Good Looking Buns!

Not one to particularly toot my own horn, I am ecstatic that these little buns make my blog look good!
Yes, I know you have already seen these pistachio and cranberry sticky buns back in September for a Daring Bakers' Challenge. Well, these little sticky gooey goodness of buns won me the Edibility Category in the latest edition of Does My Blog Look Good In This, hosted by Jennifer from Bake or Break.
Thank you to the judges and of course to Marce for picking up the recipe in the first place.

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Apple And Thyme: Pear Tart With Grandma And Mom

It's interesting how life comes at you full force, sometimes from people you don't even know.
A few weeks ago one member of the Daring Bakers, Inge, posted an event she was hosting to honor the women, be it moms or grandmothers (or any person special to us) who influenced us in the kitchen. The event, Apple and Thyme, was somewhat prompted by the fact that a blogging friend of hers, Jeni from the Passionate Palate, had just lost her mother to a long battle with cancer.

Losing is the right term when it comes to loved ones, especially mothers. You lose a bit of your essence, a small part of your flesh is ripped and your heart is taken away from away from you. The hurt and the pain diminish with time but never really go away. I am sorry that Jeni had to experience such a tragedy. I often think about the pain my own mother must feel day in day out after losing her own mother and it just breaks my heart. I can't think about a day without my mom, even though we do not talk on the phone everyday or even when sometimes we don't really like each other (hey, we all have our moods!). Jeni, I offer you my deepest condolences and thank you for reminding me to hug my mom, even if only in my dreams.

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know how deeply my grandmother has influenced my baking. She had that magical touch...you would come to visit and within half an hour the table was set with a wonderful spread of foods. It seemed almost effortless to her to come up with the most delicious foods. I used to believe my grandmother was this goddess of the kitchen, even when she was too frail from battling cancer. It's not that I thought less of my mother's cooking and baking, don't get me wrong, but I felt like my mother was showing me the ropes, the behind the scenes, while grandma was giving me the picture perfect, no mise-en-place necessary final product.

My mother is more of a cook than a baker but when she tackles the dough, man! She is good! Just as good as her own mother and I hope I am up to par with their talent. Most French house cooks and bakers do not make elaborate 5 courses meal or produce 3 layer mousse cakes every day of the week. We make yogurt cakes, chocolate mousses, clafoutis, flans, and tarts....lots of tarts!! I think the first item I ever baked was a tart, maybe a quiche, something with a crust, something with a filling, something with cream....and I got hooked, hence the blog name "Tartelette".... There is always a tart of some sort in the fridge...no lie. Well, except tonight because I finished the last slice of this one. I love the contrast between crust and filling, the endless possibilities of ingredients combination. If a tart had a cousin, it would be a salad: both can be as rustic or elaborate as you wish, both can make a meal (savory tart) or a side, both make use of seasonal produce or what is overripe in the fruit basket and both adapt to a myriad of cultures and cuisines.

I remember my mother and grandmother teaching me the A,B,Cs of tart doughs, "pate sablee, pate brisee, pate feuilletee" (shortbread, basic, puff pastry), and I grew up making my doughs from scratch every time. Even when the times brought packages of ready made tart dough at the grocery store, they were still making them from scratch most of the time. It always seemed funny to me to buy them only to have them remain in the fridge drawer. "Juste au cas ou" ...just in case. But again, "just in case" never usually happens in France...because nobody drops in "just like that"...we are a nation of planners you see, so there is always plenty of time to make dough...but that aspect of French culture is for another post. I have one of those pre-made dough in my fridge actually...and you know what? I think I ought to throw it away...it's been there for a while and probably will never get used...why? In my mind, there is nothing like homemade: it is neither labor nor time consuming and if you are really lazy, you can turn a dough in your food processor in less than 5 minutes. A little resting time, a little rolling and "hop" you're there...

For this particular tart to pay tribute to both my mother and grandmother I have chosen one of our favorite combination: pears and almonds. I miss you grandma and mom, and hope I make you proud everytime I step in and out of the kitchen.


Pear And Almond Tart

Makes one 10 inch tart.

Crust:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 Tbs sugar
1/2 cup chilled (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut in pieces
2 Tbs ice water
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

Place flour and sugar in the bowl of a food processor, and process for a few seconds. Add butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the ice water then the egg yolk, processing just until the dough holds together. Do not process for more than 30 seconds. Turn the dough out onto a work surface. Place on a sheet of plastic wrap. Flatten, and form into a disc. Wrap, and refrigerate at least 1 hour before using.
Preheat oven to 350F and blind bake the tart shells: roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, lay into tart shell, cover with parchment paper or foil, pour dry beans or pie weights on top and bake fro 15 minutes. Let cool before proceeding.

Filling:
2 large pears, peeled and cored, thinly sliced (I chose Comice for this tart)
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup ground almonds
1 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup slivered almonds

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and the sugar until pale. Whisk in the ground almonds, milk and cream. Pour into the cooled pie shell, leaving about a 1 inch border so that the batter does not overflow when you arrange the ears on top. Arrange the pear slices over the top and sprinkle with the slivered almonds. Bake at 350 until golden brown, do not worry if it still wiggles a bit in the middle, the custard will keep on setting once removed from the oven. Serve warm or at room temperature...oh heck! Eat it anyway you want, it is darn good even cold!!

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Deconstructed Coconut Cream Pie For A Special Friend

I wanted to post this yesterday but somehow I kept starting over and over again, never satisfied with the angle I chose to tell you the story behind this dessert....the post itself is as deconstructed as the dish itself, much like the great story that goes along with it. So forgive me if this post has "ni queue ni tete" (literally "no tail nor head").

How did this dessert come about? If you have been following this little blog of mine this summer, you have read me say that the house was constantly filled with guests, good times, laughter, good eating and of course good drinking. The hotel Tartelette is now empty and it feels somewhat strange to have an evening by myself, starring at the dog who has been spoiled with so much petting! Our last guest was my very bestest friend Tim, aka Trouble coming to enjoy the last bit of sunshine before he'd have to face the cold weather of Cincinnati. We met while working at the same restaurant downtown. As the pastry chef, I always had the waiters try the special dessert of the day or refresh their memory with an item from the current menu. The rest of the kitchen crew used to love to butthead with them and I figured I could bring a little TLC with a bite of chocolate cake. Well, under Tim's lead, there were a few of them endlessly coming back for seconds, which always resulted in getting me in trouble with the rest of the kitchen crew, hence his nickname. They were worse than a group of women on Midol with their sweet tooth, but what was I to do in front of killer smiles and batting eyelashes?!! We became instant friends, that was over 7 years ago and we have remained thick as thieves ever since. He's seen me happy, in love, upset and has always lifted my spirits up. The first time I met him, I found him rather...hmm..how can I say?..."deconstructed"? He thinks a million thoughts a minute, has many interests in completely unrelated fields, he's been all over the place, and it seems that between the two of us, we are making a point at trying every job under the sun!! I have to add that it seems that we are both growing up lately and "deconstructed", although never a derogative term for him, is less of a personality trait these days.

As a "thank you" for putting him up for the weekend, he took us out to a renowned restaurant in town, Tristan. It was late Sunday evening so we were the only table in the dining room and enjoyed the spa treatment given by our waiter and hostess(es). Upon perusing the extensive food and wine menus we opted to have a table covered with appetizers as they sounded far more interesting and researched than the entrees and enjoyed a selection of 8-10, plus wine (both bottles made my hiney tingle...it was that good!). Hickory smoked lamb ribs with barbecue chocolate sauce, foie gras with pear and brie panini, Point Reyes cheese and huckleberries preserve, veal sweetbreads in perigueux sauce and truffle crust were among my favorites. But you know by now that I was really dying to sample the desserts! I was really dying to try the Spiced Beignets with coconut emulsion, Chinese five spice and passion fruit curd, but they were sold out...hmmmhmm. We combined our penchant for sweets and ordered the Warm Black Forest Cake with Kirsch spiked chocolate sauce and sour cherry chutney and a giant Citrus Panna Cotta on top of lemon curd and drenched in fragrant lemon-basil oil. I think this one never left my sight and I left the two boys with the chocolate. I am telling you...give me lemon and cream and I am happy!! Best panna cotta ever....

Ok, still nothing that relates to the Deconstructed Coconut Cream Pie of this post...well...Now I am getting to it. Between the appetizers and desserts, our waiter brought us a little palate cleanser: a tiny scoop of strawberry-kiwi sorbet....plated in the same cups you see in the pictures. All our dishes were brought forward in the most beautiful, so-great-for-blog-posts dishes that I wanted to keep several. I hung on tight to my little sorbet dish (per Trouble suggestion) thinking the waiter would forget about it but alas he removed it when I reached for my wine (darn French me!)....B. suggested we asked if we could purchase a couple for my blog, pictures, etc...brilliant! I asked how much they would charge me for one set and when I heard "5 bucks a piece", I exclaimed "Pack me up 3 please!!". Since Tim almost got me in trouble (I am telling you) for keeping one, he bought these for me as a hostess gift and a pack of Haribo strawberries for B. for almost putting his lovely Tartelette in jail!!

To properly thank Mr. Trouble for making my blog look good, I wanted to make one of his favorite desserts, coconut cream pie using my new dishes and I thought a deconstructed version would work best in this case. I did not have the chance to do it before he left, so it is a virtual taste for him, sorry! The recipe makes more than my three little dishes, so I assembled a larger one and took it over to the neighbours. If you know me a little from this blog, you have read me mention that B. can't stand coconut, the shreds, not the flavor....so guess who was left to enjoy these....me, once again getting me in trouble with my skinny jeans and my love/hate relationship with the treadmill. Sheeesh...!

So after what is the longest post in the history of Tartelette, I give you Tim's Deconstructed Coconut Pie...Enjoy!!

Deconstructed Coconut Cream Pie, inspired by this one:

Serves 8

3 cups half-and-half
2 eggs
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup flaked coconut, toasted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 portion of Martha Stewart Pate Brisee ( I make the whole thing and refrigerate the other portion for other tarts or quiches)
2 Tb. sugar

In a medium saucepan, combine half-and-half, eggs, sugar, flour and salt. Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in 3/4 cup of the coconut and the vanilla extract. Pour into serving dishes and chill 2 to 4 hours, or until firm.
In the meantime roll out the dough to 1/8 inch thick, with cookie cutters , cut out different shape. Lay them flat on a parchment lined baking sheets, sprinkle with the sugar and bake at 350 F. until golden brown (10 minutes). When ready to serve, sprinkle the remaining coconut over the dishes and stick a couple of dough shapes in them.

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White Chocolate Pots De Creme And Hibiscus Flowers

Nothing much going on in the kitchen right now as my work life as taken a somewhat unexpected turn. Well, ok, I knew changes were coming, I was not sure of the timing so it's been a pretty stressful week to say the least. I did fulfill the orders I had for cakes and other desserts but that's about it. What I did find time to do was those little ramequins of white chocolate pots de creme (cream pots, literally) adorned with dried hibiscus flowers.

When I visited Lisa a couple of weeks ago, I asked her (ok, begged) to take me back to Sur La Table and Trader Joe's to get the few things I had noticed from my previous trip there. Among the items I was coveting were those little ramequins (about 3 inches long and 1.5 inch wide) and dried sweetened hibiscus flowers. Why? Because both were pretty ad would photograph well, and I was curious to the taste of the dried fruit. B, brought back a large supply of the dried buds to make tea from a previous trip to Egypt and I fell in love with the deep red/pink color as well as its slight tart taste. Turns out the flowers taste just like dried cranberries....yum!
For more elaborated posts (and because no one tells a story like Lisa) about Mary's and my trip, go to Lisa's blog where you will get the full report of our adventures.

One evening last weekend, while we had company over ( and boy, did we have fun), I was craving the comfort of white chocolate. Yes, I admit it, and chocolate purists can throw a stone at me, I like white chocolate. Can't stand to eat it on its own, but I love incorporating it into desserts. The guys had plenty to munch on, brownies, cake....but I needed white chocolate...I needed soft and creamy and I needed a perk of flavor and tartness. So while the boys were grilling, I started the creams and by the time we were getting cozy on the patio with coffee, the creams were ready! While a little on the rich side, the ramequins are small enough to provide the perfect 4 bites serving. Wait until serving time to set the dried hibiscus flowers on top or they will start to bleed after a couple of days in the fridge. The verdict? Well, we fought over the last one...that should tell you something!


White Chocolate Pots de Creme, adapted from Death by Chocolate, by Marcel Desaulniers:

1 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup whole milk

12 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped

6 egg yolks

Combine the cream and milk in a heavy bottom, 2 quart saucepan. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Bring the water in a double boiler to a simmer. Place the chocolate in the top half and stir with a rubber spatula until melted. Whisk the egg yolks into the melted chocolate. Slowly pour the boiling cream mixture into the chocolate, whisking constantly. Bring to a temperature of 160 degrees, about 3 1/2 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a stainless steel bowl. Cool in an ice bath, stirring constantly with a wire whisk to a temperature of 90 degrees F., about 4 to 5 minutes. Evenly divide the mixture into 8 small pot de creme forms or glass custard cups. Cover each with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours to set before serving.

Bostini Cream Pie: The Daring Bakers Take A Classic For Spin

I can't believe it has already been a month since our last Daring Bakers' challenge, and once again I had such a good time getting this one done. I got the greatest opportunity of all by making it in my kitchen with my mom beside me....It is quite special since we don't get to cook or bake together much often since I left France. Mom laughed when we were done putting it together because she felt she was not doing much. Since I move rather fast and I know where all my utensils are, I get around quicker but I really appreciated the help she provided by handing me the ingredients, weighing everything, washing the dishes and most of all being there with me in the same room, chatting about nothing and everything at once. I can't begin to tell you how much I loved the moments spent reminiscing about my grandmother or her teaching me how to make my first dough or chocolate mousse.

Mary, from my Alpineberry (one of my first blog reads) and our host for October chose a recipe that took a classic looking Boston Cream Pie and turned it into a completely 100% deliciously buttery and creamy: a Bostini Cream Pie. Eggs a plenty, heavy cream flowing like a river...everything to make your Tartelette a happy gal! Working with that many eggs, can be daunting for new cooks and bakers but remember to temper your egg yolks for the custard (adding some hot liquid to them so they get acclimated to the temperature rise) and folding in 2 or 3 times the egg whites for the sponge. Once to thin out the cake mixture thus making more susceptible to the texture change when you incorporate the rest of the whites. Eggs are fussy but when you get the basics, they really are just as sweet as the cake they make.

This Bostini Cream Pie is a soft orange chiffon sponge set on a pool of vanilla flavored custard and covered with a buttery dark chocolate glaze. I am thankful that Mary allowed us to change the cake flavor while keeping it light colored. I immediately went for coconut water. I have become addicted to this over the summer as it was the only thing I could put in my stomach before and after an outdoor run in the morning. The chiffon sponge turned out beautiful and this is by far the best recipe I have used for chiffons and believe me I have gone through many a recipe for that airy, soft not mushy texture. Beside its health benefits, it is colorless, has a nice toasty coconut flavor that get very mellow while bakes, which gave plenty of space for the custard to shine through. And what a custard! I rarely make custard sauce with that many egg yolks or rich heavy cream, and now I know why....there was barely enough for the dinner time plating!! I used vanilla paste, since all my vanilla beans are flavoring my vodka to make extract and oh my god....B. had to hide the bowl away from me and mom!! The custard was quite thick enough that I was able to plate a cake round (3 inches) on top of the custard set in a pastry ring and refrigerated it, unmolded and had a short time to photograph it before it fell apart in contact with my spoon. The part I liked the least was the chocolate glaze, equal parts chocolate and butter and that was a little too much butter for me..oh I can't believe I just wrote that but it was. I would have preferred a light ganache, but I have had Boston Cream Pies before that featured both styles so I guess I could "push" myself t eat them anyway (ahahahaha... "push", eheheh!!)

I am also thankful to Mary for giving us creative license with the plating of the Bostini. The first night with my parents I used a cookie cutter and cut out 3-4 inches circles out of the sponge (baked in a 9x13 inch pan). The remaining servings were set in different sized and shaped glasses to be taken to a dinner party down the street. When I make the recipe again, and notice I did not say "when", I will halve it if it is for us or a small dinner party or keep it the same if I know I have more than a dozen guests (if I use 3 inches diameter cookie cutters again)


Bostini Cream Pie
(from Donna Scala & Kurtis Baguley of Bistro Don Giovanni and Scala's Bistro)
Makes 8 generous servings

INGREDIENTS:

Custard

3/4 cup whole milk
2 3/4 tablespoons cornstarch
1 whole egg, beaten
9 egg yolks, beaten
3 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 vanilla bean ( I used 1 tsp. vanilla bean)
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar

Chiffon Cake

1 1/2 cups cake flour
3/4 cup superfine sugar
1 1/3 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup beaten egg yolks (3 to 4 yolks)
3/4 cup fresh orange juice (I used coconut water)
1 1/2 tablespoons grated orange zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup egg whites (about 8 large)
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Chocolate Glaze

8 ounces semi or bittersweet chocolate
8 ounces unsalted butter

To prepare the custard:

Combine the milk and cornstarch in a bowl; blend until smooth. Whisk in the whole egg and yolks, beating until smooth. Combine the cream, vanilla bean and sugar in a saucepan and carefully bring to a boil. When the mixture just boils, whisk a ladleful into the egg mixture to temper it, then whisk this back into the cream mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Strain the custard and pour into 8 large custard cups. Refrigerate to chill.

To prepare the chiffon cakes:

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spray 8 molds with nonstick cooking spray. You may use 7-ounce custard cups, ovenproof wide mugs or even large foil cups. Whatever you use should be the same size as the custard cups.
Sift the cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add the oil, egg yolks, orange juice, zest and vanilla. Stir until smooth, but do not overbeat.

Beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Gently fold the beaten whites into the orange batter. Fill the sprayed molds nearly to the top with the batter.
Bake approximately 25 minutes, until the cakes bounce back when lightly pressed with your fingertip. Do not overbake. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack. When completely cool, remove the cakes from the molds. Cover the cakes to keep them moist.

To prepare the glaze:
Chop the chocolate into small pieces. Place the butter in a saucepan and heat until it is just about to bubble. Remove from the heat; add the chocolate and stir to melt. Pour through a strainer and keep warm.

To assemble:
Cut a thin slice from the top of each cake to create a flat surface. Place a cake flat-side down on top of each custard. Cover the tops with warm chocolate glaze. Serve immediately.

Or layer the custard, cake and glaze in glasses or cups.

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Waiter There Is Something In My...Butterscotch Mascarpone Cream Layer Cake!

It seems like an eternity since I have participated in a WTSIM event, and that is not for lack of ideas, recipes or just plain desire to get in the kitchen and cook, but pure and simple lack of time. Oh sure, there are lots of baking going on in the house, but with all the visitors we have had lately I rely on tried and true, easy to come together desserts, most of which have already been published here...except this one Butterscotch Mascarpone Cream Cake.....And it has been a long time coming believe me!

Let's see if I can make a long story short about that one (can I do that?!)...When I first visited Lisa last July, she had received a an issue from the magazine Wicked, a special publication from The Australian Women's Weekly dedicated to pastries and sweets. I remember looking at every recipe and drooling over them and the pictures. Her printer had a little malfunction that time, believe me it was all my fault, I just have to stare at anything plugged or battery operated for it to break down,....anyway, life took over and we both forgot about the pages I had marked in the magazine. This time around though, I went ahead and copied them by hand. I always do that, not that I don't trust the machine, but over the years I have developed my own recipe writing pattern, especially if I am at someone's house or the library and have minimal space to write them on. Back home this week, I quickly flipped my notebook to the Butterscotch Cake recipe..what's not to love in caramel, mascarpone and tender flaky cake? Nothing, trust me!!

I thought it was also a tasty cake to add to Waiter There Is Something In My ....Layered Cakes, hosted this month by Andrew from Spittoon Extra


Butterscotch Mascarpone Cream Layer Cake:

Serves 10-12

For the Cake:
250 gr. butter, softened
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1 Tb. honey
1 1/4 self rising flour (I used 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour and 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder)
1/2 cup milk

Cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at time. Add the honey and flour. Add the milk slowly and mi until combined. Pour into 2 8-inch cake pans and bake at 350F for 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool and unmold. Cut each cake in half.

For the Mascarpone Cream:
250 gr. mascarpone, at room temperature
300 ml. heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Whip the heavy cream and sugar to soft peaks. Fold it into the mascarpone and spread 1/4 on one cake layer, repeat with all the cake layers, finishing with the cream on top.

For the Butterscotch Sauce:
60 gr. butter
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Heat the butter, sugar and milk until dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the powdered sugar, stir until smooth.

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