Dessert First

Return from Hong Kong: Family, Food, and a Really Good Tart

Hello dear readers, I'm back from Hong Kong! I apologize that this won't be as comprehensive a travelogue as some of my other reports: a host of family obligations kept me from playing tourist as much as I wanted to. Here are a couple of shots I managed to capture:

Cool blue entrance into Hong Kong while on the airport express

View from my parents' apartment- yup, that is the full moon up there!

They don't do anything by halves in HK - new Coach store going up

Bet you'll never see these in the US - even Mrs. Field's is making mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival!

Very exciting - I saw my book in a local bookstore! Field Guide to Cookies is international!

Honestly, though, I have to admit I don't have a ton of photos of sweets, because Hong Kong retail in general tends to frown on picture-taking. I think there is a fear of designs and ideas being stolen and copied, so even if you just want to document the cool-looking bakery display, you may be told by an employee that no photos are allowed. "Touristy" photographing of landmarks, scenery, etc, is acceptable, but I guess trying to get a close-up shot of a cake in the window means you're an industrial spy. I got to visit a handful of dessert places during my trip, but unfortunately not a lot of pictures as proof. My surreptitious-snapping skills weren't set on high this time:)

One place that didn't seem to have any qualms about my snapping away, and coincidentally one of my favorite finds, was Zoë, a chic, light-filled little cafe filled with perfectly presented pastries. The offerings are unbashedly European in flavor and styling: precisely layered chocolate mousse cakes, crisp, fruit-topped tartlets, velvety white cheesecakes. I went with a sweet friend I'd met through this blog, a HK resident and fellow dessert fanatic. When I expressed concern that she hadn't had time to eat lunch before meeting at Zoë, she reassured me, "I can eat dessert for lunch anyday." That's my kind of girl!

Between the two of us, we devoured four pastries with lychee tea - a very model of Hong Kong tea-time.

Clockwise from top left: Zoë's signature Zoë cake, a cute little square of hazelnut mousse on a crunchy cookie base; a slice of banana cream "pie", the 1459, Zoë's version of millefeuille, with satisfyingly flaky puff pastry layers sandwiching pasty cream, and cherry-chocolate mousse cake, which surprised me the most since most Hong Kongers I've met don't seem to be very fond of alcohol-soaked cherries.

Zoë is considered spendy by Hong Kong standards; each one of those lovelies cost about $4.50, which doesn't seem too bad to me, but I suppose I wouldn't be buying one every day (this would be out of concern for my waistline too!) They are also on the petite side - my mom complained that my dad would scarf one of these down in mere seconds (hmm, does he even do that with my pastries?:) ) The thing is, in Hong Kong, there is just so much to choose from - I've mentioned to many people that Hong Kongers are really spoiled for choice. I mean, look at this display from a Hong Kong Beard Papa store (a cream puff chain):

There's about twelve different choices in there - in all the SF Beard Papa stores I've been to, there's typically 3 varieties!! And you can't really make out the labels, but they've got varieties like strawberry cream, and mint chocolate, and chestnut, and even summer peach; "seasonal specials" are very big in Hong Kong, to draw customers back into stores. I love it when my mom comes to visit me in the US and she says things like, "Why do the bakeries have the same stuff as the last time I came? Don't they come up with anything new?" Well yes, but certainly not at the pace that Hong Kong does.

Bakeries are also so ubiquitous in Hong Kong and generally the quality ranges from acceptable to quite good. Maxim's and St-Honoré, two of the biggest bakery chains in Hong Kong, seem to have outposts at just about every subway stop and street, kind of like Starbucks. But imagine if Starbucks carried freshly baked breads and delicate, fancy-patisserie-like cakes, and they were only a couple dollars each? Makes it really easy to grab dessert on the way home from work - so posher places like Zoë do have to work a little harder to justify their higher prices.

In my opinion, Zoë is worth the price, and the visit. The quality was uniformly excellent, and the flavors understated but pure. Another interesting cultural note is that Hong Kong natives definitely prefer lighter desserts: I can't count how many times I was told, "American desserts are so heavy and so sweet! Can't you reduce the sugar?" From all the lovely baking blogs I know and visit, I can say that desserts definitely come in all forms and levels in the good old US (hurray!). But I guess I can see how stereotypes of our sweet preferences can be formed, especially if you look at mass advertising: foot-high wedges of chocolate cake covered in caramel goo, ice cream sundaes drowning in nuts and fudge, pies garnished with a tub's worth of whipped cream, cookies the size of a small child's head. I'd like to advise the good residents of Hong Kong to take a look at food blogs out there to see desserts the rest of us are really eating!

It is true, though, that Zoë's desserts are very light, although by no means lacking in flavor. The Zoe hazelnut mousse was positively cloudlike, very, very delicate, and very refreshing: no heaviness or gumminess at all, and very nice against a crisp chocolate base. Similarly for the cherry-chocolate cake, which looked like a version of black forest cake, but a pared-down, minimalist version - a perfectly edited bite. My favorite was the banana cream pie, which was a revelation. I have to admit I'm not a big banana fan (apologies to Tartelette, I realize she's made a similar confession not long ago!) and I always shied away from banana cream pie, because, well, it had bananas, and because it just seemed like a big pile of cream and goo.

Another amusing sidenote: my mom and I bought this cake at another bakery that was supposed to be this wonderfully light and ethereal sponge cake. Well, the sponge cake wasn't bad, but it was literally covered all around with about 3 inches of whipped cream - rather unusual excess in Hong Kong. I found my mom in our kitchen industriously scraping off all the cream from the cake before she would eat it:)

So I was curious to see how Hong Kong had adapted this very American dessert. It's actually more of a tart than a pie: you can see the neat edge of the tart shell in the photo, which definitely gives it a sophisticated French flair. Then, a layer of chocolate ganache on the bottom, followed by a very thin layer of bananas - I couldn't even tell on first bite if there were any banana slices, but there were. I was trying to figure why I could taste so much banana flavor, and I realized that the topping was also flavored with banana - quite clever! Instead of the typical pastry cream filling followed by whipped cream topping, I think they turned it into one banana-infused cream layer, which is much lighter and more to local tastes.

I certainly liked it; I preferred the way the bananas were integrated into the cream so I could taste it without having to deal with the thick texture of the fruit. I loved how it captured the essence of the dessert in a sleek and streamlined form.

So, Zoë, I promise I'll buy more banana cream tarts from you next time I visit, but while I'm stuck back here in the US, I'm just going to have to try and make my own version. I'm not sure it's an exact duplicate, but it has a wonderfully crumbly pate sablee crust spread with a dark chocolate ganache. On top, a sprinkling of banana slices, and then a wonderfully fragrant pastry cream laced with bananas, and lightened with whipped cream to delicate softness. I can also add it was such joy experimenting in a new big kitchen: the last weekend spent puttering about with tart crusts and pastry cream in my new place was a wonderful memory-making - and hopefully there'll be more to come.

freshly baked tart shells filled with ganache  - I know, I hardly ever do in-progress shots, but I had the luxury of all day to put these guys together, so why not!

Placing a layer of banana slices in the shells - you can place more depending on your banana preferences.

finale - a bite of bliss

Two last things before I go - I was asked to compile a list of my favorite dessert blogs for Blogs.com, and here it is - take a look and see what my choices are!

Also, I'm going to be at BlogHer Food 2009 this Saturday - I"m SO excited I got a chance to go. If you're going to be there, do let me know - I'd love to meet you!

Banana Cream Tarts

makes (6) 5" tarts

Banana Pastry Cream

1 cup milk

5 tablespoons sugar

3 large egg yolks

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 small banana, ripe (you can use from 1/2 to all of the banana, depending on size and how much banana flavor you want)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

 

Pate Sablee (adapted from Dorie Greenspan)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

9 tablespoons (4 1/2 ounces) very cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1 large egg yolk

 

Chocolate Ganache

4 ounces dark (62%-70%) chocolate, roughly chopped

1/2 cup heavy cream

 

2 bananas, ripe

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

 

For the banana pastry cream: Combine 3/4 cup milk and 3 tablespoons of sugar in a saucepan. Heat just until the milk starts to bubble at the edges.

Meanwhille, whisk the remaining sugar and the egg yolks together in a medium bowl. Whisk the cornstarch and remaining milk together in another bowl and add to the egg yolk mixture.

When the milk has started to bubble, pour it in a steady stream into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly to prevent the eggs from scrambling.

Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and return to the stove, cooking over medium heat and whisking constantly, until it thickens and comes to a boil. Stir in vanilla and remove from heat.

Let pastry cream cool while you cut up the banana. Puree with the lemon juice in a food processor until smooth.

Fold the banana puree into the pastry cream. You can now press a piece of plastic wrap to the surface of the cream and place in the refrigerator to chill.

For the tart shells: Combine flour, confectioner's sugar, and salt in bowl of a food processor and combine.

Add in cold butter and process until pea-sized lumps of dough form - do not overprocess into a ball of dough. It should be loose and crumbly.

Add in egg yolk and process until dough starts to come together. Turn the dough out of the bowl onto a work surface and lightly press together into a ball - if it's too loose, you can process a little more, but don't do too much - you want to work this dough as little as possible to have a light and crumbly texture.

Butter one 9-inch tart pan or six 5-inch tart pans - ones with removable bottoms work best. Carefully press the dough into the pans, working it over the bottom and up the sides. Again, try not to overwork the dough - press gently and work as quickly as possible.

Chill shells in freezer for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Usually recipes for these tart doughs involve lining the shells with pie weights. If you like doing this or have fears of burning your shells, go ahead. However, I've never had issues with just baking the shells as is - I check them halfway through and if the shells are puffing up too much I just press them down with a dough tamper or wooden spoon.

Bake shells for 15 minutes, then rotate and bake another 10-18 minutes until they are golden brown and fully baked.

Let cool on wire rack before filling.

For the ganache: Place chocolate in a medium bowl.

Heat cream in saucepan on stove over medium heat until the edges start to bubble.

Pour cream over chocolate and let stand for a minute. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine the two into a smooth mixture.

Spread a layer of ganache on the bottom of each tart shell and let cool and set. It doesn't have to set all the way, but it should be slightly firm to avoid mixing with the pastry cream.

Cut the bananas into thin slices, about 1/4" thick, and spread in a layer over the ganache.

Remove the pastry cream from the refrigerator and beat or stir with a spoon to loosen it up.

Whip the cream in a stand mixer until soft peaks form.

Fold the whipped cream gently into the pastry cream until fully incorporated.

Spread the banana pastry cream into the shells and smooth the surfaces with an offset spatula.

Chill in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes to set before serving. You can decorate the top with chocolate curls if you like.

 

Roasted Pluot Phyllo Tarts and a Farewell to My Kitchen

Want to know what the highlight of my last week was? Here's a clue:

 

Yes, that's me standing next to my brand-new stove in my brand-new place. Excuse the ridiculous glare from the flash of the little handheld camera we brought to document any issues in the home walkthrough (fortunately, none). Needless to say, I'm very very excited by my new kitchen and all the shiny new appliances just waiting to be used. I'm really hoping I don't make the oven explode or burn down the place during the inaugural session! When all my baking equipment is moved in and the place is all prettified, I'm sure you'll be seeing some more pictures of space in all its glory!

Before this new chapter can begin, though, we've still packing up everything for the big move this weekend. I'm starting to feel little flutters of nostalgia for our old apartment already - it's hard to give up living right in the heart of San Francisco, where you're but footsteps away from anything and everything. I might even miss all the acrobatic maneuvering I did to bake in the kitchen, juggling sheet pans and bowls on every flat surface possible - well I'm going to miss it in the way you miss something you know you'll never have to deal with again:)

This little tart might be one of the last things I'll ever bake in this kitchen; maybe next-to-last, if I'm able to squeeze in some baking time this week. In keeping with the theme of cleaning out the cupboards and uncovering ingredients begging to be used, I pulled out a package of phyllo dough from the freezer. This apple phyllo napoleon of Emily Luchetti's is still one of my favorite recipes, and I've always tried to keep some phyllo dough on hand for whenever the urge for its fabulous flaky lightness struck. This time, inspiration came from an old issue of delicious. magazine: Roasted Pluot Tarts with Almond Sugar Phyllo.

This recipe turns the phyllo sheets into a beautiful bloom of a tart shell: brushed with butter and sprinkled with ground almonds and sugar, the phyllo bakes into a wonderfully flaky and delicate bowl, perfect for filling with a lemon mascarpone mixture, and topped with pieces of roasted pluot. You can pretty much use any of the stone fruits that are in abundance at the market now - peaches, nectarines, plums. I happened to pick these pluots because they were the most brilliant, luscious ruby hue, and they were fantastically, sublimely sweet. 

Forming the phyllo cups is simply a matter of draping/lightly pressing the dough into some regular tart tins - you aren't trying to mold it to the tin, just propping up the dough so that it bakes into a bowl shape. I found that tins with removable bottoms will let you push out the baked shells easily without breaking them. The filling, a mixture of mascarpone, whipped cream, and lemon zest, manages to taste rich and creamy yet feel ethereally light in the mouth. It also provide the perfect pillow for the slices of pluots, sprinkled with sugar and roasted in the oven. Altogether a delicious frame for some of my favorite summer fruits. And you don't even need to roll out any tart dough! I polished this tart off pretty quick, with only a couple of crispy shards left on the plate.

So I've been packing up the kitchen while typing up this post, and now almost all my kitchen gear has been packed away - gasp! It's weird to see my shelves lonely and bereft of the pans and plates stacked precariously on them, and I'm having funny panicky pre-withdrawal symptoms, wondering what I'll do in the remaining days before I can unpack in the new place. Wish me luck with the rest of the move - if all goes well I'll be my new home next week!

Roasted Pluot Phyllo Tarts

Pluots

4 pluots, plums, peaches, or nectarines

1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup sugar

Phyllo

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/4 cup sugar

4 sheets phyllo, defrosted (I used Athens brand from the store - follow instructions on box)

3 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted

Lemon Mascarpone Filling

10 1/2 ounces (1 1/4 cups) heavy cream

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

8 1/2 ounces (1 cup) mascarpone cheese

zest from 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease four 4-5 inch round tart tins - ones with removable bottoms work best.

Finely grind the almonds and sugar in a food processor.

You will need a fairly large surface to work with the phyllo. Stack the phyllo sheets and cut into four even sheets. Trim each stack into 5 inch squares.  Take a single sheet of phyllo and lay it flat on the work surface. Keep the sheets you are not using to the side under plastic wrap and damp towel.

Brush the phyllo with some of the melted butter and press it, buttered-side down, into a tart tins. Lightly brush some butter over the top, then sprinkle with some of the almond sugar.

Butter a second sheet of phyllo and place on top of the first sheet at a slight angle to form a star shape. Brush butter over the top and sprinkle with some of the almond sugar.

Do the same with the other two sheets of phyllo.

Repeat this with the remaining phyllo and tart tins.

Place tins on a baking sheet and chill for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, wash and slice the pluots into 1/4" thick slices. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the pluot slices out on it.

Dot the tops of the pluot slices with butter and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes until the pluots are soft and the edges slightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool while you make the filling. Reduce oven temperature to 350 derees F.

Whip the cream in a stand mixer until it forms soft peaks. Add in the confectioner's sugar and whip to combine.

Beat the mascarpone cheese in a medium bowl until softened. Fold in the whipped cream until well combined. Add in the lemon zest and fold in.

Place tart tins in oven and bake about 10 minutes or until they have turned golden brown and crispy. Remove and let cool on wire racks before removing tart shells from tins.

Place tart shells on plates. Spoon in some of the mascarpone filling and top with pluots. Serve immediately.

Key Lime Meringue Tarts

You know what I just realized? I don't think I've ever done a post on pie crust! Not that I have anything against pies - one of my most vivid memories of childhood summers was my mom bringing home fresh strawberry pies from the local bakery - but I'm afraid the French pastry-centric schooling I got, as well as my personal obsession with pâte sucrée and tart crust, has led to pies getting less attention than they deserve in my kitchen.

It seems like I'll need to rectify this omission in the future - sorry to say, it won't be in this post. I'm sure you can tell from looking at the photo that this is another tart post - but it's a really delicious tart post, I assure you!

These little tartlets are my take on another treasured pastry memory - Miette's key lime meringue tart. Miette is a fixture of the San Francisco pastry scene; their retro-chic, French-inspired confections have been the sweet ending to many a soiree, and, of course, I love their pastel color scheme!

Although Miette is famed for their princess cakes and French macarons, one of my favorite discoveries from their shop is their key lime meringue tart, a sophisticated version on key lime pie (I guess they are tart-over-pie fans, as well?)

I've made traditional key lime pie before, with the crumbled graham cracker crust, and the filling of eggs, condensed milk, and key lime juice. Miette's take features a lime cream, which seems like a lime curd to me, in a crisp graham cracker tart crust, topped with a dollop of meringue frosting.

What I really liked was how cleanly and intensely all the elements played off each other, each bite of the super-tart key lime filling mellowed with the sugary, pillowy meringue, the not-too-sweet base grounding all it with a touch of spice.

I was finally inspired to come up with my own home version, which I'm happy to say has become a favorite of the boyfriend - and, I'm pretty sure, anyone who enjoys tangy, zesty desserts. The lime curd is basically a modified version of my favorite lemon curd recipe, and is spoon-licking good all on its own. The brown sugar, honey, and cinnamon crust is very similar to making graham crackers - in fact, if you just roll out the dough and cut it into rectangles, it will bake into wonderful crackers, ready for S'mores or anything else. The topping is made similar to many 7-minute frostings and results in a nice, marshmallowy mass that pipes into beautiful little dollops; with a little bit of browning from the kitchen torch, you've got yourself some nicely topped tartlets!

As a final note, I think another reason I like these little guys so much is that they're a perfect fusion of European and American - while the pastry techniques may be French, the flavors are definitely American, giving this dessert a very fresh and modern feel. Enjoy!

 

Graham Cracker Tart Shells

makes about 16 3-in square tart shells

1 cup butter, room temperature

1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup honey

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cream the butter in an electric mixer until smooth.  Add the sugars and continue mixing until the mixture is fluffy and light colored, about 3 minutes.

Add the honey and beat until combined.

Combine the flours, salt, and cinnamon together in a bowl, and add to the butter mixture in two batches, scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions.

Mix until the dough is well combined. Wrap the dough in plastic and form into a disk - the flatter the better. Chill until firm, at least an hour.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough to be 1/8 inch thick. Cut out squares of dough to fit your desired tins.

Press the dough gently into the tins, prick dough with a fork all over, and let chill for 5-10 minutes or until the dough is firm enough to trim off the excess easily.

Bake tart shells until golden brown, about 18 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. You can store them in an airtight container for about a day or freeze them for up to 3 months.

Key Lime Curd

adapted from Pierre Hermé's Desserts

makes about 1 1/2 to 2 cups

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup key lime juice

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch pieces, softened but not melting

Create a water bath by placing a saucepan of water over heat to simmer.

Whisk together the sugar and eggs in a metal bowl. Whisk in the key lime juice.

Place the bowl over the saucepan of simmering water, making sure the bottom does not touch the water. Cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until the curd reaches 180 degrees and thickens. Keep whisking while the mixture is heating up to prevent the eggs from cooking.

Take the curd off the heat and strain it into the bowl of a food processor or blender. Let the curd rest for a bit until it cools to about 140 degrees.

Add in the butter pieces a few at the time and combine on high speed. Once all of the butter has been added, let the mixture combine for a few minutes longer to ensure the mixture is perfectly smooth.

Pour curd into a container and let it chill in the refrigerator for about half an hour before assembly.

Swiss Meringue Frosting

1 cup sugar
4 egg whites
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine the sugar and egg whites in a medium metal bowl and place over a pan of simmering water.

Whisk the sugar mixture constantly over heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture looks smooth and shiny, about 3 minutes.

Remove mixture from heat and pour into a stand mixer bowl. Whisk on medium speed for about 5 minutes until the mixture has cooled.

Beat on high speed until stiff glossy peaks form, about another 5 to 10 minutes. Add vanilla and beat to combine.

You can now scrape the frosting into a piping bag to pipe, or simply dollop onto cupcakes. Use a brulee torch to brown the meringue.

Tweaking an Old Favorite: Meyer Lemon and Chocolate Tart

Whenever Meyer lemons come into season, I always get an irrepressible desire to make lemon tarts. They've always been one of my favorite things to make, and their sunny yellow hue is perfect reflection of the increasingly light-filled days. (We even had a mini-heat wave in San Francisco this weekend, with everyone scrambling to pull sundresses and shorts out from the depths of the closet. Seeing as San Francisco has approximately 2 weeks a year where it's actually hot enough to wear shorts, no one wants to waste those precious days!)

My favorite version of lemon tart is based on the first one I ever made out of Pierre Herme's Desserts by Pierre Herme . It's hard to improve on Pierre Herme's genius: a crisp, buttery pâte sucrée tart shell, filled with the most unctuous of lemon curds. Amazing how two such basic pastry fundamentals could combine into something so elementally good; proof that you don't need complicated techniques or multitudes of elements to make something really delicious.

So I felt the same compulsion this year to break out the tart rings when I saw the little nuggets of sunshine popping up at market; this time, though, I also got the urge to change things up a little bit. Gild the lily just a little and dress up the tart for after dinner.

The perfect accoutrement turned out to be a layer of bittersweet chocolate ganache, spread in a thin layer on the bottom of the shell, before the lemon curd is spooned in. At first I tried just a layer of melted chocolate, but when it hardened it was a little difficult to cut through and compromised the wonderful delicate crispness of the tart shell. A velvety, supple ganache provided just the right dark undertones to the cheery bite of the lemon. And since Meyer lemons are a bit sweeter than regular lemons, the chocolate helps ground and highlight the curd - the sunset in wait at the end of every sunny day, perhaps.

If you don't have Meyer lemons, regular ones will work just as well. While the tart should be chilled, I find it tastes best when you take it out about 20-30 minutes before serving - it lets the curd soften up slightly and regain and its wonderful addictive, creamy texture. It may be hard to wait that long, but believe me, it's worth it.

Hope your days are turning sunnier and warmer!

Pâte Sucrée

makes about 8 tartlets

1 1/4 sticks (5 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup confectioner's sugar, sifted

1/4 cup almond meal or ground almonds

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg, room temperature

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

Lemon Cream

adapted from Pierre Hermé's Desserts

makes about 1 1/2 to 2 cups

1/2 cup sugar

zest from 2 lemons

2 eggs

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

5 ounces unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch pieces, softened but not melting

Chocolate Ganache

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate

1/2 cup heavy cream

For the pâte sucrée tart shells: Place the butter in a food processor and process until soft and creamy.

Add the confectioners' sugar and process until well blended and smooth.

Add in the almond meal, salt, and vanilla extract and process until well blended.

Add in the egg and egg yolk and process until just blended; scrape the bowl down as necessary.

Add the flour and pulse just until the dough starts to come together into a ball; don't overprocess. The dough will be very soft like cookie dough.

Scrape the dough out of the food processor and make into a ball. Flatten out into a disk, wrap in plastic, and chill in refrigerator for at least 4 hours until it is firm enough to handle.

When you are ready to bake off the tart shells, take the dough out of the refrigerator - let it warm up a bit if necessary but not too much because it will start melting fast.

Roll out the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap to 1/8" thickness. If the dough gets too soft, place back in the refrigerator to firm up.

Place the tart rings you will use on a baking sheet lined with a Silpat or parchment paper.

Cut out circles of dough to fit into desired tart rings. Press the dough carefully into the tart rings and up the sides, being careful not to stretch the dough or it will shrink when baked. Place the rings into the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes. Trim off the excess dough from the top of the rings.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F while chilling the tart shells. When you are ready, line the shells with parchment and fill with beans or rice to keep the shells weighed down.

Bake shells for about 15-18  minutes until they are lightly colored and the shell feels dry to the touch. Remove from the oven and place on a rack. Remove the beans and parchment and brush the bottoms of the shells with a light egg wash (made from an egg white and a bit of water). Let cool before filling.

For the lemon cream: Create a water bath by placing a saucepan of water over heat to simmer and placing a metal bowl unto the pan so its bottom does not touch the water. Combine the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingers and add to the metal bowl. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice.

Cook the mixture over the simmering water, whisking constantly, until the cream reaches 180 degrees and thickens. Keep whisking while the mixture is heating up to prevent the eggs from cooking.

Once the cream is thickened - you should be able to make tracks in the mixture with your whisk - take the cream off the heat and strain it into the bowl of a food processor or blender. Let the cream rest for a bit until it cools to about 140 degrees.

Add in the butter pieces a few at the time and combine on high speed. Once all of the butter has been added, let the mixture combine for a few minutes longer to ensure the mixture is perfectly smooth. It is the addition of butter that changes this recipe from a simple lemon curd to a rich, satiny-smooth cream.

Once the cream is finished pour it into a container and let it chill in the refrigerator for about half an hour before assembly.

To finish the tarts: Place chocolate in a bowl.

Bring cream to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat.

Pour cream over chocolate let sit for about a minute. Stir with a wooden spoon to melt and combine chocolate with cream into a smooth ganache.

Spoon some ganache into the bottom of the tart shells and spread into a thin layer. Let set for about 10 minutes to firm up.

Spoon some lemon cream into the tart shells, filling all the way to the top. Shake the tarts lightly to smooth out the cream out. Chill tarts in the refrigerator for about an hour before serving.

The Art and Soul of Baking: An Interview with Cindy Mushet

Edited 12:40 PM: Joy of joys!! I actually discovered the CIndy has already posted the recipe for the Warm Cranberry Crumble Tart on her own blog, here. Hope some of you have a chance to make it for the holidays! Check out the rest of her blog, as well - it's great!

 

Ok, before I move on to the topic proper of this post, thank you ALL for the lovely comments you left on the last post! I really loved reading about everyone's favorite cookies, and I think I have enough cookie suggestions for a sequel to the cookie book;) Thanks also for the wonderful well-wishes; it almost felt like all of you were at my book release party helping celebrate with me! I loved it!

And now for the announcement of the lucky winner of a copy of Field Guide to Cookies. I used a random number generator so it was as random as could possibly be, and the winner is...Darla! I'm afraid I don't have a last name, but I think there was only one Darla in the comments, and I'm e-mailing her, so congratulations, Darla! I hope you enjoy the book!

For the rest of you, be sure to go all the way to the end of this post (well, actually, I'd love if you had time to read the whole post too:) ) for another exciting book giveaway!

Without further ado, onto my interview with Cindy Mushet!

It probably will not surprise anyone that Sur la Table is one of my most oft-visited stores; their selection of kitchen equipment is satisfying wide-ranging and high quality, and I've rarely gone there without finding what I need - or several other somethings that suddenly have also become quite necessary. The manager of my local Sur la Table and I are on a quite friendly basis now.

Recently, Sur la Table has ventured into the realm of cookbook publishing, a natural progression for a company dedicated to educating and outfitting cooks with tools and toys for the kitchen. Their Things Cooks Love and Knives Cooks Love have been well-received as much-needed resources for home cooks. Sur la Table turned their attention next to the arena of baking, and have come out with The Art and Soul of Baking, an encyclopedic encapsulation of, well, the art of soul of baking.

I was lucky enough to be contacted a couple weeks ago and told that Cindy Mushet, the author, would be in town promoting the book, and would I like to interview her. I eagerly accepted, and received in the mail the next day an astonishingly weighty, satisfyingly handsome book that promised to contain all the answers to any pastry question one might have between its covers.

Cindy Mushet is a charming, enthusiastic woman who clearly loves pastry, and loves to talk about it. She is currently an instructor at the Le Cordon Bleu California School of Culinary Arts in Los Angeles, and it's clear from both talking to her in person and going through her book, that she is very accomplished at imparting what she knows about baking.

I was beyond thrilled to learned that Cindy had begun her own culinary education at none other than Tante Marie's Cooking School - hey, if my endorsement of that school isn't enough for you, take it from Cindy! After finishing the culinary program, she worked at Chez Panisse, and was part of the Baker's Dozen, the renowned Bay Area baking group founded by Marion Cunningham and including such baking luminaries as Alice Medrich, Peter Reinhardt, Flo Baker, David Leibovitz, and Lindsay Shere, among others. What an amazing time that must have been in American baking, and Cindy spoke of those days with obvious fondness.

She eventually made her way down to Southern California, and found a new home at the Le Cordon Bleu California School of Culinary Arts, where she helps decipher the mysteries of pastry to eager new students. Since most of you know my opinions about pastry school, I asked her about her thoughts, and her response was gratifyingly similar to mine: she really believes that prospective students should get as much practical experience as possible, to get a realistic view of what a culinary career entails. Like me, she said she was often surprised at the students who would come to class with goals that did not seem to be in line with what they would learn, or be doing after graduation.

However, she still strongly endorsed the value of going to culinary school, for those who were serious about a career in food. Although real world experience is important, she also emphasized that there were many things taught in a formal classroom that one might never learn just by working in a kitchen; a teacher's guidance that might help elevate you to the next level.

Cindy, like all the best pastry chefs, I suspect, is a strong believer in understanding the science behind baking, and that's what she tries to teach her students. She really wants them to understand why recipes work the way they do, what role each ingredient plays, and how different techniques work. I talked with her about the frustration and fear of writing recipes and having turn out poorly for other people; she believes that many times recipes don't work is because the person didn't fully understand what was going on, and did something wrong or different and didn't even realize it. Also, an experienced baker will understand there are many variables that can affect a recipe: humidity, temperature, ingredient freshness, oven size, etc. A baker that is aware of these variables might be able to compensate for them if it's a rainy day or the pan isn't the right size, but a less experienced baker might not know the difference and then wonder why the recipe didn't turn out as expected even though the recipe was followed seemingly perfectly. What Cindy does as a teacher is to make her students aware of all these things, so they are more aware as bakers and have more understanding and control over how their baked goods turn out.

Now, doesn't she sound like the perfect person to write a how-to baking book? When I asked Cindy how this book project came about, she said that Sur la Table approached her and asked if she would be interested in writing a comprehensive guide to pastry. Although she was not sure what she could add to the long list of baking resources already available to both home bakers and professionals, she decided she wanted to do it. I'm glad she did - despite her modesty, Cindy has a lot of very valuable knowledge to share with all baking enthusiasts.

The scope of the book is most impressive: it really does cover just about everything in the bakers' repertoire, from cookies to cakes to breads to laminated doughs. Every section begins with a short primer on the category, going over basic concepts and techniques; these introductions are great references. The introductions are followed by recipes ranging from simple must-knows for every baker, like tart crust and chocolate cake, to more creative ones to inspire you once you've mastered the basics.

Looking through the book, I have to say I'm quite jealous of Cindy's book-writing experience! Apparently she was given a good amount of time to write and test recipes, and pretty much had free rein to write whatever she wanted! I'm sure a great deal of that was due to the fact that the editors recognized her talent and knew to stay out of the way, and I'm thrilled that they respected her skill and wanted a quality product enough to give her the time and freedom to do her job well.

Even if you already have "how-to" baking books, I'd highly recommend this book. It's beautifully and clearly written, thoughtfully laid out, and just very well produced. There's a wealth of information to be found in the beginnings of the chapters, in the headnotes for the recipes, and in the recipes themselves. Cindy includes "What the Pros Know" sidebars to helpfully emphasize little tips and tricks to make your baking better, like how to fold egg whites in batter without deflating them or how to improvise flavor variations for a recipe. Also, for all you who prefer to measure by weight, all the recipes include measurements in ounces! This is probably one of the biggest selling points for me, and made me totally fall in love with Cindy. Anyone who's done any sort of professional baking knows that measuring by volume (cups and spoons) can so maddeningly imprecise, yet for some reason cookbooks continue to have only volume measurements. It used to be near impossible to find a cookbook for home cooks with weight measurements, but I think some authors are starting to have success, including Cindy, and that makes me really happy. Once you switch to a scale, there's no going back!

I also was very impressed with the range of recipes in the book: Cindy mentioned that even though the book was supposed to cover the basics of baking, she didn't want to only include basic recipes, which might be limiting for some people. So she fought to also include some more difficult and interesting recipes so the book would appeal to bakers of all abilities. Some that really jumped out at me were: Raspberry Souffles with Hidden Chocolate Truffles (cover photo), Rustic Olive and Thyme Bread, Coffee-Cardamon Pots de Creme, and Warm Cranberry Crumble Tart, which is what I made for this post.

When I asked Cindy about her experience teaching students, she said that the two things people always wanted to know was 1)how to make flaky pie dough, and 2) how to temper chocolate. I decided that I'd have to try her pie dough recipe after hearing this, and it's a real winner. Just flour, butter, a tiny bit of sugar, salt, and water, and following her directions it becomes the flakiest, golden, perfectly-shattering-in-your-mouth crust. Filled with cranberries and topped with a sugary streusel topping, it is a simple but dramatic-looking dessert perfect for Thanksgiving! My boyfriend gobbled up the first batch of small tartlets I made; I baked a second larger one for my office party today and it vanished in minutes!

I could wax on and on about Cindy's book since there's so many great things to say about it, but I think they best thing I can say it to go find it at your local bookstore. Or, you can win yourself a copy! Yes, I'm going contest crazy and holding another giveaway! I have one copy of The Art and Soul of Baking to give away to a lucky person. Again, to enter, simply leave a comment to this post, and tell me the one pastry item you'd really like to make or master  - your holy grail of pastry, if you will.

Thank you, Cindy, for a wonderful chat! She is a truly lovely person and if you are lucky enough be around Los Angeles and Le Cordon Bleu, perhaps you'll be able to take a class from her. Or get a copy of The Art and Soul of Baking: it's like a pastry course in a book, the next best thing to going to pastry school!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend with your loved ones, and get ready for the holidays and all the deliciousness it will entail!

 P.S. It's really late and I need to get some shut-eye - I'll post up the recipe for the cranberry crumble tart tomorrow, if there's interest! Thanks!

Ready for Another Chocolate Adventure?

Thank you to all of you for your well-wishes - they definitely buoyed my spirits over a weekend of sneezing, sniffling, and coughing - let's just say you probably didn't want me anywhere near where your food was being prepared! However, I'm happy to say I am 100% recovered, all tissues and cough drops have been returned to their proper places, and I'm itching to be back in the kitchen!

I have a backlog of posts I'm eager to get up, and the first one is a recap of a very fun event I went to a few weeks ago. Remember the Chocolate Adventure contest from last year? It's back for a second round: entrants are invited to create an original recipe using Scharffen Berger chocolate and one or more of 16 adventure ingredients, from more obvious items like cocoa nibs and matcha tea to true challenges like mustard seeds, jicama, and coriander. This year, the adventure theme is being extended even further: there are three categories: Sweet, Savory, and Beverage. Each category will have a grand prize winner who will get $5,000, signed copies of Essence of Chocolate, Pure Dessert, and Demolition Desserts (I'll add that I can vouch for the excellence of all three books and their necessity on your bookshelf!), plus the honor of having their recipe published on TuttiFoodie and the Scharffen Berger newsletter.

All the official rules are here: you are allowed up to 10 entries, so get your chef's hats on and your tastebuds primed. The contest started on October 1 and runs until January 4th, 2009, so you have plenty of time to come up with the most innovative, adventurous chocolate recipe ever!

To kick off the excitement and get us thinking about unusual flavor combinations with chocolate, sponsors Schaffen Berger Chocolate Maker and TuttiFoodie, along with food diva extraordinaire Marcia of Tablehopper, threw a little party at Orson, Elizabeth Falkner's newest restaurant.

I'm a big fan of Elizabeth Falkner, and I thought the choice of her as a kind of patron saint for a contest celebrating culinary creativity was inspired genius. Falkner is a chef who works fearlessly with sweet and savory ingredients, who plays with flavor and texture in the most whimsical, avant-garde of ways, yet never forgets that food should be foremost delicious and satisfying. Her first restaurant, Citizen Cake, showed she was so much more than just a pastry chef working with sugar and butter, and Orson is just the next extension in her culinary explorations.

The restaurant looks like a cross between a modern art museum and a sleek, ultracool lounge. The center is wide open and dominated by a dramatic hanging sculpture over a bar, perfect for after-work libations.

Here's a better perspective of the space. We are about to have John Scharffenberger lead us through a blind chocolate tasting - if you look closely, you can spot the little eye masks at each person's seat. Scharffen Berger has just released a special edition 10th Anniversary bar called Finisterra, made of a blend of beans from Venezuela, Trinidad, and Madagascar. What Scharffenberger did was have us taste each of the three component chocolates individually, to see how they differed in taste, mouthfeel, and finish, and then taste the finished bar, explaining how they combined the three and how they worked with each to create an entirely new flavor, but with identifiable notes from its parts. It was really eye-opening - pardon the bad pun - how not being able to see definitely forced you to concentrate and focus on the flavors of the chocolate in a different way. Plus, there is something just a little naughty about having someone feed you chocolate while you're blindfolded...

I realize I took no photos of Elizabeth Falkner! Well, here's one if you don't know what she looks like. She was busy running back and forth from the kitchen, bringing out an amazing array of courses, all using chocolate and some of the adventure ingredients in some surprising arrangement. All I can say is,  thank your lucky stars that Falkner is not competing in this contest! She is, however, one of the judges, so know that this is one chef who is very well versed in exotic experimentation!

We started off with a rum-based cocktail laced with kaffir lime and chocolate shavings, moved on to potato rounds topped with cocoa nibs and romanesco, and then chicarrones (fried pork skins) dipped in a bittersweet chocolate sauce. By the way, the chicarrones are a staple on her bar menu, but served with barbecue sauce. Give me a bucket of those chicarrones and some chocolate sauce to dip it in, and I will happily die from a heart attack.

For the main courses, we started with a salad of mango, avocado, and cherry tomatoes with chocolate shavings and a violet vinaigrette, and then were served roast pork in a chocolate mole sauce spiced with chili and ginger. Sorry I have no photos of all these - it's not that I pigged out and ate them all before snapping shots, it's just the quality didn't come out very well!

Here are two shots that did come out decently - this one is a quenelle of Parmesan pudding along with some red peppers, and cocoa nibs mixed with unflavored Pop Rocks - yes, pop rocks are one of the adventure ingredients.  Creamy and rich without being overpowering, and the pop rocks added an interesting sensation contrast to the pudding.

 

This was the one "real" dessert - imagine that we've had about 8 dishes, all using chocolate in some way, and only one was a sweet item! This was, of course, one of my favorites - chocolate and black olive ice cream sandwiched between thin cookies made of chocolate, cocoa nibs, and espresso. I'm not a fan of olives, but this was really something special - the bitter saltiness of the olives played wonderfully off the chocolate, making it sweeter and more complex at once. It's one of those dishes that makes you happy you've opened your mind to possibilities heretofore unconsidered.

All of us lucky enough to be at Orson certainly came away with a new appreciation for the versatility of chocolate as an ingredient. I've seen plenty of amazing creativity out there in the blogosphere as well, so I'm sure all of you who enter will be dreaming up some astonishing dishes!

I'm being a little less creative for this post, but after eating at Elizabeth Falkner's restaurant I couldn't help making one of her recipes from Demolition Desserts. This one, called A Chocolate Tart Named Desire, is a sweet, sassy ode to the South - essentially a warm chocolate cake batter baked in a buttery tart shell lined with a layer of rich caramel. Decorate with some pecan praline and some mint-and-bourbon-laced cream, and you have yourself a beautiful, balmy evening on the front porch - or a cozy evening inside, if fall's already settled in firmly where you are.

The dessert is multi-part, like most of Falkner's desserts, but it's worth the work - the chocolate tart is nicely rich and smooth, and I like how the tart crust "corrals" the cake batter so it doesn't run everywhere. The caramel sauce and pecan praline just up the decadence factor - there's something about pecans and brown sugar and butter that makes it really hard to stop eating them. Finally, a little bit of mint, just to cut through all the richness and add a sprightly top note.

It's good to be back, everyone - best of luck if you're entering the Chocolate Adventure contest, and also come back next week - I'm the next Sugar High Friday host and I'm just about ready to announce the theme!

Other Recipes to Try

Tiramisushi

Rosebud Creme Brulee

Warm Chocolate Caramel Tart

adapted from Elizabeth Falkner's Demolition Desserts

makes about (8)  3 1/2 in tarts

Crust

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 teaspoons (2 ounces) sugar

1 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons (8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened,cut into small pieces

1 large egg yolk

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons heavy cream

Caramel Sauce

1/4 cup water

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 cup (7 ounces) sugar

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces

4 tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter

3 large eggs, separated

pinch of salt

6 tablespoons (2 1/2 ounces) sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

To make the crust: Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix a few times with the paddle attachment just to combine.

Add in the butter and mix on low speed until it just starts to come together - there should still be visible pieces of butter and it should not be a smooth, homogeneous mass.

Add in the egg yolk and cream and mix until the dough just forms into one mass.

Turn out dough onto a piece of plastic wrap. form into a flat slab, and wrap well. Chill for at least one hour to let the dough firm up.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, and place eight 3 1/2 tart rings on it.

Take out the dough, cut in half, and return rest to the refrigerator for another time. Roll out the dough to about 3/16" thick. Using the tart rings as a guide, cut out rounds of dough and press into the tart rings, forming it to the bottom and sides. Trim the dough off the top so it is even with the tart rings.

Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, rotating halfway. If the dough starts to puff up, push it back down with a dough tamper.

Remove from oven and let cool while you make the caramel sauce and filling.

To make the caramel sauce: Combine the water, cream of tartar, sugar, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan.

Bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until it reaches 350 degrees and has turned dark amber. Be careful not to let it burn.

While the sugar is cooking, you can heat the cream up in the microwave or on the stove until it is warm but not boiling -it will prevent it from causing the hot caramel to seize up when you add it.

Add the butter to the caramel and stir to combine.

Pour in the cream, being careful as it will bubble out. Some of the caramel may seize up, but just place back over the heat and stir until it's melted again.

When it is all combined and smooth, remove from, stir in the salt and vanilla, and let cool before using.

To make the filling: Combine the chocolate and butter in a metal bowl and melt over a pan of simmering water. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a clean mixer bowl, whip the egg whites with 3 tablespoons of the sugar and the salt until soft peaks form. Set aside. 

In a clean bowl, whisk the egg yolk and remaining sugar together until combined and thick. Slowly pour in few spoonfuls of the warm chocolate mixture and whisk to combine until smooth. Pour in a few more spoonfuls and repeat. You want to do it slowly because if you pour it all in at once the chocolate could seize up.

Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture gently with a spatula. Sift the flour into the bowl and fold into the chocolate mixture as well.

You can use the filling right away or refrigerate for up to 3 hours.

To finish the tarts: Spoon 1 tablespoon of the caramel sauce into the bottom of the tart shells. Spoon the filling on top of the caramel sauce, covering it completely and filling the tart shell all the way to the rim.

Bake the tarts for 10 minutes. The filling should puff up and still look slightly shiny. Serve immediately.

Plum Perfect: Galette, Two Ways

Edited 9/19/08: Go right below the last photo to see the text I added about Robert Steinberg, co-founder of Scharffen Berger Chocolates.

I'm no fashionista by any means - you'll sooner find me in Sur La Table than in Saks, and when in bookstores I go for the cooking magazines over the fashion glossies. However, it has not escaped even my offhand attention that purple seems to be quite the popular shade for fall - in every store window I pass by there seem to be clothes in hues of mauve, eggplant, violet, and plum.

Well, my wardrobe may not be on-trend for fall, but my kitchen is: I've been hoarding plums of every variety that I can find at the market. Their dramatic, jewel-toned skins give them star presence on my table: every day they remind me that I ought to use them properly, in a way befitting their gorgeous succulence.

I'd been wanting to make a galette, and what better showcase for delicately thin slices of plum, fanned out in a golden, ruby-edged sunburst?

Interestingly, galette can mean many things in France, depending on the region. It can be a flaky, sablé-style butter cookie. It can be a crêpe, especially a savory one. It can be a round, pastry-like cake - King's Cake is known as galette des rois, and I made it in pastry school - what a time-consuming task that was! But galette can also mean a freeform, open-faced tart, and that also seems to be the most popular incarnation of the term over here in the states. To me, the casual, almost deceptive rusticity of a galette is what makes it so charming: it simultaneously embodies the spontaneity of making use of what's fresh at the moment, and it's also a really tasty way to enjoy some really delectable fruit.

I kept the galette as simple as possible: my favorite blitz puff for a light, flaky, buttery crust, spread with a little frangipane to add some nutty dimension, and a topping of plum slices - nothing else required. 

However, just as in fashion you choose the styles that appeal to you (or least pick the ones that suit you best so you don't end up a fashion victim!), so I've made two variations of the galette, so you can select which one catches your fancy.

Modern Classic: This is traditional, tried-and-true, and never out of style: buttery puff pastry, almond frangipane laced with vanilla bean and cinnamon, and sweet, juicy plums on top. Notice the puff pastry got so puffy it nearly unfolded itself!

Edgy Sophisticate: This number adds a few unexpected twists for a different sensibility. The puff pastry has cocoa powder added for a bittersweet chocolate richness, and the frangipane is flavored with star anise. Combined with the plums, this makes for a decadent and no less delicious experience.

I found both of them worked quite well with the fruit without overpowering it. Flaky, delicate, fruity, sweet, rich - everything I was looking for. And it was so simple to put together, it's easy to experiment with other additions and combinations. I hope you try your own combinations of flavors with this galette. Who knows, you may find your signature style!

Added 9/19/08: When I took the photo above a day ago, I had not heard the news yet that Robert Steinberg had passed away on Wednesday. A sad coincidence that I used his chocolate in my latest photo, but I hope to turn it into a belated tribute to him.

When Robert Steinberg and John Scharffenberger joined together to form Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker, Inc. in 1996, they were at the forefront of the American artisan chocolate revolution. As their chocolate bars made their way into stores across the country, Americans learned about where cacao comes from, how it is turned into chocolate, and what makes a good chocolate. Before them, most home bakers could only find Hershey's and Nestle chocolate in the stores. Now bakers everywhere can find Scharffen Berger and Guittard and Valrhona in the supermarket, and they have Scharffenberger and Steinberg to thank for that.

I have Scharffen Berger's book, Essence of Chocolate - see this post for my in-depth thoughts on it. It's one of my favorite cookbooks, because you can really feel the passion of these two men for chocolate. It's not just a vanity cookbook with some recipes - there are in-depth, heartfelt discussions of the cacao industry, on how chocolate is made, and on the joy that making and eating chocolate can bring. The two of them have made an indeliable contribution to the world of fine chocolate - and I'm so proud that the company is in the Bay Area, right in my backyard.

It is a sad day for chocolate lovers everywhere. You can also read the offical statement by John Scharffenberger and the New York Times article on this chocolate visionary. I hope you remember Robert Steinberg the next time you eat or bake with some fine chocolate - I'm going to have a piece of Scharffen Berger 70% in his memory.

Plum Galettes

makes (4) 7" round galettes

3-4 plums

1 recipe Blitz Puff, see below

1/2 cup frangipane, see below

Egg white for egg wash

Turbinado sugar for sprinkling

Apricot jam for glaze

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpats.

Halve and pit the plums. Slice them thinly.

Divide the puff pastry in four parts and return three pieces to the refrigerator to keep them cold. Roll out the fourth piece on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4" thick (not too thin).

Using a sharp knife, cut the pastry into an approximately 8"-9" circle, depending on how big the plum slices are. There should be about 1/2" between the edge of the pastry and plums after you lay them out.

 Spread a thin layer of the frangipane on top of the puff pastry, leaving a 1/2" border clear. Do not make the frangipane too thick or it will puff out and make the galette lose its shape.

Arrange the plum slices in a circle on the frangipane.

Fold the border of the pastry up and over the fruit, pleating the edges together. If you want, you can brush the edges with a little beaten egg white and sprinkle turbinado sugar over them.

Bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, rotating halfway through. The puff pastry should puff up and turn golden brown. Place galettes on a wire rack and brush lightly with apricot jam. Let cool slightly before serving.

Blitz Puff Pastry

makes (4) 9" circles

10 ounces all purpose flour

10 ounces unsalted butter, very cold, cut into 1-in pieces

3/4 tsp salt

90 ml water, ice cold

For chocolate puff pastry, add 1/2 cup cocoa powder to the flour before combining with the butter.

Combine the flour and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix the ingredients together on low speed  until the mixture is shaggy and resembles cornmeal, with visible pieces of butter still. Do not let the flour and butter turn into a solid ball of dough - if the components are completely mixed you will not have the layering of flour and fat needed to form the flaky layers!

Add the salt to the mixture. Pour in the water and mix on low speed just until the dough starts to come together; again, don't let the dough turn into one solid lump. There should still be little pieces of butter and the dough should be sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and form into a square. If the kitchen is warm and the dough is very soft and sticky, place it on a sheet pan and chill in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes until it firms up enough to work with.

Using flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking, roll out the dough about 1/2 inch thick and in the shape of a rectangle. The dimensions are not important - a roughly rectangle shape is fine, but try to keep the edges straight and square with each other so when you fold the dough over the edges will line up evenly.

To do a single turn on the dough, imagine the long side of the rectangle divided into thirds. Fold one end third over onto the middle third, then fold the other end third over on top, making a trifold. Make sure the edges are lined up as evenly as possible.

Roll the trifold out again to about 1/2" thickness and in the shape of a rectangle, switching the directions of the long and short sides - in other words, the folded sides of the trifold should become the long side and the open sides should become the short side.

Do another turn (trifold) with this rectangle.

Repeat this process one more time so you have done a total of three turns. If at any point the dough starts becoming very soft or rubbery, let it rest in the refrigerator for a little bit before working on it some more.

Roll the dough out into a rectangle. This time, do a double turn - imagine the long side of the rectangle divided into fourths. Fold both end fourths over onto the center fourths, then fold the two sides together again so all four layers are stacked on top of each other. Wrap the dough up completely in plastic and refrigerate until ready to use.

Frangipane (adapted from Nick Malgieri's How to Bake)

3/4 cup blanched almonds

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 eggs

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1/4 cup flour

If you want to flavor the frangipane, you can add: 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon grated star anise. Add more to taste.

Place almonds and sugar in a food processor. Process until almonds are very fine.

Add almond extract and one of the eggs and process until smooth.

Add the butter and process until fully combined and the mixture is smooth.

Add in the egg and process just until incorporated.

Add in the flour and process just until incorporated.

You can use the frangipane immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

An Abundance of Apricots

 

Roasted Apricot Cinnamon Sugar Tartlets

Sometimes it's hard to figure out what to make. Sometimes I suffer from a surfeit of suggestions, unable to settle on just one idea, other times it's the dreaded blank slate, when everything seems either too simple or too difficult or too not my style or not my flavors and I end up with my refrigerator and bookcases in disarray and still-clean bowls lining the counter.

That's why I enjoy spring and summer so much, because it's so easy to find inspiration. I just walk down the street to market and see what's come in today: crates of dark red cherries, baskets of plump strawberries, bushels of rosy nectarines. Sometimes I'll finger the exotica: yellow-green papayas, pebbly-skinned lychees, flower bulb-like mangosteens, and ponder whether this is the week I'll try something with them.

This week, however, my eye was caught by a more familiar fruit: the blushing gold apricots. Apricots are the delicate little cousins of peaches and I feel like they often get treated that way: they're not as boldly, sensually curved, and eaten fresh their flavor can be subtler, tarter, unlike the sparkling sweetness of peaches.

I've talked before about holding a peach: it's a gorgeously brazen coquette that fills your hands and boldly tempts you. Holding an apricot, on the other hand, is like holding a robin's egg or a seashell, rare and subtle; you've got to hold it close to find its secrets. When apricots are not fully ripe they can be firm and tart and not the most flavorful. At their peak, though, their flesh becomes lushly yielding, and their flavor takes on a rich, honeyed tone. Cooking is where apricots really shine, which is why you see apricot jam so often: when heated apricots blossom into a wonderful ambrosia, as dreamily sweet as a summer Sunday afternoon.

Apricots have such a short season as well, so very often the apricots you find at market will not be perfectly ripe. I left mine in a paper bag for a few days until they softened and starting scenting the kitchen. I wanted something simple and quick to showcase the fruit, and a puff pastry tart immediately sprang to mind. 

Almond Apricot Frangipane Tartlets

Now, before you start protesting that puff pastry does not fall under the category of "simple and quick", let me direct you to my blitz puff recipe which you really can make on a whim. It take less than half an hour to put together and once you've given it a good chill, you're ready to start cranking out the tartlets.

I kept it as breezily easy as possible: apricot slices, a sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar, and instant summer dessert! With a scoop of ice cream, nothing could be simpler for a warm evening. If you're looking to up the ante, a layer of frangipane spread on the pastry, topped with apricots and a sprinkling of almonds, and you've got yourself a luxe little patisserie-worthy pastry.

Naturally, this will work wonderfully with many of summer's fruits, from peaches to plums. You could also add berries on top after they come out of the oven. In any case, the crisp, buttery puff pastry makes the ideal bed for honeyed, ripe fruit. I love how the pastry puffs up so neatly round the fruit every time, like the perfect picture frame. When you add the frangipane, its creamy nuttiness elevates the clean sweetness of the fruit even more.

I'm actually very happy with this week's creation as it embodies many of my ideals about pastry: simple, seasonal, and richly rewarding for the effort one puts in. After all, isn't summer all about minimizing work and maximizing pleasure?

 
Apricot Tartlets

makes about 12 3"x5" tartlets

7 to 8 apricots

1 recipe Blitz Puff Pastry

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

apricot jam for glaze

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpats.

Halve and pit the apricots. Slice them thinly. Sort them them groups of 6 or 7 slices - this will make assembling the tarts faster.

Divide the puff pastry in half and return one piece to the refrigerator to keep it cold. Roll out the other half on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4" thick (not too thin).

Using a sharp knife, cut the pastry into roughly 3 1/2" x 5 1/5" rectangles. You can make the tartlets any size you want; square, round, etc. If you make one big tart, though, you may have to adjust the baking time and watch for the outer edges baking before the center.

If you want to use frangipane(see recipe below) on these tartlets, spread a thin layer on top of the puff pastry, leaving a 1/2" border as the frangipane will puff and spread in the oven.

Arrange 6 to 7 apricot slices on each rectangle. Combine the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over each tartlet.

Bake in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, rotating halfway through. The puff pastry should puff up and turn golden brown. Place tartlets on a wire rack and brush lightly with apricot jam. Let cool slightly before serving.

Frangipane (adapted from Nick Malgieri's How to Bake)

3/4 cup blanched almonds

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 eggs

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1/4 cup flour

Place almonds and sugar in a food processor. Process until almonds are very fine.

Add almond extract and one of the eggs and process until smooth.

Add the butter and process until fully combined and the mixture is smooth.

Add in the egg and process just until incorporated.

Add in the flour and process just until incorporated.

You can use the frangipane immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Tagged with: apricot puff pastry tarts + almond apricot frangipane + puff pastry

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Strawberries For the Birthday Girl

There are so many things I love about spring: longer, sunnier days, which means I can finally hang up my scarves and wool coats; flowers blooming everywhere, filling the air with their scent (I always know it's spring when the honeysuckle at my parents' home begins to perfume the air with its delirious, heady fragrance); the advent of all manner of fruit colorful and sweet (including my favorite, strawberries - naturally). And, of course, spring means my birthday!

I always enjoyed having my birthday in May; all the gorgeousness of spring always puts in me in a celebratory mood already, so getting a cake with candles to blow out is just a bonus. Of course, back in my school days, having a May birthday meant it was also end-of-school test time, which sometimes put a little damper on things. This year proved no exception, unfortunately: I've been so busy trying to wrap up this book that I hardly realized that oh-so-special day was creeping up on me. How come when you're young waiting for your birthday to arrive is an agony, yet when you're older it sneaks up on you like a wayward butterfly?

No matter - I've been working furiously on my manuscript so I can take today off to celebrate. And I'm also happy to say that the book will be off to the printers very soon, which means that 1)no more late nights trawling the manuscript for errors 2)the book will be out by the holidays, 3)more time to return to the blog (and all you dear dear readers), and 4)I'll be able to share more details on the book very soon! I know I've been tempting you with all sorts of vague references and allusions, but once the book's been formally announced, I'll be able to tell you what's it all about and my experiences writing it!

Also, my birthday is also extra-special now because I discovered a year ago that I shared it with no other than Bea of La Tartine Gourmande!  Bea is of course the most fabulously talented chef, stylist, and photographer I know, not to mention very sweet and charming - I'm more than honored to share my birthday with her!

So I e-mailed Bea a month ago and suggested that we make the same thing for our birthday, and she suggested, since she also loves strawberries, that we do a strawberry rhubarb tart. Well, happy birthday dear Bea! Here is my version of strawberry rhubarb tart, paired with a brown sugar ginger ice cream, all ready for our birthday!

I have loved the combination of strawberries and rhubarb ever since I made a strawberry rhubarb compote to go with an ice wine ice cream. I also love French-style tarts, so what could be better than Pierre Hermé's lovely shortcrust filled with a mixture of strawberries, rhubarb, sugar, and vanilla? Baked in the oven to soft, bubbling perfection, it's an elegant, tea-party version of the classic American strawberry rhubarb pie. The voluptuously sweet strawberries commingle with the barely-crisp, tart rhubarb into an unfettered pleasure on the tongue. The rich buttery pâte sucrée  makes a luxurious backdrop for the beautifully, vibrantly, red fruit. No birthday cake could be better.

While the ice wine ice cream was a quite excellent companion for strawberries and rhubarb, I wanted to go in a more robust direction and created a brown sugar ginger ice cream to accompany the tart. Just-sweet, pleasantly piquant, it's ice cream at its warmest and most comforting, and enhances the flavors of the tart beautifully. I used egg yolks in this ice cream, which, combined with the brown sugar gave it almost an eggnog taste until I added the ginger; next time I might leave out the eggs, but either way it's scrumptious.

I hope today is as sweet and springlike for you as it is for me, and I wish I could celebrate with all of you! Thanks so much for coming to Dessert First - it means so much to me, and I hope for many more years of sweetness!

Strawberry Rhubarb Tart

makes about 6-8 tartlets

Pâte Sucrée (adapted from Pierre Hermé's Desserts

(recipe makes more than enough, so save the rest for another tart)

1 1/4 sticks ( 146 g) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup (86 g) confectioner's sugar, sifted

1/4 cup (5 g) almond meal or ground almonds

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg, room temperature

1 3/4 cups (232 g) all purpose flour

Filling

2 cups (about 9 ounces) strawberries

3 stalks (about 7 ounces) rhubarb

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For the tart shells: Place the butter in a food processor and process until soft and creamy.

Add the confectioners' sugar and process until well blended and smooth.

Add in the almond meal, salt, and vanilla extract and process until well blended.

Add in the egg and egg yolk and process until just blended; scrape the bowl down as necessary.

Add the flour and pulse just until the dough starts to come together into a ball; don't overprocess. The dough will be very soft like cookie dough.

Scrape the dough out of the food processor and make into a ball. Flatten out into a disk, wrap in plastic, and chill in refrigerator for at least 4 hours until it is firm enough to handle.

When you are ready to bake off the tart shells, take the dough out of the refrigerator - let it warm up a bit if necessary but not too much because it will start melting fast.

Roll out the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap to 1/8" thickness. If the dough gets too soft, place back in the refrigerator to firm up.

Place the tart rings you will use on a baking sheet lined with a Silpat or parchment paper.

Cut out circles of dough to fit into desired tart rings. Press the dough carefully into the tart rings and up the sides, being careful not to stretch the dough or it will shrink when baked. Place the rings into the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes. Trim off the excess dough from the top of the rings.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F while chilling the tart shells. When you are ready, line the shells with parchment and fill with beans or rice to keep the shells weighed down.

Bake shells for about 15-18  minutes until they are lightly colored and the shell feels dry to the touch. Remove from the oven and place on a rack. Remove the beans and parchment and brush the bottoms of the shells with a light egg wash (made from an egg white and a bit of water).

For the filling: Wash the strawberries, hull them, and slice into 1/8 thick slices (not too thin).

Wash the rhubarb and cut into small pieces.

Combine the strawberries and rhubarb with the sugar and vanilla in a bowl and toss thoroughly to mix. Let sit for about 5 minutes so the fruit juices start mixing with sugar.

Divide the fruit mixture among the tart shells. You can lay the fruit down in a pattern or simply spoon it in, but be careful not to overfill. When the tarts bake the juices from the fruit will bubble out and you don't want them to overflow.

Place tarts back into oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes until the filling is thick and bubbly.

Remove from oven and let cool on wire racks.

Brown Sugar Ginger Ice Cream

makes about 1 quart

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup milk

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 cup light brown sugar

4 egg yolks

pinch of salt

Combine cream, milk, and ginger in a saucepan and bring to a simmer on medium heat on the stove.

Meanwhile, whisk brown sugar, egg yolks, and salt together in a medium bowl.

Pour about half of the hot milk mixture into the yolks, whisking constantly.

Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan and return to the stove. Cook on low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon.

Remove from heat and strain into a bowl. Chill in an ice bath until room temperature, then cover and chill overnight.

Prepare ice cream in an ice cream maker per manufacturer's instructions. Store in freezer to firm up.

 

Tagged with: strawberry rhubarb tart + brown sugar ginger ice cream + pierre herme + birthday

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Daring Bakers Challenge: Lemon Meringue Lovelies

It barely seems like the new year's had time to settle in, and it's time for Daring Bakers already! This month's host is Jen of the lovely The Canadian Baker, and she picked a great classic for us to make: lemon meringue pie. When I think of lemon meringue I always think of those Strawberry Shortcake dolls I played with as a child; I had the Strawberry Shortcake doll (of course) and my sister had the Lemon Meringue doll. I remember she had a big poufy hat that looked just like a swirl of fluffy meringue. I never did understand why her pet was a little frog though; I guess they were running out of different animals to assign to each character!

(As a aside, maybe I'm showing my age, but I like classic Strawberry Shortcake. I'm not really too keen on the modernized trendy new Strawberry Shortcake dolls I'm seeing in stores. And it looks like they gave Lemon Meringue a new pet - a skunk! Wow, this girl just can't catch a break, can she?)

I'm really glad Jen picked the lemon meringue pie, because I'm seeing some beautiful Meyer lemons at the market right now, little splashes of perky sunshine just begging to be used. I really love Meyer lemons, from their painter's palette-bold yellow color to their elegant smooth skins to their subtle tang. I'm already hoarding a batch in my kitchen with eager ideas for them, and making lemon meringue pie fit right into the plans.

I have to give a real thumbs up to this recipe as well; easy to execute with fantastic results. I'm not really a pie person; long time readers will notice I'm more of a tart girl, but this pie crust recipe came together and rolled out like a dream. My only issue was that the crusts shrunk a little more than I anticipated during baking, so I didn't get as deep-dish a pie as I wanted. Nevertheless, the baked crust was flaky, buttery, and a lovely container for the lemon curd filling.

Since I used Meyer lemons, the filling didn't have the traditional zing of other lemon meringue pies, but a creamy, smooth, and wholly satisfying lemon flavor. I really liked the addition of butter to the filling, as it reminds me a great deal of my favorite lemon curd by Pierre Herme. As luck would have it, it's been pouring buckets here in the Bay Area, and anyone who's dealt with meringues knows that humidity is meringue's worst enemy. And why does it always seem to turn humid the day you decide to whip up some egg whites? Nevertheless, the meringue whipped up as billowy and satin-shiny as you please, and baked up beautifully in the oven.

Playing around with piping the meringue made for great fun as well: I liked the little dots as shown in the first picture above.

Or you could go for some ruffly peaks.

Or perhaps just the classic swirly mounds.

These little darlings are really best eaten right out of the oven, though; especially on a rainy day, they just don't hold up for very long. Altogether this was a great Daring Bakers exercise; the little pies were polished off quite handily. Thanks to Jen for another fun challenge!

Lemon Meringue Pie
(from "Wanda's Pie in the Sky" by Wanda Beaver)
 
Makes one 10-inch (25 cm) pie

For the Crust:
3/4 cup (180 mL) cold butter; cut into ½-inch (1.2 cm) pieces
2 cups (475 mL) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (60 mL) granulated sugar
1/4 tsp (1.2 mL) salt
1/3 cup (80 mL) ice water

For the Filling:
2 cups (475 mL) water
1 cup (240 mL) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (120 mL) cornstarch
5 egg yolks, beaten
1/4 cup (60 mL) butter
3/4 cup (180 mL) fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp (15 mL) lemon zest
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract

For the Meringue:
5 egg whites, room temperature
1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) cream of tartar
1/4 tsp (1.2 mL) salt
1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) vanilla extract
3/4 cup (180 mL) granulated sugar

To Make the Crust:
Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible. Using a food processor or pastry cutter and a large bowl, combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt.Process or cut in until the mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together. Sprinkle with water, let rest 30 seconds and then either process very briefly or cut in with about 15 strokes of the pastry cutter, just until the dough begins to stick together and come away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes.

Allow the dough to warm slightly to room temperature if it is too hard to roll. On a lightly floured board (or countertop) roll the disk to a thickness of 1/8 inch (.3 cm). Cut a circle about 2 inches (5 cm) larger than the pie plate and transfer the pastry into the plate by folding it in half or by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Turn the pastry under, leaving an edge that hangs over the plate about 1/2 inch (1.2 cm). Flute decoratively. Chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the crust with foil and fill with metal pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before filling.

To Make the Filling:
Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and let rest 5 minutes. Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together. Add the mixture gradually to the hot water, whisking until completely incorporated. Return to the heat and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. The mixture will be very thick. Add about 1 cup (240 mL) of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolks, whisking until smooth. Whisking vigorously, add the warmed yolks to the pot and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until incorporated. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla, stirring until combined. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the surface, and cool to room temperature.

To Make the Meringue:
Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, salt and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually, beating until it forms stiff, glossy peaks. Pile onto the cooled pie, bringing the meringue all the way over to the edge of the crust to seal it completely. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a rack. Serve within 6 hours to avoid a soggy crust.

Tagged with: lemon meringue tartlets + Daring Bakers

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