Addicted Sweet Tooth

Making pasta is fun - at least nowadays. I recall an incident when I got into a fight with a friend while rolling out the dough, but vaguely. I was in my teenage years. The fact that I owned a pasta “machine” back then should have warned my parents about my future…

Anyway, I have discovered that it can be fun to make your own pasta with little ones. As long as the result is not soo important or urgent. Since they would not have the necessary amount of arm muscles to use a rolling pin I broke rule number one from this month’s Daring Bakers’ challenge and used the machine to roll out the dough (or rather they did).

It was a rainy March 16th, I had kept my younger daughter home from school since she was acting weird in the morning and I needed her to be okay the next day (needless to say that she was riding her bike outside and having fun a half an hour after that decision). My older one came home from Kindergarten without homework (St. Patrick’s Day party and no school the day after that = do even less at home the day before). So it was the perfect timing for this project. Plus - and that was a benefit I had not anticipated - my younger one decided that the pasta was only green because the next day was St. Patrick’s Day. Even though we are not Irish, we had made a Leprechaun trap for her school project and I had baked shamrock cookies for the Kindergarten class. So we were definitely in the right spirit.

I have to admit that she is picky in a sense that anything green or otherwise related to (cooked) vegetables does not go into her mouth easily. I had feared that she would not touch the Lasagne even though she usually likes it (with plain pasta that is). So once she uttered that statement I knew it had to be eaten the next day. “Of course, the pasta is just green because of  this occasion”  - lying by omission about the different flavor of spinach, a word that had not crossed my mouth anyway in trying to get her to give it a try.

Here are pictures of the two eager helpers.

I did not follow the recipe for the Ragu. I try to mainly buy all-natural or even organic meat and poultry but I would have had a hard time finding the small amounts of various meats for the given sauce recipe locally with that standard. So I went ahead and did what I usually do - I take organic ground beef or turkey, I cook it with olive oil and chopped onions. Then I add a jar or two of already made organic tomato sauce (I used Muir Glen Cabernet Marinara) and flavor it some more. Depending on what I have in the fridge I might add some extra carrots or peppers beforehand. I used to really like “colorful” Lasagne, when one could detect the different vegetables that went into making it. Nowadays I take the blender and puree them to make sure that my daughter cannot easily pull out everything that might contain a vitamin . So as far as recipe goes - it changes every time, much to the dismay of my husband because I cannot repeat an occasional really good result and we risk “just okay” the next time. Oh well…

Other than that I followed the instructions given to us for the Spinach Egg Pasta and the Bechamel Sauce. Read the full version of the recipe on the blogs mentioned in the credits below or on the others from the ever growing group of the Daring Bakers. They have a brand new website - incredible!!!

I am sorry to tell you that even though we all liked it, the Picky One barely touched it. She admitted that it tasted okay but rather left the table hungry than finish her portion (or was it just the extra fruit salad from her school party that filled her up?). She can be stubborn. At least she is consistent…

The first thing my older one told me the next morning was that she wanted the Lasagne again for lunch. Which was no problem since she had the day off but her picky sister would eat her lunch in school that day - win win.

The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.

Filed under: Blogging event, Daring bakers, Uncategorized | 9 Comments »

Here we are - another month is gone and the only thing that keeps this blog semi-alive is the Daring Bakers’ challenge. What happened to my time and ambitions? Well, I think that I have used it to become a bit more relaxed as a mother, trying to enjoy even the times that used to drive me nuts. Not that it works all the time.

Plus there will always be the pastry chef hidden inside of me, unnerved by how much candy and junk my daughter is allowed to eat in her school on an almost daily basis instead of being able to enjoy the “good stuff”. Can someone explain to me why they have to count candy hearts for math and then eat them before lunch?

On the other hand I am not sure how many points this souffle would have earned me from her. The chocolate was intense, probably too intense for a five year old, even if I throw out the cheap chocolate from Valentine’s Day cards before she can get her hands on them (I am not around to protect her from the junk in school).

The challenge promised that the dessert would taste exactly like the chocolate used, so when I saw Green & Black’s organic chocolate on sale at our local health food store, I had to indulge. I bought a 100g bar of “Maya Gold” - could there be a better start toward chocolate heaven? I think Montezuma would have approved.

The cake is easily assembled and really does taste delicious. I served it with blood orange sorbet since the chocolate has a distinct orange flavor as well as spices in it. I also added fresh orange slices and vanilla whipped cream. This way the flavors are elevated to new heights.

Here is what we got as a starting point from our fellow Daring Bakers:

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE’s blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.
We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

Chocolate Valentino

16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter
5 large eggs separated

• Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.
• While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
• Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
• Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
• With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
• Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
• Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter.
• Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375°F/190°C
• Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C.
• Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.
• Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

I used the 100 g chocolate bar, melted it with 30 g of butter and added one egg as described above. I made three portions in buttered and sugared ramekins and baked them for about 15 minutes.

Filed under: Blogging event, Cakes, Chocolate, Daring bakers, Fruits | 12 Comments »

Not that I didn’t succeed with the tuille recipe given to us for this month’s Daring Bakers challenge. Easy enough, I kept thinking. And then all the choices on what those dainty little things could accompany. Yes, I had high plans,… or maybe not?

The task of jumping back into blogging after such a long time of just reading the numerous posts in all those other great foodblogs seemed daunting to me. I was close to giving it up, I have to admit. I have no clue how I pulled off all those posts at the very beginning, now struggling with “once a month” - come on, I should do better than that. Oh well…

Let me tell you, it can be enough satisfaction to read and drool over what all of you are writing rather than rambling on about my own kitchen adventures. Lately I am not even drawn to the fancy things but rather crave pound cakes and cookies, nothing that involves whipped cream (aside from fresh strawberries with a dollop of it). It is literally freezing outside and just yesterday all the schools were closed because of the latest winter storm and we hardly left the house, only to shovel the mess off the driveway in hope of a better tomorrow. well - if any delivery people are reading this - avoid our house for a few more weeks, it is REALLY icy on our front steps…

Anyhoo, the tuilles had to wait for me to figure things out or rather to make them at gunpoint, being afraid of flunking out of this great group just yet. I skipped the whole Daring Bakers challenge last month - well, we went to Europe to visit with families and friends, which took priority.

After all those plans that put the tuilles into a “supporting character” role I decided to share a rather cute idea with you instead. Valentine’s Day is around the corner and we made fortune cookies for the parents in my daughter’s pre-school last year. The kids came up with their own fortunes and we stenciled the batter into shapes that, once folded, resembled hearts. I really liked this idea and will repeat it this year most likely. Is the tuille accompanied by something light? well, the fortunes could transport you to cloud nine, I believe. Or you could transport someone else there, this is light enough for me…

Here is how it goes:

• Cut the stencil out of a plastic sheet (transparencies from office supplies do a good job). Spread the batter thinly and evenly on it and remove the stencil. Bake at 180ºC (350ºF) until golden brown and remove from the oven.
• Fold the paper strips into shape and put the tuille bottom side up on a hot tray or even better pizza stone. Once warmed up and pliable, lay the paper across and fold the tuille over twice until only a quarter of it is left (heart shape).
• Fill the cookies into a cut container or serve just one with dessert (due for proposals, anyone?).

During the whole process, one of the cookies slipped off the stone and tried to hide from its destiny by falling through the door crack into my drawer underneath the oven. Hah! Crushed for misbehaving! What happened when I hunted for pieces in said drawer was that I pulled out this itty bitty savarin mold that I had purchased a few weeks ago. I bought it for a specific purpose - trying a recipe that I had bookmarked for a while - Linzer cookies from a book by Franz Ziegler. For the recipe one needs crumbled up tuilles - PERFECT timing!

All this said, I made a few hearts and still had batter left. So I spread it onto sheets and just baked the whole batch, knowing it would end up crushed. Then I gathered all the ingredients and tried the recipe (slightly modified, I could not help it).

This here is a very good excuse to let those tuilles drop - crumble them up and transport them into hazelnut heaven (hazelnuts are definitely present on my personal cloud number nine ).

Recipe for Linzer

adapted from “muerb und knusprig” by Franz Ziegler

yields 2 sheets (30 each)

125 g butter, soft (4.5 oz.)
60 g confectioner’s sugar (2 oz.)
5 g vanilla sugar (or a bit of extract)
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
pinch of salt
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk
80 g hazelnuts, toasted, ground (2.8 oz.)
50 g crushed tuilles (1.75 oz.)
50 g flour (1.75 oz.)

additional:

More crushed tuilles, about 20-30 g
Raspberry jam
Dark couverture chocolate for dipping (optional)

• Preheat the oven to 210ºC (410ºF).
• Mix together all the ingredients except the tuilles and the flour in a food processor (I had to grind the nuts and did not want to do more dishes than necessary, creaming in a machine works just as well).
• Then fold in the tuilles and the flour.
• Sprinkle the broken tuille pieces (smaller is better) in the savarin molds.
• Pipe the batter on top.
• Bake for about 12 minutes or until the sides begin to brown.
• Unmold and fill with warmed raspberry jam while still hot.
• Dip bottom in tempered dark chocolate when cold.

The following is a recipe was part of this month’s challenge and is taken from a book called “The Chocolate Book”, written by female Dutch Master chef Angélique Schmeinck.

Recipe:
Yields: 20 small butterflies/6 large (butterflies are just an example)
Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes, baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch

65 grams / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces softened butter (not melted but soft)
60 grams / ½ cup / 2.1 ounces sifted confectioner’s sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract)
2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)
65 grams /1/2 cup/ 2.3 ounces sifted all purpose flour
1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice
Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

Oven: 180°C / 350°F

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not overmix.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template such as the butterfly. Press the stencil on the bakingsheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. Mix a small part of the batter with the cocoa and a few drops of warm water until evenly colored. Use this colored batter in a paper piping bag and proceed to pipe decorations on the wings and body of the butterfly.

Bake butterflies in a preheated oven (180ºC/350ºF) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from bakingsheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again. (Haven’t tried that). Or: place a bakingsheet toward the front of the warm oven, leaving the door half open. The warmth will keep the cookies malleable.

If you don’t want to do stencil shapes, you might want to transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip. Pipe the desired shapes and bake. Shape immediately after baking using for instance a rolling pin, a broom handle, cups, cones….

This month’s challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 29 Comments »

It is this time again… Holidays (shopping, travel arrangements, general preparation taking over the “calm” that should be present), the time I post on this almost abandoned blog, and most importantly - Daring Bakers Day. I am amazed how time seems to fly faster each month. I am down to just posting for the challenges - shame on me! I see it (almost ) as a favor to the blogging world - I have a hard time keeping up with just reading through the many great food blogs out there - this way mine just contributes once in a while and gives all of you more time for all the others.

“Enough rambling - what is it about the title already?”

I am not particular in love with sweet (sugary) cakes and desserts. I do like caramel, but I was a bit skeptical when I approached the frosting for this cake. BUT: After I tasted it with the appropriate amount of sea salt in it, I was sold. I could have eaten it by the spoonful.

“You should have!”

While contemplating what to do for presentation of the recipe, I remembered a German cake covered in Krokant (caramelized almonds) - Frankfurter Kranz. So this one here is my twist on both - I baked the cakes in mini bundt pans and sliced them to incorporate a filling of apple butter and the frosting. The topping then is crushed toffee.

Below the original recipes with the weight I used added in parentheses. I baked 12 mini bundt cakes and 17 mini cupcakes with the batch below. I did have a bit of frosting left over.

“I told you to keep eating by the spoonful, but no one around here seems to listen to good advice!”

How to for my little ones:

Daring Bakers Caramel Cake

CARAMEL CAKE WITH CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

10 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature (145 g)
1 1/4 Cups granulated sugar (I used 200 g sugar and 75 g homemade vanilla sugar)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below) (120 g)
2 each eggs, at room temperature
splash vanilla extract (I omitted this since I used the real stuff above)
2 Cups all-purpose flour (300 g)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk, at room temperature

• Preheat oven to 350F
• Butter one tall (2 – 2.5 inch deep) 9-inch cake pan. (Or butter mini pans and/or get papers ready)
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and salt & cream until light and fluffy.
• Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl. Scrape down bowl and increase speed. Add eggs/vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform.
• Sift flour and baking powder.
• Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dry ingredients. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time. Add another third of the dry ingredients, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dry ingredients. {This is called the dry, wet, dry, wet, dry method in cake making. It is often employed when there is a high proportion of liquid in the batter.}
• Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds, making sure batter is uniform. Turn batter into prepared cake pan.
• Place cake pan on cookie sheet or 1/2 sheet pan. Set first timer for 30 minutes, rotate pan and set timer for another 15-20 minutes. Your own oven will set the pace. Bake until sides pull away from the pan and skewer inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool cake completely before icing it.
• Cake will keep for three days outside of the refrigerator.

CARAMEL SYRUP

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (for “stopping” the caramelization process)

• In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.
• When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back.
• Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}
• Note: For safety reasons, have ready a bowl of ice water to plunge your hands into if any caramel should land on your skin.

CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

12 tablespoons unsalted butter (165 g)
1 pound confectioner’s sugar, sifted (I used only 300 g)
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream (I used 6tbsp.)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used only 1tsp since mine is quite strong)
2-4 tablespoons caramel syrup (I used 3tbsp.)
Kosher or sea salt to taste

• Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool.
• Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl.
• In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add confectioner’s sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to take any more, add a bit of cream and or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture looks smooth and all confectioner’s sugar has been incorporated. Add salt to taste.
• Note: Caramelized butter frosting will keep in fridge for up to a month.
• To smooth out from cold, microwave a bit, then mix with paddle attachment until smooth and light

(recipes above courtesy of Shuna Fish Lydon) (http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2006/12/24/caramel-cake-the-recipe/)

Our host this month was Dolores and Co-hosts Alex, Jenny as well as Natalie. Thank you very much for a sweet afternoon!

P.S. There was an optional part and believe me - I tried to make those caramels. Or at least I had every intention. I knew that my favorite local market carries the original golden syrup that was raved about. But they were out - So I asked and got a call a week later that it was in stock again. So I bought it and all the other items required. And then I finally had (almost) a whole day to work on this challenge - BUT - it rained like crazy and I had to postpone the finishing touches on the cakes. I also postponed the caramels since this syrup should not be wasted. It has stopped raining since but I did not get around to them (yet). Do I get a Raincheck?

Filed under: Uncategorized | 20 Comments »

I really liked this challenge. We LOVE pizza - at least the homemade variety (and those we had in Europe). The ones from our local Pizzaiolos seem to get more expensive by the week.

“What doesn’t?”

Okay - I can see myself that ingredients and gas get more expensive over time and this of course affects them, but still - when we order a topping we have to be lucky to find a piece of it on every slice - come on…

Anyway, our house sees pizza being baked more than once a month, some of the Pizzaiolos are three years old and do a very good job. That is to say they do a good job with the pizza dough that had been my favorite for a few years now. I did not even see the need to try other recipes, I have to admit.

“You can be quite lazy - shouldn’t you try to perfect everything further?”

Oh well. There is ambition and then there is life…

This challenge had me captivated from the start. Then I got Peter Reinhart’s book from the library and read his introduction to this recipe - I was daydreaming about pizza afterwards. Only that one has to plan ahead and prepare the dough at least a day in advance - so much for craving a pizza.

The recipe was well written and worked as expected. However - it stretched to paper thin by just looking at it lifting it up. I could not toss mine into the air but it stretched nicely even without that. The challenge was to take a picture while doing this, so you will have to be satisfied with the pulled dough and the floured hands.

The procedure of putting cornmeal underneath worked really well with this crust. I switched to parchment underneath my pizza ever since the smoke detector in our house did not like the cornmeal on the hot pizza stone. I can never slide the pizza off the stone without some falling down into the oven and cleanup is not my favorite pastime. This crust did not work well enough with parchment in my opinion, it was not crunchy enough to support the topping on the thin layer of dough.

Verdict: I will stick to my favorite recipe. When life is kind to me and my projects I will share it here. I like that one better because even a three year old Pizzaiolo can make a decent pizza, one can use it within hours of making it (I went down to 30 minutes when under pressure from the three year old ), and it works well with the parchment paper method.

“Isn’t it wasteful to use a sheet of parchment under every pizza?”

Not as much as I thought it would be - I make a pizza, start baking it, and as soon as it is stable enough I pull the parchment out from underneath and work on the next pizza on that same parchment. I have to admit that I have not yet stored the sheet from one pizza party to the next one, but that should work too.

The recipe for this version of pizza dough can be found at Rosa’s Yummy Yumms, the tremendous host of this round of Daring Bakers, which is dedicated to the memory of the beloved Sherry “Sher” Cermak (1948-2008).

Filed under: Blogging event, Dairy, Daring bakers, Flatbread, Flour, Yeast | 19 Comments »

I can sympathize with the bunny from Alice in Wonderland. I constantly feel that I am late for everything.

“Don’t let me be the one to tell you - but guess what - you ARE!”

I knew that I was doomed that one day years ago when I got the “go ahead” from my boss to release an important document (course guide) for printing. I had waited for his approval for days and we were approaching the deadline really fast. What did I do? I turned around, relieved, and…? Drove home and remembered this task two days later!

I still have residue from the adrenaline that shot through my veins that moment. What was the reason for such a reaction? Well, I strongly believe that it was because I was expecting our first child. Since then I struggle to keep up with the simplest tasks, which is still really aggravating for me, since, believe it or not, I used to be very much on top of things (in a former life it seems).

Anyway… I have the extreme honor this month to be one of the judges for the Click Food Photography event that Bee and Jai from Jugalbandi organize every month. And the topic is perfect - Crust. I love everything that has a bite to it.

“Big, scary dogs too?”

My contribution (just in time if not even a bit late) is a picture of Almond Biscotti. I fight my father over the ones we buy when in Italy (and I win frequently ). “Biscotti” translates into “cooked twice” so crust is pretty much all you get. Extremely crunchy and flavorful. Usually dipped into liquids like Vin Santo or coffee, but I have to say that I eat them without any “dilution” of flavor or crunch - that is until I need dentures probably, but by then I hope for scientists to come up with powerful glue so that I can keep on munching…

The camera was my trusted Canon 300D with a macro lens and f/2.8.

Filed under: Blogging event, Cookies, Food photography, almonds | 8 Comments »

This month’s challenge for the Daring Bakers was to bake Lavash Crackers and create a vegan dip to go along with it.

I wanted to stay true to my theme here and thus came up with a sweet version of the crackers as well as the dip. I used the given recipe for the Lavash and sprinkled some with sesame seeds and others with cinnamon sugar as well as a coarse sugar.

I liked the ones with sesame best because they were flavorful yet neutral and would have been at home with any savory dip as well as my sweet cravings. The sugared ones were nice too and I loved their sheen. I am wondering however what would happen to them after a long rainy day. They might get soggy because of the humidity? I will never know, we did have enough rain, but the crackers were gone too quickly to verify my concern.

The dip I created was really simple and satisfying at the same time. I caramelized sugar and cooked apple pieces in this caramel. I added a cinnamon stick to give it a “nice touch” and finished the dip with a bit of freshly squeezed lemon juice. The dip perfect for the start of the fall season and at the same time refreshing enough.

The hosts this time were members of the amazing group of « Alternative » Daring Bakers : Natalie from Gluten A Go Go, and Shel, of Musings From the Fishbowl. The cracker recipe can be found there or in Peter Reinhart’s book The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. I followed the instructions and used unbleached bread flour.

Caramelized apples

60 g sugar (2 oz.)
20 g water (0.6 oz., 4 teaspoons)
1 Apple (Golden Delicious), peeled and diced
1 Cinnamon stick
Freshly squeezed lemon juice (as needed)

• Heat the sugar with the water until caramelized.
• Add the apple pieces and cook until they are soft and the caramel is dissolved again (it will harden at first but the juice from the apples will create a sauce with it)
• Steep a cinnamon stick in the mixture until desired intensity is achieved and finish with a bit of lemon juice.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 14 Comments »

When I tasted my first American Pancakes, I could not quite understand what all the fuss was about. But I have to admit that they were not necessarily a gourmet version. I ate them after being bread deprived for almost two weeks and was longing a German breakfast back home. So my first judgment must be taken with more than just a grain of salt.

From my perspective now I have to say that they grew on me. Not that I would want them for breakfast every day but once in a while they are a nice and satisfying treat.

This here is my version of American style pancakes, sweetened with honey in the batter, and walnut pieces added for flavor and crunch. They are my submission for HHDD #22, hosted by Suzana from Home Gourmets, the winner of our last round. More about HHDD can be found in Bron Marshall’s blog.

For American style pancaes one mixes wet and dry ingredients seperately and then adds them mixing them only until barely combined. To get the nice porous structure the batter should rest about 5 minutes before being cooked. This way the acid from the buttermilk can start the reaction of the baking soda and nice bubbles build up even before the batter hits the griddle.

Honey Walnut Pancakes

(Recipe yields about 20 pancakes with 10 cm (4 inches) diameter)

300 g all purpose flour (10.5 oz.)
5 g baking powder (about 1 tsp.)
3 g baking soda (about 0.5 tsp.)
4 g salt (about 0.5 tsp.)

60 g butter, melted (2 oz.)
45 g honey (1.5 oz.)
2 eggs
500 ml buttermilk (17.6 oz.)

150 g walnut pieces

• Sift together dry ingredients. Add walnut pieces (optional).
• Whisk wet ingredients (butter is melted).
• 5 minutes before cooking the batter stir the wet into the dry ingredients until the batter just comes together.
• Cook on slightly buttered griddle or pan.
• Serve immediately or rewarm later.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 24 Comments »

I had the honor to host this round of Hay Hay it’s Donna Day, a blogging event started by Barbara from Winos and Foodies and now organized by Bron Marshall. Hosting this was a terrific experience and I tremendously enjoyed reading all the posts. My husband is glad that there were some “non-coffee” Tiramisu versions since there will be a lot of Tiramisu in our house in the fall. I would have had a hard time voting among the mouthwatering entries - good that this was open to the participants only.

Every entry was gorgeous, yummy and fun to read in its own way. All of us loved and appreciated every single one of them, which so many of you confirmed. Now it is my pleasure to announce the winner of this round-up, determined by votes of the participants of HHDD #21 (round up here):

———-Insert drum roll———-

Suzana from Home Gourmets

A brilliant, winning entry - well deserved for the second time (almost) in a row. I am still mesmerized by just looking at the caramelized almonds in her version, mentally checking off ingredients I might have to get before the stores close. Following the fans this post has already won, this will be the first to be duplicated in my kitchen. Hmmmh.

Now I am eager to find out what the next round will be! Thank you all, hosting has been a truly great experience.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 7 Comments »

I am very sad to tell you that this year was not meant for New York strawberries (or at least in our part of New York). I was told that it might be due to a cooler than necessary spring. I was looking forward to baskets full of pick-your-own fare but the few times I went it was a struggle to find any whereas last year one just needed to bend down once for almost a pound (450 g), this year one had to search for an hour to gather that much little.

Raspberries on the other hand have been terrific this year. Granted, I did not pick them myself, they were not even all from New York, but the market had them for a long time now, the organic ones being less expensive than the regular ones at more than one occasion (who in their right mind would pay more for ones with pesticides? I don’t get that…).

So there I was, having a few (small) boxes of raspberries in the fridge. My husband had told me during a creative dry spell on my part that I should use my time to look through the seemingly endless amount of books that cover most surfaces of our house and just copy something for exercise. So I did.

The recipe below is from a book by Frédéric Bau, the executive pastry chef and director of l’École du Grand Chocolat Valrhona, France.

I made it smaller than his version and added cape gooseberries, candied lemon zest and lemon balm for decoration (he used pistachios and candied orange zest).

Raspberry Tartelette

Adapted from Au Coeur des Saveurs by Frédéric Bau

Sable Breton

8 egg yolks (160 g; 5.6 oz.)
320 g sugar (11.3 oz.)
320 g salted butter (I used unsalted plus 1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel) (11.3 oz.)
450 g flour (16 oz.)
30 g baking powder (1 oz.)

• Whip egg yolks and sugar.
• Add softened butter.
• Sift together flour and baking powder and add as well.
• Mix until flour is just incorporated.
• The dough will be very soft and needs chilling to be shaped or cut. I rolled it out immediately between baking mats, chilling it as necessary.
• Roll the dough to 5 mm thickness and chill until ready to bake.
• Cut out desired sizes (mine had 10 cm diameter) and place the discs in ungreased rings.
• Bake at 160-170°C (320-340°F) until just baked through in the center.

Raspberry Cream

180 g raspberry puree (6.3 oz.)
80 g sugar (2.8 oz.)
5 egg yolks
1.5 egg whites (75 g; 2.6 oz.)
3g gelatin leaves (1.5 leaves)
75 g butter (2.6 oz.)

• Bloom the gelatin in cold water.
• Put raspberry puree, sugar and egg yolks as well as egg whites in a sauce pot and heat , stirring constantly, until it comes to a gentle boil.
• Remove from heat and add the bloomed gelatin.
• When the mixture is cooled down to about 35-40°C (95-104°F) mix in the butter pieces with a blender.
• Try not to incorporate air if possible.
• Assemble the tartelettes right away or refrigerate until needed (keeps for a few days) and rewarm in a microwave.

Assembly

• After they are cooled, brush the tartelettes with melted white chocolate to insulate them.
• Spoon some of the liquid but not too warm cream on top.
• Add raspberries before the cream sets completely.
• Refrigerate until ready to serve.
• Garnish as desired (original version has pistachios and candied orange peel on it, I used lemon zest and cape gooseberries)

Frédéric Bau mentions the following in his book: “The contrasting textures of this tart promises delightful eating sensations. To enhance this pleasure, serve it cool, just out of the refrigerator.”

Whom am I to contradict this? Well, I felt that they were better just chilled a bit, before they had a chance to set completely. The cream and the berries were nice when cool, but the base was too overpowering when cool in my opinion - then again, mine were smaller so maybe the ratio dough to filling was off.

Fix for that? Make them, eat some right away, when just firm enough to be cut, and leave some in the fridge for later. Then compare and see what you like best. Maybe I am just too excited to wait?

This is my contribution for SHF Berries, created by Jennifer from The Domestic Goddess, and this time hosted by Susan from Food Blogga.

Filed under: Blogging event, Cakes, Dairy, Flour, Fruits, custard, tartelette | 24 Comments »