Bars — Middle Layer

1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons (40 mL) Heavy Cream
2 tablespoons (30 mL) Vanilla Custard Powder (Such as Bird’s. Vanilla pudding mix may be substituted.)
2 cups (254 g) (8.9 ounces) Icing Sugar

Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light in colour. Spread over bottom layer.

For Nanaimo Bars — Top Layer

4 ounces (115 g) Semi-sweet chocolate
2 tablespoons (28 g) (1 ounce) Unsalted Butter

Melt chocolate and unsalted butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, pour over middle layer and chill.

Here they are: the spoons ready to be eaten! I had some graham crackers crumbs left so I’ve sprinkle them on top.

I’ve also made some real Nanaimo Bars, just so I could eat a real one. The bars were nice, but the spoons were so much funnier!

Open your mouth! And go check the other Daring Bakers!

A “bite” of Tunisia

2010-01-24T14:31:00.001+00:00

Here I am back from lovely Tunisia! Lovely, lovely…

Lovely landscapes…

Lovely monuments and ruins…

Remember I told you I went to visit a friend? What I didn’t tell you is that my friend works as a head chef in a 5 star hotel in Tunis.

This is Walid, the hotel's pastry chef. I had vip access to the pastry kitchen and got to taste some yummy stuff. Oh yes, lucky me!

I also ate a lot of local food! Gotta love that Coke in arabiac …

And tea… I drank a lot of tea! This one is green tea with pine nuts. Amazing stuff!

They love tea, this is where locals drink theirs. It was inside a market.

And this was the market itself, such a fun place to visit...

... or to buy food. I have no idea what this guy was selling but it must have been good since everyone was buying it. It looked like a huge thick pancake.

Instead of the funny looking pancake I bought some traditional sweets. I bought sweets, what a surprise!...

One of my favorite parts of the vacations was having dinner at Walid’s house (the pastry chef) with his family. Homey traditional tunisian food! And how cool is their living room?

And when I say food, I mean lots of it! Salad, fish, cannelloni with harissa, couscous…

And because I was not tired of local food, the next day I went to a local market. Don't you just love to visit markets when you're abroad?

But besides all they food, I loved their doors. I have tons of pictures of doors.

I really loved their doors! So much in fact, I wanted to bring this one home with me. Unfortunately it didn’t fit my suitcase…

Good thing the traditional sweets were small and did fit my bags. Hummm let’s see, how many of each will I take?

Aren't they gorgeous? And how much patience do you have to have to place each pistachio and pine nuts like that?

I’m not sure if I’ll recreate these at home but I did buy some specific ingredients, I can’t wait to give them a go! But now I'll have to go back to real life...

Sponge cake waffles

2010-01-10T09:04:00.000+00:00

What to do when your cake batter doesn’t fit all in the cake pan?

Of course, the most logical thing would be to do some cupcakes or even a mini cake in a smaller pan. That’s what I usually do anyway. But this time, when left with some sponge cake batter, my waffle iron started calling me. I’m not rude, so I answered.

This is a very easy and basic recipe for sponge cake. To tell you the truth I usually use my grandma’s sponge cake recipe but this is the one I used for the cake I was making, and so for the waffles. It actually worked pretty well.

BASIC SPONGE CAKE

3 eggs
90 gr (3 oz) sugar
90 gr (3 oz) flour

Whip the eggs and sugar until they double their volume and are very foamy. Add the flour and mix delicately. Bake in a 180ºC (350ºF) pre heated oven.

To make the waffles, just dump the batter into the hot waffle iron. Make sure to spray it or brush it with some oil or butter, since there’s no fat in the batter (except for the yolks).

This was probably the end of my “leftover cake batter cupcakes”, I rather have “leftover cake batter waffles” instead! They were good! I enjoyed mine with honey and even made a wee sandwich with jam that was quite nice! And I don’t even like jam that much…

I’m pretty much sure they don’t eat much waffles in Tunisia, but I’ll let you know what they do eat, since that’s where I’m heading tomorrow. I’m going to spend a few days in Tunis with a friend that lives there. Couscous here I go!

A new year filled with love, joy and… chocolate!

2010-01-02T23:35:00.002+00:00

So we’ve made it to 2010! It’s a little bit like living in the future, isn’t it?

Speaking of future, I hope this future year is filled with good thing for all: love, joy and... chocolate. Just like these cookies!

These are the famous 1 million dollar cookies that won the last Pillsbury contest. But these ones, beside the peanut butter filling also have some chocolate love. If the original ones were worth 1 million dollars, these are easily worth 2 million!

You can check the original recipe here. That recipe uses refrigerated peanut butter dough, but I’ve used my favourite peanut butter cookie recipe instead. Besides this, my only change was adding some chopped dark chocolate in the middle of the peanut butter filling.

If eating a cookie like that is not a great way to start a year I don’t know what is!

Waiter, there’s a gingerbread house in my popcorn!

2009-12-27T15:36:00.008+00:00

See what happens when you have very little time, a naked gingerbread house and a bowl of popcorn?

The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.

I went with the recipe provided by Y, but I only did half of it.

Y's Recipe: Scandinavian Gingerbread (Pepparkakstuga) from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book by Beatrice Ojakangas

1 cup butter, room temperature [226g]
1 cup brown sugar, well packed [220g]
2 tablespoons cinnamon
4 teaspoons ground ginger
3 teaspoons ground cloves
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ cup boiling water
5 cups all-purpose flour [875g]

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until blended. Add the cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Mix the baking soda with the boiling water and add to the dough along with the flour. Mix to make a stiff dough. If necessary add more water, a tablespoon at a time. Chill 2 hours or overnight. Cut patterns for the house, making patterns for the roof, front walls, gabled walls, chimney and door out of cardboard. Roll the dough out on a large, ungreased baking sheet and place the patterns on the dough. Mark off the various pieces with a knife, but leave the pieces in place. Preheat the oven to 375'F (190'C). Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the cookie dough feels firm. After baking, again place the pattern on top of the gingerbread and trim the shapes, cutting the edges with a straight-edged knife. Leave to cool on the baking sheet.

I knew I was not going to be able to do a very detailed decorated house, because of the busy holiday baking marathons I had to run... I knew I had to do something very simple... And that’s how this idea popped into my head: A popcorn house!

To make my popcorn house I’ve followed the recipe's instructions, did a simple template and baked the house pieces. Then I’ve popped my corn, did some caramel and used it to glue my popcorn to the walls of the house. I’ve also used the caramel to glue the house together. I’ve then completed the blank spaces where the walls where glued with some more popcorn strategically positioned. And that was it! Fast and fun, and if I may say myself, quite cute!

I think I'm gonna eat it while I watch a movie... And by the way, Happy Holidays everyone!

Ich bin ein berliner

2009-12-02T23:06:00.006+00:00

It’s about time to tell you about my wonderful short trip to Berlin!

I went to visit my friend Sarah who lives there now and 2 other friends of ours that I haven’t seen in about 8 years also joined us. It was so good to see the girls again!

It’s always great to visit a place guided by a person that lives there, isn’t it? Sarah took us to see all the “touristic stuff” like some pieces that are left from the Berlin Wall and the Brandenburg Gate, one of the most important symbols of the city.

And knowing me she also took me to eat the most traditional foods. I mean you can’t leave Germany without eating a Bratwurst, right?

Even if you have to eat one that’s about the size of your arm...

And then there were the Bretzls, the german pretzels. Of course I had to try them with salt and with cheese, and of course I preferred the ones with cheese.

What about the sweets?! I really liked the pastry scene there, and oh boy, German people love their cakes and cookies! And now I love them too!

In fact I loved them so much that I brought back some ingredients to bake some things here. One of the things I brought was a mix of spices to make a famous German cookie: the Spekulatius.

This is the recipe printed on the spice mix package, I gave it a go and it was quite good! I also brought the cute spoon cookie cutter from there.

SPEKULATIUS (from the spice mix package)

250 gr butter (9 oz)
250 gr sugar (9 oz)
2 eggs
500 gr flour (18 oz)
1 tbsp baking powder
10 gr Spekulatius spices* (o.6 oz)
250 gr almonds (I dind't use them)

Mix the butter with the sugar, add the eggs. Mix the flour with the baking powder and spices and then add to the butter mixture. Mix just until well incorporated. Roll the dough, cut in the desired shapes and bake in a pre heated oven at 180ºC (350ºF) for about 8-10 minutes.

* You can make your own spice mix (that’s what I’ll have to do next time). The typical spices used in spekulatius are cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cardamom and white pepper.

Ok, I’ve spooned it all out for you. Now it’s time to go back to my holiday baking marathon.

To Cannoli or not to cannoli...

2009-11-27T00:22:00.001+00:00

I had all the intentions of doing the Cannoli. I swear I did…

… but the fettuccine attachment of my pasta machine started calling me and that was the end of the cannoli dream.

The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.

First the recipe:

CANNOLI SHELLS

2 cups (250 grams/16 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons(28 grams/1 ounce) sugar
1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.06 ounces) unsweetened baking cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon (approx. 3 grams/0.11 ounces) salt
3 tablespoons (42 grams/1.5 ounces) vegetable or olive oil
1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.18 ounces) white wine vinegar
Approximately 1/2 cup (approx. 59 grams/approx. 4 fluid ounces/approx. 125 ml) sweet Marsala or any white or red wine you have on hand- I've used rose
1 large egg, separated (you will need the egg white but not the yolk)
Vegetable or any neutral oil for frying – about 2 quarts (8 cups/approx. 2 litres)

Pasta Machine method: Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Starting at the middle setting, run one of the pieces of dough through the rollers of a pasta machine. Lightly dust the dough with flour as needed to keep it from sticking. Pass the dough through the machine repeatedly, until you reach the highest or second highest setting. The dough should be about 4 inches wide and thin enough to see your hand through. Continue rolling out the remaining dough. If you do not have enough cannoli tubes for all of the dough, lay the pieces of dough on sheets of plastic wrap and keep them covered until you are ready to use them. Roll, cut out and fry the cannoli.

Since I didn't exactly do the cannoli I won't put the directions here. But you can find them at the hostess blog.

Here’s what I though: cannoli, fettuccine… it’s all Italian, right? What about some ravioli? Ok, to go with the theme let’s do some as well…

I’ve made some filled with Nutella. I've cut round shapes of the rolled dough, put a tablespoon of Nutella in the middle, closed and pressed the edges with a fork.

I've also made other raviolli filled with orange pastry cream.

For these I've used a big stripe of dough and put tablespoons of pastry cream with a about 5 cm (2 inch) distance between them. I've closed the dough to the other side, pressing around the cream and cut around each one.

But I was getting a bit tired of Italy, so I decided to move to Mexico... Why not make more tortilla chips?

So here they are, canolli tortilla chips with raspberry pastry cream dip.

I'll leave you with all non-cannoli family: fetticini, raviolli and tortilla chips! Enjoy them while I'll enjoy a short trip to Berlin! I'll tell you about it when I'm back!

Boleima: a cake made with bread dough

2009-11-10T20:35:00.001+00:00

It might sound strange to you, if I say that one of the ingredients of this wonderful cake is raw bread dough…

It doesn’t sound strange to me because I grew up eating this cake. Boleima it’s traditional from my grandparents’ little village, where people didn’t have much access to a lot of ingredients and had to rely mostly on their imagination to bake...

This is a dense cake, kind of chewy, with a tight crumb, very aromatic and with a slight tang (from the bread dough). I personally love it!

This recipe was given to me by my cousin that got it from her mother. My cousin always buys the bread dough to make it, but I make my one. This time I decided to experiment with the master recipe from the book Artisan Bread in five minutes a day and it worked beautifully!

BOLEIMA

250 gr (9oz) bread dough (raised)
250 gr (9oz) flour
250 gr (9oz) sugar
125 gr (4.5 oz) lard, softned (you can use butter)
3 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
1 lemon (peel)
Cinnamon sugar* (for sprinkling)

It’s so simple to make! You just mix all the ingredients and you’re done! I’ve used my hands, because I’m a hands-on kind of person, but a mixer or a spoon are fine too.

The batter is a bit odd for a cake, since it’s quite elastic. I’ve baked mine in a square 20cm (8inch) pan, buttered and floured. One important step is to heavily sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top of the batter before baking. Gotta love a crunchy top!

For the Cinnamon sugar* I’ve used 4 tsp sugar and ½ tsp cinnamon. Bake at 350ºF (180ºC) for about 20m or until a toothpick or knife comes out clean and the top is golden.

This is the plain version, but there’s also Boleima de Maçã (Apple Boleima) that is made by putting half the batter in the pan, covering it with a lot of sliced apples, walnuts and cinnamon sugar, and then top it with the rest of the batter. I think that version is even better, but since I was trying a new bread dough and wanted to keep it simple. Still it’s great!

Now all you need is a cup of tea! Have you ever tried a similar cake?

Not your average Madeleine

2009-11-05T15:30:00.002+00:00

Everybody loves a good madeleine, a good, soft and squidgy Madeleine with a nice bump. Well, this is not your typical madeleine.

This is not really a recipe, but just an idea… I had some sugar cookie dough left and decided to play around with it.

So these are sugar cookie madeleines! It’s only a fun way to eat a simple sugar cookie. You just get your dough, press it into your madeleinle’s molds, bake it, and you’re good to go. As simple as that…

I’m always trying new sugar cookie recipes, I’m still looking for the ONE, but this that I’ve used here is pretty good. But any recipe will do, use your favourite.

You can enjoy them as they are, but I have to tell you that they don’t mind being sandwiched together with some Nutella…

… and I don’t mind that either! At all!...

DB's Macarons: two for the price of one

2009-10-27T21:59:00.006+00:00

Oh lá lá les macarons… This month the Daring Bakers transformed normal people into macaron-obsessed people! If you ask me I mush prefer macaron-obsessed people than normal people! I loooooooooooooove macarons!

Two for the price of one: Oreo and Rice pudding macarons!

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

I usually do my macarons with cooked egg whites, but it’s always fun to try new recipes! I had a little trouble with this recipe provided, well, not the recipe exactly but the temperatures, I had to make some adjustments. My changes are in bold.

Oreo cookie or macaron?

I’ve always wanted to try making Oreo cookies macarons, so this was the perfect opportunity!

OREO MACARONS

Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)
Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.) I’ve used 140 gr
Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.)
Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)
20 Oreo cookies (without the cream)

OREO FILLING

Filling of 20 Oreo cookies
¼ cup cream cheese

Mix and refrigerate until it’s time to use.

Very dunkable, like the real thing!

But then… since I had some rice pudding left, I had to try my hand on Rice pudding macarons too.

RICE PUDDING MACARONS

Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)
Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.)
Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.)
Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)
1 tbsp cinnamon

Cinnamon shells

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C) I’ve started at 320ºF. Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl (time to add the grinded Oreos or the cinnamon). If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.
Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.
Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.
Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).
Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes (Baked mine for about 7 m). Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored. (I’ve lowered my temp to 300º F and let them for 4 minutes more).
Cool on a rack before filling.

RICE PUDDING FILLING

1 cup rice pudding
60 gr (2 oz) white chocolate

Blitz the rice pudding in the food processor until you have a cream. Melt the white chocolate and add to the rice pudding cream.

Bite me!

Once I start making macarons I just want to make more and more, but the thing is once I start eating them, I also just want to eat more and more. Is it just me?

Sorbets anyone?

2009-10-20T00:17:00.004+01:00

I don’t know when Fall is planning to arrive here. They say it’s tomorrow, so I’ll wait and see.

Lemon & honey trio

But the truth is that in the calendar it has already arrived a while ago. So it was time to go back to the artisanal ice cream factory where I do seasonal works to create ice-creams, sorbets and desserts for their website.

Sauteed pineapple cubes with pineapple & vanilla bean sorbet

If you know me you probably have guessed by now that this is the kind of work I do with great sacrifice. Ahahahah, yeah right!...

All the pictures in this post are from Pedro, a photographer that comes to take pictures of my desserts for the website. He says those are the only photo shoots that end up with him eating the models…

Caramelized rice pudding with orange & cinammon sorbet

Of course I can not give you the recipes for the sorbets, but I'll leave you the recipe of these nice lemon & honey cookies that are a part of the lemon & honey trio: tea, sorbet and cookies!

LEMON & HONEY COOKIES

• 90 gr (3.2 oz) butter
• 40 gr (1.4 oz) powder sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 60 gr (2.1 oz) honey
• 180 gr (6.4 oz) flour
• 2 lemons (zest)
• sugar (for sprinkling)

Beat the butter (must be soft) with the powder sugar. Add the yolks, lemon zest and honey and mix well. Lastly add the flour and mix just until the dough is uniform. Wrap in film and take to the fridge for at least 1 hour. Roll the dough, cut into shapes, pierce with a fork, sprinkle with the sugar and bake at 170ºC (325ºF) until golden.

If you live in the Lisbon area and want to try these and other sorbets and ice-creams you can go here! Hope you enjoy them!

swirling in Seville

2009-09-30T08:16:00.005+01:00

So I’m back from my beautiful Seville.

Plaza de España

Well, I’ve actually been back for a while, but my head stayed there for a few days more than my body did. So it’s only fair to say I’m only back now.

La Giralda

I really enjoyed swirling thru those streets that I know so well, seeing some of my best friends and of course eating in my favourite places! It was just as if I had never left…

Guadalquivir River and Triana neighbourhood on the left bank

I used to live in Triana, just on the back of those coulored buildings. I walked that street and crossed the bridge everyday to go to school.

I love this building, especially because it’s a pastry shop

The pastry shop sells traditional cakes and sweets. I wish I had bought one of each...

Mantecados and Polvorones

And speaking of food... Check out one of my lunches:

Papas bravas

Fried potatoes with spicy tomato sauce and a huge slice of toasted bread with melted cheese, prosciutto and fried quail eggs. We were two and we couldn’t finish that one slice of bread!

Tosta con queso fundido, jamón serrano y huevos de codorniz

But yet again speaking of food, I owe you an ice cream recipe, don’t you think I forgot! Here it is: a triple swirl ice cream (peanut butter, nutella and dulce de leche). You people know I love to swirl, don't you?

Do you want an ice cream with your swirl?

TRIPLE SWIRL ICE CREAM

200 ml cream
200 ml milk
50 gr (1.8 oz) glucose
80 gr (2.8 oz) sugar
80 gr (2.8 oz) egg yolks
1/4 cup dulce de leche
1/4 cup nutella
1/4 cup peanut butter

Heat the cream, milk and the glucose almost until boiling point. In a bowl mix well the yolks and sugar. Slowly add the milk mixture to the yolks, always mixing so the yolks won’t curdle. Transfer everything to the pan again and heat on low, always mixing, until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon but don’t let it boil. Pass thru a sieve and cool completely (preferably in an ice bath). Churn only when it’s fully chilled. When the ice cream is ready to take out from the ice cream machine, add the dulce de leche, nutella and peanut butter (a teaspoon at a time and intercalating), give it a couple of more turns just until dulce de leche, nutella and peanut butter start forming nice swirls thru the ice cream.

Buen provecho! Enjoy!

Vols-au-vent meet Portuguese custard tarts

2009-09-27T20:12:00.005+01:00

Tell me something, do you think there's a chance of not loving something that involves a baked custard AND puff pastry? No? I thought so...

Custard filled Vols-au-Vent

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

I don’t know if you’re familiar with Portuguese custard tarts, or what we call them here: Pastéis de Nata. They must be our favorite pastry here in Portugal, if you are ever in this part of the world please try them! So for this challenge I created a love child of vols-au-vent and these wonderful little tarts.

Ok, but let's start by the very beggining:

Puff pastry in the making

Michel Richard’s Puff Pastry Dough (Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan)

2-1/2 cups (12.2 oz/ 354 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups (5.0 oz/ 142 g) cake flour
1 tbsp. salt (you can cut this by half for a less salty dough or for sweet preparations)
1-1/4 cups (10 fl oz/ 300 ml) ice water
1 pound (16 oz/ 454 g) very cold unsalted butter

Mixing the Dough: Check the capacity of your food processor before you start. If it cannot hold the full quantity of ingredients, make the dough into two batches and combine them. Put the all-purpose flour, cake flour, and salt in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse a couple of times just to mix. Add the water all at once, pulsing until the dough forms a ball on the blade. The dough will be very moist and pliable and will hold together when squeezed between your fingers. Remove the dough from the machine, form it into a ball, with a small sharp knife, slash the top in a tic-tac-toe pattern. Wrap the dough in a damp towel and refrigerate for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, place the butter between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and beat it with a rolling pin until it flattens into a square that's about 1" thick. Take care that the butter remains cool and firm: if it has softened or become oily, chill it before continuing. Incorporating the Butter: Unwrap the dough and place it on a work surface dusted with all-purpose flour (A cool piece of marble is the ideal surface for puff pastry) with your rolling pin (preferably a French rolling pin without handles), press on the dough to flatten it and then roll it into a 10" square. Keep the top and bottom of the dough well floured to prevent sticking and lift the dough and move it around frequently. Starting from the center of the square, roll out over each corner to create a thick center pad with "ears,” or flaps. Place the cold butter in the middle of the dough and fold the ears over the butter, stretching them as needed so that they overlap slightly and encase the butter completely. (If you have to stretch the dough, stretch it from all over; don't just pull the ends) you should now have a package that is 8" square. To make great puff pastry, it is important to keep the dough cold at all times. There are specified times for chilling the dough, but if your room is warm, or you work slowly, or you find that for no particular reason the butter starts to ooze out of the pastry, cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it. You can stop at any point in the process and continue at your convenience or when the dough is properly chilled. Making the Turns: Gently but firmly press the rolling pin against the top and bottom edges of the square (this will help keep it square). Then, keeping the work surface and the top of the dough well floured to prevent sticking, roll the dough into a rectangle that is three times as long as the square you started with, about 24" (don't worry about the width of the rectangle: if you get the 24", everything else will work itself out.) With this first roll, it is particularly important that the butter be rolled evenly along the length and width of the rectangle; check when you start rolling that the butter is moving along well, and roll a bit harder or more evenly, if necessary, to get a smooth, even dough-butter sandwich (use your arm-strength!). With a pastry brush, brush off the excess flour from the top of the dough, and fold the rectangle up from the bottom and down from the top in thirds, like a business letter, brushing off the excess flour. You have completed one turn. Rotate the dough so that the closed fold is to your left, like the spine of a book. Repeat the rolling and folding process, rolling the dough to a length of 24" and then folding it in thirds. This is the second turn. Chilling the Dough: If the dough is still cool and no butter is oozing out, you can give the dough another two turns now. If the condition of the dough is iffy, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. Each time you refrigerate the dough, mark the number of turns you've completed by indenting the dough with your fingertips. It is best to refrigerate the dough for 30 to 60 minutes between each set of two turns. The total number of turns needed is six. If you prefer, you can give the dough just four turns now, chill it overnight, and do the last two turns the next day. Puff pastry is extremely flexible in this regard. However, no matter how you arrange your schedule, you should plan to chill the dough for at least an hour before cutting or shaping it.

Forming the vols-au-vent: Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside. Using a knife or metal bench scraper, divided your chilled puff pastry dough into three equal pieces. Work with one piece of the dough, and leave the rest wrapped and chilled. On a lightly floured surface, roll the piece of dough into a rectangle about 1/8 to 1/4-inch (3-6 mm) thick. Transfer it to the baking sheet and refrigerate for about 10 minutes before proceeding with the cutting. Using a ¾-inch cutter for small vols-au-vent, or a 2- to 2.5-inch round cutter for large, cut centers from half of the rounds to make rings. These rings will become the sides of the vols-au-vent, while the solid disks will be the bottoms. You can either save the center cut-outs to bake off as little “caps” for you vols-au-vent, or put them in the scrap pile. Dock the solid bottom rounds with a fork (prick them lightly, making sure not to go all the way through the pastry) and lightly brush them with egg wash. Place the rings directly on top of the bottom rounds and very lightly press them to adhere. Brush the top rings lightly with egg wash, trying not to drip any down the sides (which may inhibit rise). If you are using the little “caps,” dock and egg wash them as well. Refrigerate the assembled vols-au-vent on the lined baking sheet while you pre-heat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). (You could also cover and refrigerate them for a few hours at this point.) Once the oven is heated, remove the sheet from the refrigerator and place a silicon baking mat (preferred because of its weight) or another sheet of parchment over top of the shells. This will help them rise evenly. Bake the shells until they have risen and begin to brown, about 10-15 minutes depending on their size. Reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF (180ºC), and remove the silicon mat or parchment sheet from the top of the vols-au-vent. If the centers have risen up inside the vols-au-vent, you can gently press them down. Continue baking (with no sheet on top) until the layers are golden, about 15-20 minutes more. (If you are baking the center “caps” they will likely be finished well ahead of the shells, so keep an eye on them and remove them from the oven when browned.) Remove to a rack to cool. Cool to room temperature for cold fillings or to warm for hot fillings.

Portuguese custard tarts filling

30 gr (1 oz) flour
150 ml whole milk
100 ml cream
1 lemon peel
1 cinnamon stick
200 gr (7 oz) sugar
125 ml water
3 egg yolks
1 pinch of salt

Take the water and the sugar to a boil and let it boil for exactly 3 minutes. Set aside. Dissolve the flour and salt with a bit of milk and boil the rest of the milk, cream, lemon peel and the cinnamon stick. Slowly add the boiled milk and cream to the flour and return the whole thing to the stove. Let it boil again, mixing always. Add the sugar syrup to this cream and let it cool. Once cold add the yolks.

To form the custard filled vols-au-vent: Shape and bake the vols-au-vent as in the directions but don’t bake them completely, take them out of the oven when they’re still quite blond. Spoon the cold custard almost up to the top and return to the oven until the custard appears almost set but still jiggles a bit (like a crème brulée). You can eat them like that or burn the top with a blow torch and sprinkle some icing sugar.

Of course I've also had to make Palmiers with the puff pastry scraps. I had to make them, you know... Obviously I also had to eat them...

Yummy is an understatement...

The bad thing about these is waiting for them to cool to non-burning-tongue temperature. Very hard… Well, but while you wait for them to cool you can check the other Baring Bakers’ Vols-au-vent!