Monatsarchive: February 2007

Cranberry And Cream Scones

08.02.2007 15 Comments

Warning: this post is about love!

I like to give my man a little extra attention in the morning because it is truly the only time of the day we can spend "uninterrupted"…you know how it goes, work, hobbies, friends, functions, for some kids and others pets, and before you know it the day is drawing to an end.
I was getting tired of our breakfast selections so when I saw Meeta's invite to her Monthly Mingle, I figured it would be a great way for me to show B. my love and appreciation with one of his favorites, scones. I felt bad the recipe called for heavy cream and butter so to alliviate any guilt I added dried cranberries…it’s good for the heart!

B. could not stop humming his way through the house knowing that he had those waiting for him this morning. After over 8 years of marriage, I am blessed by the fact that he thanks me for every meal or special treat I set out in front of him… I thank him for still opening the car door for me and making sure my tank is full. We are romantics in our own and geeky way. For example, we have a V-Day card contest every single year: who will be the one to give the most Valentine cards, romantic, funny, creepy, dorky, homemade,…. I think I went a little crazy this year…we’ll see!

Big silence of approval from B. regarding these scones and he asked for another batch next week…my heart can’t say no!

Cranberry and Cream Scones, adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Cream Scones:

Makes 8 large ones.

2/3 cup heavy cream

1 egg

2 cups flour

2 Tb sugar

1 Tb baking powder

pinch of salt

5 Tb. cold butter, cut in small morsels

extra sugar for rolling the dough

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350.
In a small bowl, whisk the cream and the egg. Set aside.
In a separate and larger bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Cut in the cold butter with a pastry blender, 2 forks or your fingers (my choice, I like to play with food), until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add the cranberries.
Mix in the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly with a spoon or again your hands. Do this fairly quickly to avoid over kneading the dough. Gather into a ball and pat on a sugared board. With a 3 inch cookie cutter, cut out 8 rounds.
Put them on a foil or parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake until golden brown.

Note: I like rolling the dough with sugar on my board and not extra flour. It coats the scones with a light crunch and prevents the dough from getting tough.

Creme Au Nutella and Macarons

06.02.2007 57 Comments

I don’t think I have confessed this here yet, but we are Nutella fanatics…us and about 95% of the world! On toast, croissant, brioche, scones, with a spoon, knife, fingers and when gone camping without utensils, with the other end of your toothbrush…never say never it might happen!
I remember letting out a little (ok, an over) excited "yes" when I read about Shelley and Sara co-project to celebrate Nutella Day and spread the love by including other bloggers (round up on the 7th). No way, I’d miss that!

I was reading one of the (many) magazines I brought back from France when I found this recipe and was first attracted by the picture, especially given my recent falling in love with everything in pretty glasses. I thought "hmm, wonder if I could do this cream with Nutella..", well duh! The recipe was for a "Creme au Nutella", I did play around with it and added whipped cream and a few macarons, you know, just for good composure! Well, actually the recipe for the cream calls for only egg yolks so you know what I am tempted to do when I have leftover whites!

Creme Au Nutella:

Serves 6

200 gr. dark chocolate (bittersweet)
1/4 cup Nutella

3 egg yolks
100 gr. sugar
3 cups heavy cream, divided
50 gr. powdered sugar

In a heavy saucepan, heat 2 cups of cream to boiling point. Remove from heat and stir the chocolate and Nutella. Let stand for a couple of minute. Stir until fully incorporated (like a ganache).
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until pale. Slowly stir the chocolate mixture whith the yolks and sugar. Return to the saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened, about 5 – 8 minutes, much like a pudding. Do not let this boil.Pour the cream in glasses or dishes and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
When ready to serve, whip the remaining cup of cream with the powdered sugar until soft peaks form and divide among the glasses.

Macarons Vanille and Nutella:

For the shells:
120 gr. egg whites, divided
35 gr. sugar
150 gr. finely ground almonds
150 gr. powdered sugar
For the boiling syrup:
150 gr. sugar and 50 gr. water

Sift the ground almonds and powdered sugar.
In a stand mixer, whip 60 gr. egg whites to soft peaks, add 35 gr. sugar.
In the meantime, in a saucepan on high heat bring the water and sugar for the syrup to 230 F. on a candy thermometer.Slowly add the boiling syrup to the egg whites and continue to whip on medium – high speed until they are completely cooled and you have a shiny meringue (10-15 minutes).
Mix the remaining 60 gr. of egg whites and the sifted almond/sugar and carefully fold into the meringue.
Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip with the mixture and pipe macarons about 3 inches in diameter on parchment paper lined baking sheet. You can let them sit at room temperature for 20 minutes if desired. This is often done to assure those little feet at the bottom but I found that I can skip this step with this recipe and still end up with the same result.
Bake at 320 for 15 minutes. Let cool.

For the Chocolate Nutella ganache:

Heat 1/2 cup of heavy cream to boiling point. Remove from heat and stir in 3/4 cup dark chocolate and 2 Tb. Nutella. Let stand 2 minutes. Stir until well incorporated.
Refrigerate until of spreadable consistency.
Fill the macarons shells … and eat!

Forgot to mention I added a layer of straight up Nutella at the bottom of each glass….

Lemon Surprises

05.02.2007 11 Comments

I really did not want to call these by their "real" name because of the ill sound it produces in my ear everytime I serve them to guests. They are "lemon sauce puddings"…uh…they are more like a cross between a mousse, a curd and a fallen souffle. They rise a tiny bit once in the oven, the top layer is a perfect tender mousse and when your spoon reaches the bottom you scoop out a nice lemon sauce/ curd. There are many versions of this dessert and the night I made these for guests, I noticed that Lisa posted one of them.

I found this particular one on a site that I love, Lex Culinaria, and the history behind them is as lovely as the outcome:

Lemon Surprises, adapted from Lex Culinaria:

preheat oven to 350F
juice and rind of 1 lemon
1 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
2 egg yolks
pinch salt
1 cup milk
2 egg whites, beaten until stiff but not dry peaks form

Sift together dry ingredients and combine with yolks. Add in milk, lemon juice and rind. Fold in beaten egg whites.
Spread batter in bottom of 4 ramequins and place baking dish inside a larger baking dish or roasting pan. Fill outer pan with hot water until the water comes halfway up the sides of the pudding dish. Place whole contraption in the oven and bake for 35 minutes.

Blogger Postcards Around The World #2 – Happy Valentine’s

03.02.2007 7 Comments

This is the second edition of this postcard exchange organized by the lovely and talented Meeta. It is extremely difficult to find a Valentine related postcard and since I make my own greeting cards, I decided to create this one for….sorry can’t say…! Let’s just say it has to travel some miles and a few ponds….!

Life has a way of getting in the middle of one’s best laid plans and I apologize if it took me a while to blog about it, the card was actually sent last week.

Food And Photography – Guest Posting

02.02.2007 58 Comments

Seeing my desserts through a lens, becoming the "director of photography" of my own baking ( and I say that in the lightest way possible, wink!)…I would have never thought I would enjoy it so much, live it so much and want to learn from professional food photographers. That’s why I have always refrained from answering readers' questions about food photography, (vast and subjective topic) but when Leemei from My Cooking Hut asked if I’d be interested to write about my experiences as a food blogger-photographer, I figured it was a sign I needed to sit down and do so.

We all blog differently, we all photograph differently and we all think about it differently, but in the end we all try to do something that is enjoyable and fulfilling for where we are at that moment in our life. Since some of you asked, I hope that you will take this guest post as it is: an account of my experiences and doings in "dessert photography" and not as a "photo 101". I leave that for the books and the pros, who will always be my source of inspiration.
Click for the photography guest post. Thank you Leemei for the opportunity!

That would be rude to leave you without a dessert and a recipe wouldn’t it? My photo subjects for the guest post were chocolate buttermilk cupcakes with cream cheese buttercream. No intense bubbling sugar or multi layer dessert. I know how to kick back and relax too!! Actually I live surrounded by cupcake fiends so once in a while, it feels good to let loose whilst in the middle of baking and photographing for the book. There is something really satisfying in a simple chocolate cupcake, whether it be unwrapping that mini cake or adding sprinkles to it. Something so essential and basic when you are solitary writing and baking, that it brings you back to reality in just a few bites. Especially when your little nephew asks "Auntie Helen, can you make me chocolate cupcakes with snow frosting and plenty of sprinkles on top?"….Ah the simple things are good….

Buttermilk Chocolate Cupcakes:
Makes about 18-20 depending on the size.

4 oz fine-quality semisweet chocolate
1 cups hot brewed coffee
2 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
2 tsp baking soda
¾ tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
¾ cup canola oil
1 ½ cups buttermilk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Lightly coat the inside of your cupcake wrappers with cooking spray. In a bowl, combine the chocolate and the hot coffee and let stand, stirring occasionally until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth, about 5 minutes. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. With your electric mixer, beat together the eggs and sugar until pale and thick (about 5 minutes). Slowly add the oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and the previously melted chocolate mixture to eggs/sugar mixture. Beat until well incorporated. Add the flour mixture in 3 increments and beat until smooth. Divide the batter among your cupcake liners and bake for about 25 minutes or until a knife or toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

For the cream cheese buttercream:
1 1/2 sticks (170 gr) butter at room temperature
4 oz (120gr) cream cheese, softened
3 egg whites
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
2 Tb water
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla paste or 1/2 vanilla bean split open and seeded.

In the bowl of stand mixer, whip the egg whites until they have soft peaks. In the meantime, combine 2 Tb water with the sugar to a boil in a heavy saucepan and bring the syrup to 250F. Slowly add the sugar syrup to the egg whites. If you use hand beaters, this is even easier and there is less hot syrup splatter on the side of your bowl and in the whisk attachment of the stand mixer. Continue to whip until the meringue is completely cooled. Slowly add the butter, one tablespoon at a time. The mass might curdle but no panic, continue to whip until it all comes together. Add the cream cheese, the same way, a little at a time until everything is smooth. Whisk in the vanilla extract, or paste or bean. Keep it in the fridge up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to a month.

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The second part of my interview with Anita for the release of her book "Field Guide To Cookies" is up in the latest edition of Desserts Magazine! Watch out now….it’s a whole issue of just cookies! Perfect for this month of gift giving. No, I don’t get a cent for promoting the magazine, I just get excited when I see quality work and passion shared for food and baking in particular. Sharing….it’s all about sharing. Now…go get Anita’s book ok?!!!

Chocolate Oatmeal Drops

02.02.2007 18 Comments

Having parted with the croissants after such a busy- frenzy -packed folding-rolling weekend (say 3 times fast), I needed something simple to bake and nibble on around the house. I brought back many books from France but I have not had the chance to sit down and really read them through so I picked up Dorie one more time because I was sure to find something homy and for which I would have all the ingredients on hand. So far her recipes have not failed me so my hopes were high and I have to say that one more time, she did not disappoint.
She describes these as "deeply and unswervingly chocolaty-closer to the chocolatiness of a brownie than of a cookie(…) a bit crips at the surface and oatmeal-and-brown-sugar chewy through and through." Could not have said it better. These are delicious and great for a chocoholic!

Chocolate Oatmeal Drops, adapted from Dorie Greenspan, "Baking, From My Home to Yours":

Makes about 50 cookies

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 sticks (8oz) butter

1 Tb. water

1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

9 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

Preheat oven to 350.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and cinnamon.

Set a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Put the butter in the bowl and add the water, then the brown sugar and the chocolate. Melt on low heat, stirring occasionally. Don’t let the ingredients get too hot, the mixture will remain grainy.

Remove from the heat and whisk in the eggs, one at a time. Whisk in the dry ingredients, then the oats. Do not stir too much.

Drop by tablespoonfuls on parchement paper lined baking sheet and bake for about 12 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool to room temp. The soft center will harden once the cookies are out of the oven.