Blog Party 14: Snow White Got Invited

I always seem to do the same thing when Stephanie throws a party: I get caught up with not so fun things to do and end up watching from the sideline while everybody brings a lovely dish and a drink. After the last one, I told myself that I would participate no matter what the theme was. I kind of bit my tongue and waited anxiously for this month' s theme.

Usually when I throw myself challenges I always wish I had put my foot in my mouth. Yep, that's how I ended up challenging the neighbor to push ups and hurt for 3 days afterwards, or got myself enrolled in a 5K (albeit for a good cause), and last but not least making 3 wedding cakes in our old tiny kitchen for the same day....Now you understand why I sit quietly for a while before jumping in. But revenons a nos moutons, let's get back to our topic.

This month's theme is all about the kids. Seems quite easy at first glance, but when you have been an adult for a while and you don't have children it can seem quite intimidating. My first inclination was to cheat and sit this one out again, but then my inner child woke up.

I was always the kid with her nose burried in books. I even used to read in the darkness of my room, only using the light of the fading sun reflecting on the white closets; it actually is often bright like this in the South of France. I must be quite a romantic because I loved (still do) fairy tales. Enchanted forests, fantastic heroes, dark and dramatic castles. I would spend hours imaginaing dresses, attires, dialogues. My parents had these great books on tapes with all the famous fairy tales that they would play on road trips and I could recite them in my sleep.

Charles Perrault, the Grimm brothers, Stahl, Madame d'Aulnoy,...I loved these stories because as a gourmande, I was always fascinated by the opulent descriptions of the kings and queens tables and feasts. I would imagine each dish, create a smell and a taste that could only be found in the imaginary. It struck me as an adult how much food is a central theme of fairy tales, rich or poor, everybody used it, ate it, gathered around it. Penachio and his 200 bread rolls and 200 chocolate mugs, Alice in Wonderland and her Eat Me Cake, Hansel and Gretel and their gingerbread house, Little Red Riding Hood and her biscuits for grandma. It is no wonder that my childhood friends came back to pay me a visit and all wanted to get invited to this Blog Party #14!

Which one to pick? I wanted to bring them all to the party! Here in South Carolina, Summer is still lingering and Fall is barely making an appearance, yet beautiful red and gold apples were everywhere at the market. Hence, only Snow White made the cut and got an invitation. Her only requirement was to bring one of her delicious apples, except I got her the spot so no poisonous ones , thank you very much, but drenched and nested in beautiful caramel.

Snow White Caramel Apples (serves 4)

4 small apples, washed and toweled dry

500 gr. sugar

juice of half a lemon

125 gr. water (125 ml)

In a saucepan, combine sugar, lemon juice and water. Boil until a candy thermomether reads 155 Celsius (very light amber color). Pour over each apples. I set mine on a cookie rack over a sheet pan.

Reheat the caramel a bit and using 2 forks, dip them into the caramel and drizzled caramel strings over parchment paper. Gather around the apples and enjoy!

Note: I wanted more strings of caramel but I forgot that I was in the South and today was particularly humid, even in the house, so aramel work almost turned into caramel shmuck!

I got really nostalgic making these and craved my favorite kid drink, a hot chocolate with whipped cream and dusted with nutmeg.
Thanks Stephanie for the invite. Can't wait to see what everybody brings!

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Variation On A Theme

We have been quite busy these past couple of days so I have not attempted anything really new. I am still surrounded with baguettes and brioches and I guarantee there will never be enough!

I had an order for madeleines, so I made a double batch and added chocolate chips and toffee extract to the second batch.

I always use the same recipe but this time I did not go for the thermic shock, inspired by Avital, and baked them at a constant 400 degrees and the madeleines still had that lovely little bump.

Here it is again. I promise to be more inventive soon, especially since I want to participate to Blog Party 14 and Sugar High Friday.

Madeleines de Commercy, adapted from "Les Madeleines salees et sucrees de Sophie" by Sophie Dudemaine.

For 16 madeleines

2 eggs

130 gr. (4 0z) all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

130 gr. (4 oz) sugar

130 gr. (4 oz) butter

I added 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1 tsp. toffee extract

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Melt the butter either in the microwave or in a saucepan on low heat. Let it cool a bit.In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the eggs and the sugar until pale yellow. Add the flour and baking powder. Mix on medium high speed until everything is well incorporated, add the melted butter.

Pour one Tb. of the batter into the center of madeleine molds (I use silicone ones). Bake in the center of your oven for 4 minutes at 500, then lower the temperature to 400 and bake another 4 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes and unmold.

I turned around long enough to already be missing 4!

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Ashley's Chocolate Banana Pound Cake or The Art of Adapting

This cake is the perfect example of Ashley's recent post on adapting and changing recipes. I could come up with many reasons why I changed her recipe but here the few that come to my mind:

- I already know what chocolate and banana pound cake taste like, so combining the two is easy to imagine flavor wise.

- I know that since I don't have mascarpone on hand, I can substitute cream cheese without (purists cover your eyes) altering the recipe too much.

- Since I want to add 1/2 cup finely powdered dry coconut, I need to add a tad more liquid if the batter seems stiff, I chose to add 1/4 dark rum, to enhance to the tropical feeling.

It is easy for seasoned baker and cook to change recipes without messing up. Once you have mastered the different doughs and baking techniques of creaming, sifted, adding, alternating, the sky is the limit!

I think that every baker who wants to take it a step further should spend soe time acquiring the discipline and techniques necessary but after that: Have Fun!

Oh yeah: playing around with a recipe does not always produce success, but we all learn from our mistakes!

Here is her recipe and my changes in italics:

Banana Pound Cake
From Secrets of Baking; Sherry Yard
2 1/4 cups All Purpose Flour
1 Tbl Baking Powder
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mascarpone (I used cream cheese)
1 1/2 sticks butter, unsalted, softened
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 fully ripe bananas, pureed
3/4 cup chocolate chunks

1/2 cup very finely shredded coconut

1/4 rum

Sift dries. Combine sour cream and mascarpone, set aside. Beat butter until soft and gradually add the sugar. It should be super light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Alternate dry ingredients with sour cream and mascarpone mixture. Fold in bananas and chocolate chunks (or chips). Bake 350 for 1 hour to 1 1/2 hour until toothpick comes out clean.

The cake was delicious. It's like a drug, we keep having a slice at every meal. Sorry neighbors, seems like you won't taste this one!

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KKVKVK # 12: And The Winners Are...

And the winner is : Lilo of Cuisine Campagne, followed by Debo at Les Agapes in second, and Mickymath of Au Jardin des Delices in third.

It seems that there was a lot of controversy this time regarding the voting process but I stayed out of it all because truly, lthough I take every blogging event seriously this should remain a game. The KKV gave me the opportunity to bake something I like, take a picture, blog about it, maybe entice one or two people to make it and first and foremost to see what 96 other bloggers (yes, you read right)would come up with.

Thanks Ninnie for hosting it and "Congratulations" to the winners!

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You had me at "Brioche"

That's what B. told me "the morning after" when I asked what he wanted for breakfast: cereals, toast, waffles, brioche. (so much for those other skills...!)
I just pulled out 3 more loaves of sourdough baguettes (I added oat and wheat flours) and this morning I made 1 big brioche and 6 little ones. I plan on making another batch tomorrow and stock all that until next week. It seems like a big production but trust me, all this is not going to last long in our house!

Here is my favorite brioche recipe, adapted slightly from Bo Friberg.

.

For 18 individual Brioches:

For the Sponge: mix together 1 oz. fresh compressed yeast (or 0.5 dry), 1/2 cup warm milk, 2 Tb. honey and 4 oz. bread flour. cover and let rise until doubled.

For the dough:add to the sponge 2 tsp. of salt, 2oz. granulated sugar, 4 eggs. Mix in 1/2 pound cake flour and 4 to 8 oz. cake flour. Start by adding 4, and if the dough is too sticky continue to add up to 8. Incorporate 4 oz. very soft butterThe dough should not stick to the sides of the bowl and have a shiny appearance. Cover and refrigerate 5 to 6 hours, or until doubled. If you want to use it earlier, let rise at room temp. Punch the dough down and shape into individual molds. Bake at 375 degrees until hollow when tapped, about 20 minutes.

It is hard resisting having one right out of the oven with some butter (more) and honey,

I also made Ashley's Banana Chocolate Pound Cake but it started raining bad and the light was pretty bad, so that will be for tomorrow.

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The French Are Coming

This time it is my parents arriving next Tuesday and staying for a month. We see them once or twice a year and it is always great to have them stay that long. I am not going to lie, the first couple of years were not picture perfect, we all had to find our marks but I believe we have the machine well oiled now and things go relatively smoothly. Well, except for one thing: I have no time for myself, there is always some translating to do, some store to hunt down for cousin so and so looking for a pair of pink converse, child size if you have them, thank you very much, need a pair of jeans that and that, Nintendo game blablabla, you get the picture.

Baking becomes a midnight affair when everybody has retired to their quarter and I can stir and knead in peace. There is however one ritual I have to get prepared for: having bread at every meal, and not sandwich white, non monsieur! As much as I love my grocery store people, I really hate to shell out 3 bucks for a loaf of artisan bread I can make at home. Hence, in preparation of any family member visiting from the continent I start a week ahead of their arrival by stocking my freezer with baguettes, epis, sourdough loaves, brioches, croissants and such.

Today was the first installment with 2 large brioches, 6 mini ones and 6 sourdough baguettes.

For the baguettes I always use the same recipe, the sourdough starter is still alive and well, I pretty much leave it alone in the fridge until I need it (sometimes it can be a couple of months) and then I feed it everyday I use it for bread.

I'll post the recipe again:

Baguette Monge: ingredients for 3 baguettes
- 500 g. bread flour
- 100 g. starter
- 5 g. yeast
- 10 g. salt
- 27 cl. warm water
Put the yeast into a bowl, add 10 cl water and let bloom for 20 minutes. in another bowl, mix the flour and salt. Form a well with a spoon and add the yeast/water combo, add the rest of the water and the starter. Mix well with the dough hook and either knead by hand or still with the mixer for a few minutes (up to 12). Let rest in a covered bowl for 20 minutes. Divide the dough in 3 parts and shape into rounds, let rise another 40 minutes. Form into baguettes and put on a baking sheet, let rise 1 1/2 hours.
Preheat oven to 425. Sift some flour over the baguettes and cut slits on top with razor blade. Bake for 20 25 minutes.
This bread comes from the Kayser Bakery, located on Monge street in Paris.

Starter: from Eric Kayser, 100% Pain.
Day 1: mix 50g. warm water and 50g bread flour. Let stand at room temp.
day 2: add 100g warm water and 100g flour, add 20g sugar. Let stand at room temp.
Day 3 : add 200g water and 200g flour. Let stand 12 hours.
Remove quantities as needed for recipes, if not used within 8 days, refrigerate and add more water/flour if the starter seems to lose life.

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