Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream and White Chocolate Cardamom Tartlets

I wish I could remember when I first heard about the Vietnamese coffee filters you see in the pictures. Was it in a magazine, on a food show on tv...dunno... All I know is that I thought they would be a great piece of conversation when time came to serve coffee to my guests. I love having friends over and to me plating foods in fun or interesting dishes is as much important as making or eating it. These work like mini French coffee presses, you just set them up on top of your cup or mug, pour some coffee into them, screw the lid and let the water drip. I have had them for about five years now and I use them constantly not only because they are fun, but they give the best coffee too.

In France, Asian food is very different than here and I remember going to more Vietnamese restaurants than Chinese or Thai, and as a kid I would automatically go for ice cream or fruits and not coffee to ed my meal. My parents would always end up their meal with a little cup of sake, the ladies' cups would have a little flower in the bottom and the men's the picture of a naked lady...don't ask me why, but we (the brother and I) thought that was truly hilarious especially around 7-8 years old. Anyway....no Vietnamese coffee in all my childhood years of eating Vietnamese foods...It was not until I got here to the US that "Roomie" introduced me to Vietnamese coffee and I have been hooked ever since! If you are a coffee drinker what not try this sweet but light combination of sweetened condensed milk topped with Vietnamese coffee or if you can't find it, a French roast or a coffee with chicory.

A couple of weeks ago, Old Chef and I were playing our favorite game: come up with new menu items for upcoming catering functions. B. thinks it is hilarious to watch us elaborate because we seem to have a language of our own, a mix of French and English, words flying across dishes and piles of notes, sketches of towering concoctions of sugar, butter, cream, fruits, nuts,... We love doing that over a good cup of coffee at the end of an event or after a long day on the phone placing orders and visiting purveyors. I knew he would like Vietnamese coffee as much as the filters necessary to make it and after a cup or two, we had come up with a couple of different desserts featuring it. These tartlets and ice cream are one of them....yes, you'll have to stay tuned for next week's second installment because today's dessert is not the one we decided we would keep in the end.
This one was not bad but the white chocolate ganache was overly sweet. Since we try to be cost effective, and we foresee people leaving half the tart on their plate even if we make them smaller, we decided to make another version. Don't get me wrong, the flavors are great: coffee, cardamom, white chocolate, dark chocolate, and work well together but the white chocolate is the overkill with a condensed milk sweetened Vietnamese coffee, no matter how powerful.

In the meantime, here is part one of our experiments:

Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream:

6 large egg yolks
2 cups whole milk, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (15-ounce) can sweetenedcondensed milk
1/4 cup freshly ground French roast coffee

Whisk egg yolks in a large bowl and set aside.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat the milk to scalding with the groud coffee. Pour 1/3 hot milk over yolks, whisking constantly until well combined. Pour in remaining hot milk, then pour mixture back into saucepan and return to low heat. Stir constantly until mixture has thickened enough to coat back of wooden spoon. Remove from heat and stir in the condensed milk. Strain in a fine mesh colander to filter out as much of the coffee grounds as possible. Let cool to room temperature, cover ad refrigerate until completely cold. Freeze in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s directions.

For the Dark Chocolate Tartlets Dough:

1/4 cup toasted and skinned hazelnuts
1 cup powdered sugar, divided
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
11/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 large eggs

Place hazelnuts and 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar in food processor. Pulse until the nuts are finely ground. In bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter, cocoa powder, ground nuts and salt on medium speed until well-combined. Slowly add remaining powdered sugar and flour and mix well. Slowly add eggs and mix until incorporated. Shape dough into a ball and flatten into a disc. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to use, roll in between sheets of plastic wraps and cut out rounds to fit 4 4-inch tartlet molds. Prick with a fork and bake at 350F for 15 minutes. Let cool completely.

For the Cardamom White Chocolate Ganache:

2 pods cardamom, crushed
1 cup heavy cream
12 oz white chocolate

Set the white chocolate in a bowl. Heat the cream with the cardamom until very hot. Pour the cream over the white chocolate. Let sitfor a couple of minutes and stir until completely smooth. Pour into the cooled dark chocolate tartlet shells.and refrigerate until set.

To plate: make yourself a nice cup of coffee and serve the tartlets with a generous scoop if ice cream.

Note: I was going to post this tuesday night but decided to do a little roud of my favorite blogs and went right away to visit my girl Anita at Dessert First and stumbled upon her latest delectable creation: Chocolate and Vietnamese Coffee Tart ! I am not surprised anymore when Anita, Bea and I share a dessert with you guys and they are eerily similar in concept or taste (and believe me it has happened more than once!)....all 3 of us are Taurus!

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Hazelnut Quince Tartlets, Tea Time Style

Quinces are one of the fruits I miss the most since I moved to South Carolina. My mom used to make the best quince jelly and I remember freely spreading it on fresh bread, spooning it into my yogurt in the morning. Little did I know back then that I would have such a difficult time finding it here and that the mere thought of it would send me into severe nostalgia!

Marce's post a couple of weeks ago made me come up with these little tartlets. I could taste the quince in her tart right through the monitor screen. I left a comment saying that I had found quinces, but at $1.99 a quince (yes, you read right) I was really hesitating investing just to satisfy a nostalgic craving! Well, I broke down and bought one...yep, just one...It was small, but smooth and fragrant and my little orphan quince was nice enough to allow me to make 4 little tartlets, perfect for an afternoon tea.

I first thought about making quince tartlets after seeing a picture in this wonderful and magic book, La Cuisine des Fees. Each recipe is inspired by a dish featured in a well known fairy tale and here the character of the "King of tartelettes " in "L Oiseau de Verite" by E. Le Noble inspired beautiful round glistening quince tarts.
Well, the recipe required 4 plump fruits and my single quince needed to be stretched further than that! I made a hazelnut shortbread dough for the tartlets base and carefully sliced and roasted thin slices of the quince with some spices and in no time at all, I had the best four-bite snack, satisfying my craving and sending me back to the time I used to put a stool by the stove and help my mom stir the quince jam she was making.

Quince Tartlets, inspired by La Cuisine des Fees:

Serves 4

For the dough:

170 gr. flour (6 oz)
60 gr. powdered sugar (2 oz)
100 gr butter, at room temperature (3 1/2 oz)
1 egg white
40 gr skinned hazelnuts (3 1/2 oz)
pinch of salt

In a food processor, place the hazelnuts and powdered sugar and pulse until finely ground. add the flour, egg white, salt and butter and pulse until the dough just comes together. Gather into a ball, flatten it between two sheets of plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours. This can be prepared the day before.
When ready to use, roll the dough out in between the sheets of plastic wrap as it becomes soft and sticky very fast. Cut out 4 inch rounds with a cookie cutter.
Bake at 350 F until light golden. Let cool while you prepare the quince.
Bake cookies with the remaining dough or save and freeze for another project.

For the roasted quince:

1 quince, cored, peeled and cut into thin slices
2 Tb butter
1/8 tsp. ground cardamom
1/8 tsp cinnamon
2 Tb brown sugar

Layer the slices in a baking dish, sprinkle with the spices and sugar. Add the butter into small pats all over. Roast at 350 F, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

To assemble: divide the quince slices evenly among the tartlet bases and sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired. A scoop of vanilla bean ice cream would be great with it too!


You can be sure that the day quinces go on sale, this little Tartelette is stocking up!

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Canneles Pretenders

I can't believe I have waited this long to make "canneles" (ka-ne-lays), just because I did not have the proper canneles molds. This specialty tea cake from the region of Bordeaux is one of my all time favorites but when I moved to the US, those little shiny molds where not part of the "must have" items I took with me. Literary folks, I moved here with 2 suitcases full but not much from the home country. My parents have been filling the gaps and fulfilled my nostalgic demands with every visit they make but very soon after my moving here the craving started to hit really bad.

To fix my sweet tooth, I started baking them in muffin tins and small ramequins but I always hesitated posting about them, fearing "canneles" traditionalists and purists woud give me the evil eye and roll their shoulder in disappointment. Well, that was until I read this post by Melissa at The Traveler's Lunchbox. It made me realize that if something is good, does it really matter if the shape of the final product is different than the traditional? Isn't respecting the ingredients and baking method the most important?

How to describe a "cannele"...hmmm...that's kind of a tough one. Dark but not burnt on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. The batter is like a thick crepe batter turning into a cake right before your very eyes while wrapping your senses in an intoxicating aroma of vanilla and rum. Do not wait to get the right molds to try these as the one you eat quickly becomes two and three and pretty much you forget they were supposed to make it to the neighbors' house (oops!). When the time came to make these the other day, I could not find my little blue notebook with all the recipes I had gathered before I left France and after looking at many recipes and variations for canneles, I finally settled on this one which gave me the most wonderful little morsels.


Canneles Pretenders:

Makes 12 muffin sized ones

750 milk (2 1/2 cups)
50 gr butter (1 1/2 oz)
3 eggs plus 3 egg yolks
300 gr granulated sugar (10 oz)
1 Tb vanilla extract
6 Tb rum
150 gr all purpose flour (5 1/4 oz)

In a saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer, add the butter cut into dices. Mix well and let cool to lukewarm.
In a bowl, mix the eggs, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla and whisk until foamy. Slowly add the rum and flour. Add the milk slowly and whisk until smooth. Pass it through a sieve if neessary.
Let the batter rest in the fridge for a ouple of hours or overnight. (I make mine the day before)
When the batter has rested, preheat the oven to 425F and divide it evenly among the muffin tins, generously coated with cooking spray or well buttered. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour.
If you can wait, you will find that they are better the next day.

Apologies to all "canneles" purists but what is a girl to do when the cravings strike and cannot wait?

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Berry Salad on Yuzu And Mascarpone Creams

It is probably no news that I love berries, lemons, and mascarpone, but what I love when two bloggers give me the chance to put them together. Lisa from La Mia Cucina and Kelly from Sass & Veracity got together and concoted a Salad Extravaganza event in their quest to shrink their hips and thighs.

I first thought about doing a simple fruit salad with a drizzle of honey and lemon juice, maybe a dollop of barely sweetened whipped cream. However, after several email exchanges with Lisa and her desire to keep the taste and bang factor while watching what she eats, I wanted to share with her that one can keep that "wow" factor by using regular ingredients but decreasing the portion size. I too have had my battle with my thighs and over the years I have found out that they respond well the old "quality over quantity" phrase (although I have been known to have my cake and eat it too!).

I first tried yuzu in a tart purchased from the amazing pastry chef Sadaharu Aoki while in Paris last Christmas. How to describe the taste? Sometimes it is like a grapefruit or a perky tangerine in your mouth, sometimes it has a lemon kick to it, the kind that makes you gums go "ouyee" overall it just is plain good if you love citrus! I cannot find fresh yuzu fruits here but thanks to the internet the juice is easily accesible.
These "verrines" are a dessert we have often as it is light and tasty, easy to put together and extremely refreshing. Don't tell be but I even enjoy a few spoonful in the morning before my run. With the yuzu juice, I make a simple (lower calorie) curd that I layer with a mascarpone cream spiked with lemon zest. The berries don't really need anything else as you dip your spoon and mix them with the creams.

Berry Salad on Yuzu and Mascarone Creams:

Serves 4

For the yuzu curd:

2/3 cup yuzu juice
1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs

Combine the sugar and juice in a saucepan, and bring to a simmer.
In a small bowl, beat the eggs until light.
Beat some of the yuzu mixture into the eggs to temper. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan and cook stirring constantly until it thickens up, about 5 minutes.Strain and refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap until ready to use.

For the mascarpone cream:

8 oz mascarpone, at room temp
1/4 cup powdered sugar
grated zest of one lemon

Mix all the ingredients together and keep at room temperatue, it will be easier to layer.

For the mixed berry salad:

1 cup cut up fresh strawberries
1 pint fresh raspberries
1 pint fresh blueberries

To assemble: layer the yuzu curd and mascarpone cream in glasses or cups and top with a generous amount of the mixed berry salad.

Hope you enjoy it ladies!

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Lemon Blueberry Tartlets...Such A Steal...

Why were these cute little tartlets a steal? As soon as Meeta posted the round up for her Monthly Mingle Birthday Bang, I started going through each post, each time more tempted than the next, (such beautiful creations), until I stumbled upon Asha's Strawberry Yogurt Pie.
I don't particularly like baked or cooked strawberries, unless in jams or preserves, and I had an abundance of blueberries and plenty of yogurt, so the decision to include them into our sunday brunch spread was easy.
Old Chef liked them so much that he wants "plenty" , which in his world means anywhere from 100-200, for an event next week....arghhhh!

The pie is easy to put together, has great flavor and very versatile as far as ingredients used. I made mini tartlets instead of mini ones since we already had plenty to share and the cute factor certainly helped make the table a little bit more inviting but feel free to make one large pie. Either way you will not be disappointed!

Lemon Blueberry Tartlets, adapted from Asha:

For the crust:
6 Tb butter at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
grated zest of one lemon

In a food processor, combine the butter and sugar. Add the egg and blend well. Combine the flour, lemon zest and baking powder and mix them into the wet ingredients to form a soft dough.With flour-dusted fingers, pat the sticky dough into the bottom of a pie pan or individual tartlet molds. Push the dough up to cover the sides of the pan.
Refrigerate until you make the filling.

For the filling:
2 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup plain yogurt
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen.

Mix all the filling ingredients except the blueberries until smooth.
Put the berries into the pie shell or mini ones and gently pour the fillings so the berries are coated and evenly distributed.
Bake for 50 or 60 minutes, at 350 until the crust is lightly golden and the custard has set.
For the mini ones, 30 minutes were plenty.

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Cherry and Coconut Coffee Cake

As I am writing this there is only one piece left of this delectable coffee cake. We had company over this morning and the six of us practically devoured it all. It took all the persuasion in the world to save this little piece for a photo opportunity. "Good" would be a small word to describe it...it brought silence to a table of people mighty hungry after a boating excursion.
I usually have a brioche ready for sunday brunches, either toasted with butter or turned into French toast, but I kept seeing coffee cakes popping on a couple of blogs and my stash of fresh cherries was demanding some attention, other than clafoutis or muffins.

I fell in love with coffee cakes a few months after moving to the US. What's not to love in a cake filled with spices or fruit and topped with shortbread crumbs? What's no to love in a cake so versatile that you can adapt it to the seasons ans have any time of the day? Made with coffee or served during coffee breaks, it seems to have taken a life of its own regarding ingredients much like creme brulee has its variations.

I figured that there was only a few authorities capable of giving me the "perfect" recipes, and I turned to our trusted Dorie Greenspan for ideas. I adapted her original recipes to fit the ingredients I wanted to use and since I am still on my coconut and cherry kick, well, here they are again!




Cherry and Coconut Coffee Cake, adapted from Dorie Greenspan

Serves 8

For the crumb topping:
5 Tb unsalted butter, room temp
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup almond, chopped
1/2 tsp. ground ginger

Put all the ingredients, minus the nuts in a food processor and pulse until it forms coarse crumbs. Put into a bowl, sit in the nuts , cover and refrigerate while you prepare the cake.

For the cake:
2 cups, fresh pitted cherries (can use frozen, not thawed)
2 cups plus 2 tsp. all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2/3 cup sugar
grated zest of one lemon
6 Tb. butter, room temp
2 eggs
1 tsp. coconut extract
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup grated unsweet coconut

Toss the cherries with 2 tsp. flour and set aside.
Combine the remaining flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and grated coconut together.
With a mixer, cream the butter and sugar together with the lemon zest. Add the eggs, one at a time and add the coconut extract. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to make sure it is all combined. Reduce the speed of the mixer and add the the flour mixture and coconut milk alternately, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.
Gently stir in the cherries.
Pour the mixture in a 8x8 inch square baking dish lined with foil and coated with cooking spray. Spread the top with the crumb topping.
Bake at 350F for 50-60 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes back clean.

I have to say that this is one cake I am looking forward to make on a weekly basis and adapt it to whatever I have in the fridge or pantry.
I hope it will make a nice addition to Rosa's Sunday Brunch Event .

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