gluten free

Saffron Pumpkin Macarons

30.09.2008 102 Comments

All summer long upon entering the grocery store I would grab a basket, stop at the sushi counter, pass by the salad bar, turn the corner and with my eyes closed reach in the plum and nectarine display to my left. The most visible display as you enter the store. All summer long, I would pick three of each and make a beeline for the cherries and the figs before resuming with the rest of the items on my list. Summer reached an end. Pears replaced cherries and figs turned into dates. Expected.

I still went to the store and turned the same corners, walked down the same aisles even when Autumn pointed its lovely little chilly mornings (well, for about 3 days). Last week, as I walked by the main display and reached for the plums and nectarines, I found myself holding three decorative mini gourds instead. "C’est quoi cette histoire?" What is going on? Well I really said "quesaco", Provencal for the same expression which attracted a different set of puzzled looks. After the courgettes and aubergines, the kid working at the produce section thought I was asking about a specific gourd and was already running to the back room. I feel that if I am still around at 80-90 years old, I will become that "odd lady", the ghost of the grocery store. Seriously…let’s hope I am not that "creepy odd lady".

With the summer produce moved to the back of the store, it was time I gave those little pumpkins a whirl and let Fall sit at the kitchen table while I bake and write. There are days it is difficult to wax poetic about a cherry dessert for the book when the aromas of mulled wine and apple cider are coming from next door. We still do not have anything that resembles Fall here but we like to practice. We gather wood, we make pretty piles, we shop for scarves and try to knit. We get in the spirit even if we can’t wear our coats. We get excited with the first whisper of Northern wind.

I am doing just that. I bought a few mini pumpkins and gourds and turned them into votives, set them on the dining room table to set the mood. I cooked the flesh down and was left with about half a cup, which was a little too little for pumpkin pie. I thought about mixing it with some cream cheese to make a couple of small cheesecakes. While rummaging through the fridge, I spotted a container of egg whites, and the package of saffron, next to the almonds. The fridge was making the recipe up for me, signs of macarons everywhere!! I needed a little snack to take next door to our weekly neighbors' gathering and was not sure how the concoction forming in my head would be received. I settled on lightly infused saffron shells with a simple cream cheese and pumpkin filling with just a touch of cloves.

In the past year, a lot of people have started to make macarons on a more regular basis and the first remark I read for first timers is how surprisingly very sweet they are. Ah, yes…I guess we forgot to tell you…they are! That’s why they are small, sold individually or in small box and are best shared with a group of friends. Back home, we eat one with coffee or tea, not like a handfull animal crackers in the middle of the afternoon, not that there is anything wrong with that. Hence, I like to use a slightly less sweet filling and cream cheese is fantastic in that regard and works great with all sorts of flavors.

The second most frequently asked question is what is the best way to pipe even shells all the time. When you do macarons regularly, it becomes difficult not to. Your hands repeat the motions. Over the years, your wrists have registered the nuances and your hands repeat the motion. I always write back the same thing "Hold your tip at a 45 degree angle. Press the filling through your pastry bag from the top down . Practice, practice, practice". Some people are ingenious and smart thinkers and tediously trace circles on parchment paper, invert the sheet, pipe and bake. That takes time and patience. Maybe it is a reason why people make macarons once and never again? On top of the required nut grinding, meringue folding just so…there is piping even circles so they can be paired up aesthetically and not look like distant cousins.

Guess what? Somebody has come up with the solution for you. No…not me. Her. When Helena first posted about macarons, I noticed a sheet full of macaron shell imprints and told her that many macarons novices would probably love to use such a tool to make even shells on their first tries. She graciously replicated her template and came up with two shell sizes available to download and print. Ok, so even if I don’t "need" a template, I love crafty people and things, so you know I had to give these a try!! She also added a set of diagonal patterns for trained sticklers (no offense, I am there). I printed out both templates on card stock paper, sneaked one sheet under my parchment paper and piped, slid the template away and baked the shells. Easy peasy! Thank you Helena! One more difficulty out of the way for those tempted to try macarons….

Saffron Pumpkin Macarons:

Makes 12-18 macarons, depending size

Note: I did whip the egg whites with the saffron together without a problem, but if you fear that your whites might not foam up properly because the saffron has taken on moisture or oiliness, ground the almonds with the saffron instead and proceed with the recipe as written.

Saffron shells:
3 egg whites (about 90 gr)
1/2 tsp saffron
40 gr granulated sugar
200 gr powdered sugar
110 gr almonds

For the whites: the day before (24hrs), separate your eggs and store the whites at room temperature in a covered container. If you want to use 48hrs (or more) egg whites, you can store them in the fridge. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam with the saffron, gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue. Do not overbeat your meringue or it will be too dry and your macarons won’t work.
Combine the almonds and powdered sugar in a food processor and give them a good pulse until the nuts are finely ground. Pass through a sieve.
Add them to the meringue, give it a quick fold to break some of the air and then fold the mass carefully until you obtain a batter that flows like magma or a thick ribbon. Give quick strokes at first to break the mass and slow down.
The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes. Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flattens on its own you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple of turns.
Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (Ateco #807 or #809) with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper lined baking sheets.
Preheat the oven to 300F. Let the macarons sit out for 30 minutes to an hour to harden their shells a bit and bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on their size. Let cool.
If you have trouble removing the shells, pour a couple of drops of water under the parchment paper while the sheet is still a bit warm and the macarons will lift up more easily do to the moisture. Don’t let them sit there in it too long or they will become soggy. Once baked and if you are not using them right away, store them in an airtight container out of the fridge for a couple of days or in the freezer.

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Filling:
2 oz (60gr) cream cheese, at room temperature
2 oz (60gr) freshly cooked or canned pumpkin
1/8 tsp ground cloves

In a medium bol, mix the cream cheese, pumpkin and cloves until completely incorporated.
Fill a pastry bag with this mixture and pipe onto half the shells and top with another shell.

This is my submission to Root Source Challenge #35: Saffron.

Note: the first picture is me in an apron made by Holly of PheMomenon.

Gluten Free And Vegan Daring Bakers' Challenge

27.09.2008 124 Comments

It is indeed a first in the history of the Daring Bakers, a gluten free and vegan challenge! Since being a Daring Baker in December 2006, I have seen the group grow by leaps and bounds, with members from all walks of life partaking in our monthly bake-offs. I know it is daunting at times for some Daring Bakers to adapt recipes to fit their dietary lifestyles and I always marvel at how creative and resourceful gluten free and vegan members are. I was really excited to see that our hostesses this month, Natalie from Gluten A Go Go, and co-host Shelly, of Musings From the Fishbowl, chose Lavash Crackers from Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice: Mastering The Art of Extraordinary Bread.

Natalie being a gluten free baker asked us to challenge ourselves and make the crackers gluten free while Shel asked us to come up with vegan dips and spreads to go along. Being a ubber cool group, we still had the choice to make them with regular flour if gluten free baking did not appeal to us. I welcomed both challenges with open arms! Indeed, there are quite a few gluten free eaters among our friends and family members and I can always stretch my gf baking repertoire. Coming up with vegan dips and spreads was a good opportunity to try a couple of different ingredients, but furthermore really understand and appreciate many people put behind being vegan.

The past month has been quite busy and full of twists and turns and I did not get to make the dough until Wednesday afternoon. I used a gluten free baking mix by Bob…..and realised after the first rise that had forgotten to add xanthan gum to the dough which acts like gluten in baked goods and helps stretch and relax the dough. I did not even bother rolling that one out, waited until Thursday to go buy some xanthan gum and started again. The quantities are so small here that I mixed the dough by hand and left it to rise, rolled it paper thin, baked and then broke it to shards. I rolled the dough into one large baking sheet and topped 1/4 with sesame seeds, 1/4 with grated Tonka Beans, 1/4 with cinnamon sugar and the last quarter was brushed with agave syrup and half a vanilla bean, seeded. The smells that were invading the house made it hard to resist not breaking into it as soon as it came out of the oven!!

For the toppings, our hostesses gave us complete freedom with only one rule: it had to be vegan. I was really interested to see how some of my favorites would turn if made vegan and with the tremendous array of choices and progress made in vegan foods, I was able to serve the crackers with a vegan salted butter caramel sauce, a vegan caramel cheesecake in a jar spread and my now favorite lemon balm infused berry salad. I love salted butter caramel anything, not being a fashion victim but I grew up on that stuff!

The salted butter caramel sauce is an adaptation of my favorite sauce and the only problem encountered was that it took a longer time for the butter and sugar to come to a caramel color and consistency but the rest was the same. I used Earth Balance butter and soy creamer instead of their regular counterparts and added some Fleur de Sel for the salty factor. I could taste a difference from the original, sure can’t say it’s the "real thing" but it came out pretty darn close and what mattered is that I was able to make one of my vegan neighbors very very happy!!

The vegan caramel cheesecake is also an adaptation and was easy to make using Ener-G Egg Replacer and vegan cream cheese (Tofutti brand). I divided the batter between four jam/jelly jars and added some salted butter caramel sauce at the bottom. I have to say that B. thought it was "different but worth eating" and I loved it.

The berry salad is nothing new but since I made this lemon balm berry salad, it has been on rotation at the house and for dinner parties with the neighbors. It works just like a savory salsa with the crackers and is great for a little 4 o’clock pick me up with a cup of tea.

Thank you Natalie an Shelly for this opportunity to bake gluten free and vegan! It was a blast! Check out the others' creations here.

Gluten Free Lavash Crackers:

Makes one sheet pan:

1 1/2 cups (6.75 oz) unbleached bread flour or gluten free flour blend (If you use a blend without xanthan gum, add 1 tsp xanthan or guar gum to the recipe)
1/2 tsp (.13 oz) salt
1/2 tsp (.055 oz) instant yeast
1 Tb (.75 oz) agave syrup or sugar
1 Tb (.5 oz) vegetable oil
1/3 to 1/2 cup + 2 Tb (3 to 4 oz) water, at room temperature
Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, or kosher salt for toppings

In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt yeast, agave, oil, and just enough water to bring everything together into a ball. You may not need the full 1/2 cup + 2 Tb of water, but be prepared to use it all if needed.
For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Knead for about 10 minutes, or until the ingredients are evenly distributed. The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), satiny to the touch, not tacky, and supple enough to stretch when pulled. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
For Gluten Free Cracker Dough: The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), and slightly tacky. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
Ferment at room temperature for 90 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size. (You can also retard the dough overnight in the refrigerator immediately after kneading or mixing).
For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Mist the counter lightly with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. Press the dough into a square with your hand and dust the top of the dough lightly with flour. Roll it out with a rolling pin into a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. You may have to stop from time to time so that the gluten can relax. At these times, lift the dough from the counter and wave it a little, and then lay it back down. Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap while it relaxes. When it is the desired thinness, let the dough relax for 5 minutes. Line a sheet pan with baking parchment. Carefully lift the sheet of dough and lay it on the parchment. If it overlaps the edge of the pan, snip off the excess with scissors.
For Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Lay out two sheets of parchment paper. Divide the cracker dough in half and then sandwich the dough between the two sheets of parchment. Roll out the dough until it is a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. Slowly peel away the top layer of parchment paper. Then set the bottom layer of parchment paper with the cracker dough on it onto a baking sheet.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Mist the top of the dough with water and sprinkle a covering of seeds or spices on the dough (such as alternating rows of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, kosher or pretzel salt, etc.) Be careful with spices and salt – a little goes a long way. If you want to precut the cracker, use a pizza cutter (rolling blade) and cut diamonds or rectangles in the dough. You do not need to separate the pieces, as they will snap apart after baking. If you want to make shards, bake the sheet of dough without cutting it first.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crackers begin to brown evenly across the top (the time will depend on how thinly and evenly you rolled the dough).
When the crackers are baked, remove the pan from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. You can then snap them apart or snap off shards and serve.

Vegan Salted Butter Caramel Sauce:
240 gr. sugar (1 1/4 cups)
80 ml water
115 gr vegan butter (1 stick)
150 ml vegan creamer
1 1/2 tsp Fleur de sel

In a heavy saucepan set over low heat, combine the sugar and water and heat just until the sugar is dissolved. Add the butter. Let it come to a boil and cook until it reaches a golden caramel color (takes between 25-35 minutes), stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and add the creamer ( it will splatter and get crazy, but do not fear and trust the recipe). Whisk to combine and put back on the stove. Let it come to a boil again over low heat and cook 10-15 minutes until you reach a nice creamy consistency. Remove from the heat, add the salt and stir until melted. Keeps for about 2 weeks.

Vegan Caramel Cheesecake In a Jar:
1/2 cup salted butter caramel sauce
8 oz vegan cream cheese, at room temperature
1 Tb. vegan butter
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tb. Egg-Replacer mixed with 1/4 cup water

Divide the caramel sauce between 4 small jam jars. Set aside.
In a large bowl, with the electric mixer or by hand , mix the cream cheese, butter and sugar. Add the egg replacer mixture and beat until well incorporated.
Divide the batter among the 4 jars. Set them in a roasting pan and fill with water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the jars. Bake at 300F for 20-30 minutes. Let cool completely before refrigerating or serving.

Lemon Balm Infused Berry Salad:
Click here for the recipe.

Saffron And Vanilla Poached Pears

18.09.2008 99 Comments

It has been really hot and muggy in the last week or so, nothing unusual in our area but we all took it as the usual sign of upcoming rain and thunderstorms. I don’t mind hot and I don’t mind rain, I actually don’t mind hot rain…I dislike the few hours before the sky falls open. The dogs seem to pair up and want out every thirty minutes although they just stand there noses up to the air.

Three days a week I work almost completely from home so they "know" that they will be taken out, played with, petted and loved all this in between cracking a few many eggs and rolling out pastry dough. I get up early and start baking or writing depending on what has not been done the day before and they lie around, right outside the kitchen. When the smell of the coffee brewing reaches their snouts, they suddenly jolt up and want out. Out of the five households in our little custer around the curve, 3 of us work from home while looking over kids or animals. It is not unusual for us to be in our yards, still in our jammies sipping coffee and making sleepy small talk.

Except this morning. This morning was one of those morning you want your entire body to feel, your entire soul to take in. You want mornings like this to enter your pores and breathe inside you for as long as you can take it. This morning, I felt the dew under my bare feet. Not the one you want to capture when you know the day is going to be blistering hot, no, it was harsh and delightfully unsettling. This morning, I felt goosebumps along my arms and legs, and a whiff of cold air brought the feeling of a season trying to change. The dogs started bumping around the yard, excited by all these new scents and sensations. I started taping my feet in the dewy grass, knowing full well it would be another couple of months before we’d get another morning like this, all chilly and wet, all grassy and autumnal. If only I could be a painter of scents….

We all went back upstairs and resumed our activities, baking for me, and you guessed it, sleeping for them. While I was going down my baking to do list, I could not shake away that feeling I had earlier in the yard. It was inspiring and humbling at the same time. Nature does its thing and we just happen to be in the middle of it. So after I was done with half the "to-dos", I tried to recapture the flavors I sensed earlier.

Pears seemed perfect by in their femininity and yet firm and assertive natural scent. Vanilla, the smell of a lazy embrace. Saffron, the dewy grass under my feet. Poached….well because we were about to get soaked!! This is a most easy dessert yet rich in flavors, leaving you with nothing with goosebumps. I realize that vanilla beans and saffron are not cheap ingredients. I was very lucky that my mom sent a care package with a bag of vanilla beans and that Veronica shared some of her saffron with me for my birthday back in May. Like most people, we are on a budget but I like to save a little and invest in the "real" thing once in a while. It might seem trivial during our strange economic times to spend extras on more expensive food items, but that is really between you and….you! I am bumm….people send me care package… 🙂 On a serious note, if you want to try this without the vanilla beans and saffron, use 2 Tb pure vanilla extract and the juice of one orange (blood orange if you can) in the poaching liquid and you will still have an excellent dessert.

Saffron And Vanilla Poached Pears:

Serves 4

4 cups water
1 vanilla bean
1 to 2 teaspoons saffron
3/4 cup (170 gr) sugar
juice of one lemon
4 pears

– Peel the pears and sprinkle them with the lemon juice and set them aside while you prepare the poaching liquid.
Note: I don’t core the pears in this dessert, I would do it if they were filled, I like eating around the core but feel free to do so.
– In a large pot or deep saucepan, combine the water, saffron and sugar. Split open the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds out of the pod with a paring knife. Add the seeds and pods to the water and sugar mixture. Bring to boil over medium high heat, stirring a couple of times to make sure the sugar is dissolved. Bring down to a simmer and add the pears with the lemon juice.
– Cover the pot and cook the pears 10-12 minutes, turning them halfway through to make sure they cook evenly and all the way through (insert a toothpick to check).
– Remove the pears from the liquid and set them aside in deep serving plates or small ramequins.
– Simmer the poaching liquid until it reduces by half, about 10 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean and pour the syrup over the pears and serve either hot or room temperature.
I like mine plain but fee free to add some ice cream or whipped cream.

Red Berry Macarons

06.09.2008 88 Comments

More berries! It’s not that I won’t find stone fruits and other summer fruits living in a Southern state, it’s just that they will probably taste bland and by the time Fall hits, I know my baking mind will be ready for apples and pears. I have been freezing and preserving a ton these past few days so if I get a craving for juicy roasted peaches and creme anglaise in the middle of November, one trip to the freezer and I am set!

Friday afternoon when B. went to put bottles of water in the freezer as part of our preparations for Tropical Storm Hanna, he was amazed to find the bottom drawer full of halved peaches, halved plums, raspberries, blueberries, watermelon for quick sorbet, not to mention doughs of various kinds, etc… Tucked in a corner he noticed a small box with a few red berry macarons that I had saved "just" for him. He exclaimed "It almost makes me wish we lost power with that storm!" to which I replied "take a peak out the window and tell me that with a straight face!". We live on a tidal creek, our house is 12 feet off the ground so if the water keeps getting up into the yard with the midnight tide, we might get up to see a natural pool in the garage. I took hour by hour pictures this afternoon as I was cooped inside baking and making soup. A tropical storm calls for chocolate cake don’t you think?

Why keep macarons in the freezer? Well, last weekend our friend D. came over and helped me out of a little situation and as a thank you I made her and her husband some macarons for their get together on Labor Day. I tell you what, there are many special moments in life but getting together with close friends, grilling, chilling, playing croquet and eating macarons is definitely one of them! Hard to think that this beautiful sunny day would lead to such a downfall of rain by friday, but such is Mother Nature. It is a very humbling feeling to know that one only can surrender to its plan and go with the flow. It’s kind of appeasing to me, in a weird sort of way. I saw people giving in that collective movement of stress all day long, at the store, the gas station and I just wanted to go up to them and offer them a macaron to help them relax! I think I’ll need a truckload of macarons if we get a hurricane this season (knock on wood real quick, thank you!).

Since I had a lot of egg whites left from making ice cream and other custards, I made a double batch of macarons, filled them and tucked the away in the freezer, well wrapped for when a little cravings hits us these stormy days. I did do my little rituals of turning the fridge and freezer to the lowest settings and hopefully we won’t lose power for long if at all. Our hosts this past Labor Day love chesecakes and that was the inspiration for the filling, a cream cheese buttercream with a center of quick raspberry and redcurrant jelly. I call it "quick jelly" because it is not a jelly in the traditional sense of the term, it does not cook for long and contains gelatin to help it set, as well as the whole berries and not just their juice. I needed a small quantity for the macarons, hence the rapid method instead of the whole jelly making and ensuing canning. Feel free to subsitute with your favorite berry jam, homemade or not.

I get quite a few emails about macarons and I do not consider myself an authority in the matter, there are indeed quite a few bloggers sharing the same passion, and a quick Google search can quickly lend to macaron heaven as far as choices. I do recommend reading the tutorial in Desserts Magazine: not because I wrote it but because I tried to gather a lot of tips, ideas and methods from other chefs, home cooks and bloggers. It is by no means a comprehensive guide to macaron making but I think it is a great place to start demystifying as well as understanding some key points in the method (regardless of the type of meringue you use). I mostly use the French meringue method with great results but if you want to try your hand at the Italian meringue method, my friend Mercotte in France has written (in English) a great tutorial on the subject.

Red Berry Macarons:
Makes about 15-18 depending on size

For the shells:
3 egg whites (about 90 gr)
30 gr granulated sugar
200 gr powdered sugar
110 gr almonds
2 Tb powdered red food coloring

For the whites: the day before (24hrs), separate your eggs and store the whites at room temperature in a covered container. If you want to use 48hrs (or more) egg whites, you can store them in the fridge. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue. Do not overbeat your meringue or it will be too dry and your macarons won’t work. Combine the almonds and powdered sugar in a food processor and give them a good pulse until the nuts are finely ground. Pass through a sieve. Add them to the meringue,with the coloring and give it a quick fold to break some of the air and then fold the mass carefully until you obtain a batter that flows like magma or a thick ribbon. Give quick strokes at first to break the mass and slow down. The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes. Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flattens on its own you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple of turns. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (Ateco #807 or #809) with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper lined baking sheets. Preheat the oven to 300F. Let the macarons sit out for 30 minutes to an hour to harden their shells a bit and bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on their size. Let cool. If you have trouble removing the shells, pour a couple of drops of water under the parchment paper while the sheet is still a bit warm and the macarons will lift up more easily do to the moisture. Don’t let them sit there in it too long or they will become soggy. Once baked and if you are not using them right away, store them in an airtight container out of the fridge for a couple of days or in the freezer.

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 to spreadable consistency for the macarons and refrigerate the leftover for cupcakes or mini toast in the fridge up to 3 days or in the freezer.

For the quick red berry jelly:
1 cup raspberries (250ml)
1 cup redcurrant (250ml)
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tb lemon juice
1 Tb lemon zest
2 tsp powdered gelatin
3 Tb cold water

In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let it bloom.
In a heavy saucepan,combine the berries, sugar, lemon juice and zest. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and let simmer 10 minutes to let the fruits release their juices. Remove from the heat, add the gelatin and stir until completely melted into the fruits. Pour into a small plastic container line with plastic wrap, let cool to room temperature and refrigerate until set. Can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer.

To assemble: pipe or spoon a small amount of macarons on one shell, position some jelly right in the center and top with another shell.

Redcurrant Sorbet And Faisselle Ice Cream With Fried Strawberries

28.08.2008 76 Comments

Sounds complicated right? Well, really it’s not…trust me. If I have so little time these days that I forget to take my apron off before heading out of the house, then you can trust me when I say that this is nothing short of delicious but not intricate. I like multi layered, multi component desserts because they allow my brain to relax and my stress level to go down since I know I can plan and assemble them over several days.

Did I just say that I went out with my apron on? Yep…I really laughed because I had mentioned to some of you that it might happen and it did. I did walk the dogs and went to the grocery store with my apron still tied around my waist. The funny part is that the neighbors did not act surprised nor did the personnel at the store! That grocery store around the corner from our house sees me just about everyday. The cashiers know my name, my habits, the produce guy even offered me a job on more than one occasion. I had to fess up and explain that no, one person did not eat that much food in a week and that I had a job at hand, but yes I would probably the one customer with the odd requests.

When I arrived at the store with my apron on, no one looked surprised at all, I think they were betting on how long it would take for me to forget something like that! What they really wanted to know is why I had not brought them some goods and samples instead!! I regretfully told them that I had been working on ice creams lately and that it was not an easy item to bring them to try. Nor is it to take pictures of in this darn heat! After 5 minutes I had to stop and admit defeat the day I shot this dessert and that’s why I only have a couple of pictures to show for it. I stood there looking at the plate with an ever growing pool of goodness with mixed feelings of anger and frustration!

I take pictures upstairs in the guest bedroom where the light is better throughout the day on a table set at the foot of the bed. After a minute of wondering if it was worth it to take another one of these ice creams out of the freezer, plate and shoot again, I figured I’d try one more shot of a spoon full of ice cream. I dug in, set in down, looked at it but never took the camera to shoot it. No….instead I took the spoon, the whole plate and sat on the bed and ate it. The whole thing, all by myself, something I rarely do. I instantly felt better! I felt bad for two seconds that I did not shoot more but the guilt melted away as fast as the ice cream in my mouth….

With summer reaching its end I have been loading up on fresh berries as much and as fast as I could lately and I had enough redcurrants to turn them into a refreshing sorbet. I still had a good amount of faisselle left so I turned it into ice cream and spooned both inside rings (I use cut pvc pipe). Feel free to use any other soft and smooth dairy like fromage blanc, petit suisse, goat cheese, cream cheese, etc…The main concern here is to drain it thoroughly before adding it to the ice cream base so I recommend draining it overnight until it becomes fresh cheese or yogurt cheese if you want. Feel free to use any other soft and smooth dairy like fromage blanc, petit suisse (both drained overnight), goat cheese, cream cheese, etc…

I like contrasting textures and flavors a lot in desserts and I also like to contrast temperatures, hence the fried strawberries. I was a little worried that they would lose a lot of their quality in the frying process but they held up nicely. While the outside was hot and crunchy the strawberries just barely got warm and retained their texture. I used rice flour for the batter in order to be light and smooth but all purpose flour works too, I just found it a little overwhelming to fry fresh fruits. You can make the ice creams and pipe them into molds one day and take care of the strawberries just before serving, even if that time comes days later….ice cream will wait…if you can! Don’t throw away your egg whites….you can always try your hand at macarons!
Redcurrant Sorbet and Faisselle Ice Cream with Fried Strawberries.

Redcurrant Sorbet:
1 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups redcurrants, picked over

Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Make sure the sugar is dissolved and remove from the heat. Let the sugar syrup cool to room temperature.
Puree the redcurrant in a food processor with the cooled syrup. Strain the puree through a sieve into a bowl. Refrigerate the puree until thoroughly chilled and then freee in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions. Makes about 2 cups.

Faisselle Ice Cream:
2 cups whole milk (50o ml)
1/3 cup heavy cream (100 ml)
3/4 cup sugar (170 gr)
3 egg yolks
1 Tb vanilla bean paste or 1/2 vanilla bean, seeded
3 oz drained faisselle (90gr)

Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar. In a saucepan set on medium heat, bring the milk and the cream to boiling point, slowly pour a small amount on the egg yolks to temper. Pour the remaining over the yolks and sugar. Stir well then pour back in the saucepan and cook over medium low heat until the cream thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from the heat and whisk in the faisselle until completely incorporated. Cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until cold. Process in an ice cream maker according to your machine’s manufacturer’s instructions.

Once both ice creams are ready, pipe the faisselle into 4 rings lined with parchment paper (makes is easier to unmold) and freeze again until set. Proceed the same way with the redcurrant sorbet. Cover the tops with plastic wrap. Unmold just before serving and plate with the fried strawberries.

Fried Strawberries:
12 small strawberries, hulled and wiped clean with a paper towel
1 1/4 cups rice flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoons baking powder
1 Tablespoon lemon zest
1 cup water
vegetable oil for frying
powdered sugar for dusting

Heat the oil to 350F.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar,baking powder and lemon zest. Slowly add the water until the batter is smooth and without lumps. Dip the strawberries into the batter and then drop them into the oil until they are golden brown. Drain on paper towels and dust with powdered sugar. Serve hot or warm with the ice creams.

The Faisselle Experiments – Part Two…And Three

25.08.2008 59 Comments

Allright, so let’s start this off the right way before I lose my mind. We all gathered today and read all your suggestions for a name for the dessert in the previous post and it was not easy making a decision…ya’ll are good!! But….the overall favorite was "Transatlantic" from Miss Lillas who said "Salted butter caramel from Normandy, American chocolate brownie. An elegant bringing together our 2 continents"….So Miss, please send me your mailing address so I can send this wonderful book your way! Congratulations!

A couple of weeks ago I took a long trip down memory and you were so kind to indulge me and read about my attempt to recreate a fresh cheese that my dad loves. The outcome was not "faisselle" like I remembered but something closer to fresh ricotta. The desire to recreate this unique product came from a conversation I was having with expat friend Aran from Cannelle Et Vanille after our first foray into re-creating desserts from our childhood and cultural heritage. She had a hankering for mamia and so did B. and I after we had a most delicious one on a trip back home at L’Ami Jean, a Basque restaurant in Paris. We started talking about making it right before she left on vacation so in the meantime that got me thinking about trying my hand at "faisselle" and when she came back we both agreed that it would be more logical and more fun to give you two experiments instead of one. Fast forward to last week, when my favorite Basque experimented with mamia and I with faisselle.

Much like her first batch of mamia, my first batch of faisselle for this post did not turn out as I hope for. After the batch I made last month, I decided to take away the added yogurt and to get straight for heating the milk, adding the rennet and letting it sit, until nice floppy large chunks of curd form and separate from the whey. Well, I got zippo zippeedee zip….I got liquid and tiny curds which once drained gave me about 1 cup of ricotta. For one gallon of milk you can expect that it did not cut it. I did not use raw milk this time and I don’t think it was the local homogenized whole milk I used…nope…just could not put my finger on it. In one email she mentioned she was trying another batch of mamia adding cream and dry milk and I went back to the drawing board with mine. Then I had the "genius"(self sarcasm) idea to call my dad and have him read the ingredients on a jar of store bought faisselle…Guess what?….Yep, added cream and dry milk, a little ratio working and I was back in !

I heated the milk again, added the dry milk, cream and rennet. Let it sit for a couple of hour and the result was exactly what it was supposed to be: large floppy and soft curds slowly separating from the whey. The first spoonful made me think I was definitely on the right track but it needed to develop a little character and an overnight stay in the fridge fixed that. Traditionally, faisselles are drained in molds set in larger containers so that the whey pooling at the bottom keep the cheese moist. I just drained the cheese with a large slotted spoon and scooped the cheese in containers. It did continue to render a lot of whey but I was too happy to have succeeded to be bothered!! The texture is soft but firm enough to separate into curds as you dig your spoon in it and the flavor is really not comparable to any dairy found here, neither sour nor tart.

My dad likes his with chopped fresh chives and fresh cracked pepper, which I have come to like, but I also love it on the sweet side. I served some with some lemon thyme lemon curd and some with chopped pistachios, redcurrants and maple syrup. Deborah from Bonbon Oiseau sent me a bottle of a local Vermont maple syrup producer and it arrived the day I was finishing the faisselle. My bottle of "maple crack" as she refers to it could not have come at a better time! Thank you! I played around with the remaining faisselle and used in some other pastry applications. It’s been a busy couple of weeks so I have not come around to sift through those pictures or even put them in a proper post yet…soon though.

Faisselle:

1 quart whole milk ( 4 cups – 946ml)
1/2 cup heavy cream (118ml)
1/4 cup dry milk powder (60 gr)
8 drops liquid rennet

In a heavy saucepan, combine the milk, heavy cream and milk powder and bring the mixture to 120F over medium heat. Let cool to room temperature and add the rennet. Stir once with a wooden spoon, transfer to a clean bowl (porcelain, glass or plastic), cover with a clean kitchen towel and let sit undisturbed for 2 to 4 hours. Place in the refrigerator and let sit overnight to develop more taste. Drain and used as desired the next day.

Lemon Thyme Lemon Curd:

3 large eggs
1/3 cup (80 ml) lemon juice
1 Tb freshly grated lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon thyme
1/4 cup (60gr) granulated sugar
4 tablespoons (55 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small pieces

In a bowl placed over a pan of simmering water, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon thyme, lmeon zest and lemon juice until blended. Cook, stirring constantly until the mixture reaches 160F. Remove from the heat and strain the mixture over a bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted. Cover with some plastic wrap directly in contact with the curd to prevent a skin from forming. You can refrigerate it for up to a week. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.
Note: I used liquid vegetarian rennet that I found at the health food store near me, but you can also find it here.

Roasted Apricot and Lavender Panna Cottas

10.08.2008 79 Comments

Tomorrow is my mom’s birthday, my lovely sweet mom . Instead of baking her a cake I made her Roasted Apricot and Lavender Panna Cotta. It’s not that I don’t like cake, we all know better than that (!) it’s just that every time I think about my mom I think of apricots and lavender. From as far as I can remember my mom seemed to smell of apricot and lavender. Maybe it is because we only had to walk to the front yard and get the fruits right off the tree back when we were still in Provence. Maybe it is because you can’t open one single drawer at our house without finding a little lavender sachet to perfume our clothes. I always thought it was strange that I was the only lavender smelling child at school but guess what…I keep the tradition going even now (but that should not be a surprise either).

By the way what is your favorite birthday sweet?

I thought about this all day long the other day as I was preparing the panna cottas and I was not surprised to hear my dad say when I called earlier today that my mom could not come to the phone right then because she was stirring her jam. Apricot jam. Ha! I knew it! I wanted to be there in the kitchen with her, stirring the fruits in her giant copper pot, skimming the foam, watching the bubbles, letting the fruits get caramelized, watching her crack some apricot pits to collect some of the kernels inside (because they taste just like almonds) that she adds to the jam for flavor and that we all fight over.

Now you understand why when it came down to celebrate her birthday, I immediately thought of apricots and lavender. Yes, I am very much a mama’s girl, my dad being a more private and guarded individual. My mother is not my friend or my best friend, she is my mom. My mom did not raise me for herself, she raised me with the same contradictions that she possesses: a spirit for personal interactions as well as a need for private time, patience and tolerance stirred with a dose of hot temper, a thirst for knowledge and personal improvement mixed with an interesting set of Old World values. I think my mother is the best….of course I do…and to think that she smells as good as roasted apricots and lavender….well that just tops it all!

Happy Birthday Mom! Joyeux Anniversaire Maman Cherie que j’aime tres fort de la vie entiere! I know I am early but I won’t have blog access on Tuesday.

The panna cottas themselves come together very easily, the cream is infused with edible lavender buds, strained and poured over roasted apricots. The fruits are sprinkled with a little sugar and roasted on medium heat, then pureed and spooned at the bottom of glasses or jars. When you dig into the panna cottas it feels and smells like your spoon is walking along fields of lavender and when you finally reach the bottom, the apricot puree adds a little tartness and texture contrast. I realized that this is another apricot dessert this month and I am not sure it won’t be the last since my old chef gave me a case of these the other week after I helped him out with a pastry dilemma: too many sweets to make, not enough hands, he called, I baked.

I must add that this dessert was also a team effort of some sort. In the past couple of weeks I had the tremendous joy of meeting two great ladies that I only had communicated through email and phone until now. You might remember the Cassata Cake made with Chris from Mele Cotte when she came to visit. We had never met and still, from the minute we both opened our mouths it was like we already had…and boy can we both talk! She spoiled me with tons of little things for cooking and baking, among which a big tub of lavender buds that I immediately put to use with the panna cottas.

The other lady is Bina. This past Thursday we (yes, Bailey too) drove to Atlanta for business and we stopped for lunch at Bina’s house for lunch before heading back. Bina is a reader who does not have a blog but loves to bake and is an accomplished cook, not to mention an incredibly thoughtful host. She has been very generous both in her words and gifts which made me want to meet her in person to tell her a proper thank you. We had such a great time and she made us the most delicious Indian foods, breads, chutneys and samosas. I even got a quick lesson on samosa making, yippee!! Before I left she gave me a little packet of silver leaves used in Indian sweets and I thought they were perfect to adorn the panna cottas for mom’s birthday. A little edible bling never hurt anyone!!

Roasted Apricot and Lavender Panna Cottas:

Serves 4

For the roasted apricots:
6 apricots
1/4 cup of sugar

Preheat your oven to 350F. Cut the apricots in half, remove the pits and place them flesh side up in a large baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle the apricot halves with the sugar and roast them for about 30-40 minutes (check at 30 to prevent them from burning) until they have released their juices and become soft and caramelized. Let cool to room temperature before pureeing the fruits in a blender or food processor until completely smooth. Divide evenly among 4 glasses or ramequins.

For the panna cottas:
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbs edible lavender buds
2 teaspoons powdered gelatin bloomed in 2 Tb water (means to pour the water over the gelatin and let it sit while you prepare the panna cotta)

Combine all the ingredients, except the gelatin, in a saucepan over medium high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and let the cream to steep for 20 minutes. Pass the mixture through a sieve or a chinois, heat the gelatin in the microwave for 8 seconds and quickly stir it in the cream mixture. No microwave at our house so I set the cup with the gelatin in large saucepan with enough water to come up halfway up the sides of the gelatin bowl, on medium heat and let the gelatin melt that way. Let cool to lukewarm.
Slowly pour the cream over the apricot puree and let set in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.
Decorate with apricot slices, chopped nuts, etc….

A Taste Of Yellow 2008 – Tropical Fruit Verrine and Peach Macarons

07.04.2008 57 Comments

There are many events I like to participate in but there is one I would not miss for the world: LiveStrong Day With A Taste Of Yellow launched and hosted by Barbara from Winos and Foodies . Last year 149 bloggers from all over the world answered her call to celebrate life, remember our loved one who passed away from cancer and this year I have no fear that more will rally on May 13th to support the LiveStrong Foundation. I have previously talked about my brother passing away at an early age from cancer and then my grandmother a few years later. There is not a day that goes by without their memory influencing my thoughts, my choices and my attitude. I laugh more, I try not to sweat the small stuff (does not mean I succeed all the time) and I live and love stronger, for me and others. I tried to write this post all weekend long but everytime my eyes got cloudy and my heart heavy, no exception this very minute. I miss Thierry, I miss Mamie Paulette. I wish I could write a more eloquent post to their memory but I can’t even write the word cancer without hurting. The anger and disbelief has given way to sadness but last year I did manage to write some about it which you can read here.

Instead I want to focus on the woman behind the event, Barbara. Although I have never met her in person, I like to believe that we would be good friends if we were neighbors. I first "met" Barbara when I sent her a package during one round of Blogging By Mail….all the way to New Zealand! We kept in touch through emails, we discovered more about each other as the months went by and she is in my thoughts just about everyday. She has her own battle with cancer to fight and yet she never cease to amaze me by dropping me a line or sending me a little package when I come here and open up about some of my "mishaps". Thank you for being here, for being fierce, for being strong, for being such a support when I needed a little boost.

When she launched Taste of Yellow this year, she added a little photo contest opportunity with the request that our picture had to feature the yellow cancer wristband. Name your color, I got it, but in this case when I went to get mine wrapped around Teddy The Mini Bear I discovered that this ferocious beast had a field trip with the bear and the bracelet. I got online and figured I would order a bag of 10 and give them out to friends and family and right after I hit "buy", an email from Barbara came in reading that she had some and would I like her to send me one (from Australia this time, because she moved) Yep, Ma’m! I gave the whole bag I purchased away and kept hers for the photo shot and away from the beast of the house! Thank you my dear, macarons look great wrapped in yellow! The "funny" thing this year is that LiveStrong day falls on my birthday, a date my brother never missed although he was completely in his own world when it came to dates and celebrations. Life has a way to remind you of the big things doesn’t it?

Allright, what about Barbara’s event and the food…. It has to be yellow for one and since it has been in the 80sF around here lately I decided not to turn the oven on too long and make something refreshing. A tropical "verrine" of mango, fruit salad, and whipped Greek yogurt with peach ganache macarons…yellow, yellow…Of course I had to stick a macaron in there..eheheh!! That went down so easy last night as we were sitting on the porch, reminiscing about the first time B. met my bother in Montmartre in front of a big bowl of spaghetti and the first time he met my grandmother at her house in front of one of her famous tarts and a cup of tea. Great memories…the best (someone pass me a Kleenex).

I need to add after reading several comments that you do not need a yellow wristband to enter the event, it is just to take part in the photo contest. However, purchasing one or several through the Lance Armstrong Foundation will help fight this nasty disease.

Tropical Fruit Verrines With Peach Macarons:

Printable Version

For the verrines (serves 4)

2 mangoes

2 Tb lime juice

1 pint fresh raspberries

1 cup diced fresh pineapple

2 kiwis, skinned and diced

1 bananas, skinned and diced

1 cup Greek yogurt

1 cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks

For the bottom layer, peel the mango and cut in rough chunks, run them through the food processor with the lime juice until you obtain a fine puree. Divide it evenly among four glasses or dishes.

Peel and dice the remaining mango and mix it with the other fruits to get a nice fruit salad, add a couple of Tbs of lemon juice to prevent the fruits from turning brown if you want. Divide on top of the mango puree evenly among the glasses.

Mix the Greek yogurt and the whipped cream and top each glass with it. Sprinkle with crushed sugar cookies if your desire. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

For the Macarons shells:

3 egg whites (I like to use 1-2 day old egg whites)

50 gr. granulated sugar

200 gr. powdered sugar

110 gr. ground almonds

1 drop yellow food coloring

1 drop red food coloring

For the whites: the day before (24hrs), separate your eggs and store the whites at room temperature on a covered container. If you want to use 48hrs (or more) egg whites, you can store them in the fridge.

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue. Do not overbeat your meringue or it will be too dry and your macarons won’t work. Combine the ground almonds and powdered sugar in a food processor and give them a quick pulse. It will break the powdered sugar lumps and combine your almonds with it evenly. Add them to the meringue, give it a quick fold and remove some of the batter that will remain uncolored. Add the food colorings to the rest and fold the mass carefully until you obtain a batter that flows like magma or a thick ribbon. Give quick strokes at first to break the mass and slow down. The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes. Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flattens on its own you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple of turns. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (Ateco #807 or #809) with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper baking sheets. Preheat the oven to 300F. Let the macarons sit out for an hour to harden their shells a bit and bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on their size. Let cool.

If you have trouble removing the shells, pour a couple of drops of water under the parchment paper while the sheet is still a bit warm and the macarons will lift up more easily do to the moisture. Don’t let them sit there in it too long or they will become soggy. Pipe or spoon some ganache on one shell and sandwich with another one.

If you use fresh whites, zap them up in the microwave on medium high for 20 seconds to mimic the aging process.

For the Peach Ganache:

150 gr good quality white chocolate

1 peach

75 ml heavy cream

Bring a small pot filled with water to a boil on the stove and cook the peach in it for a couple of minutes. Remove from the water, let cool, peel and chop into rough chunks. Run them through the food processor until you get a fine peach puree. Set aside.In a bowl set over a pot of simmering water, melt the white chocolate until completely smooth. Remove from the heat and add the heavy cream and peach puree. Gently incorporate all the ingredients together until your ganache is smooth. Refrigerate until of piping consistency and fill the macarons shells with it.

Salade De Fruits…Jolie Jolie Jolie

27.02.2008 38 Comments

No, no, this Fruit Salad with Blood Orange Syrup is not an ode to Mrs. Brad Pitt but rather a glimpse into my daily breakfast fare…in music. When Elly from Elly Says Opa! announced her "Eat To The Beat" event I knew right off the bat what I would make. Hugh…what so special about Fruit Salad you might ask?! Well yes, said like that, nothing really. Except that fruit salads always make me sing this song , and this one made me sing it even louder. It is just a simple mix of fresh cut kiwis, strawberries and pineapple but set on a bed of Greek yogurt and sweetened with freshly made blood orange syrup….hmmmm!

Every relationship comes with a great song. I like to think that I share this one with my grandfather, Papi Rene, now 97. The gentleman in the video is nothing like him and has long passed away but he was one of France’s genuine comedians and actors. My grandfather used to sing me this song all the time when I was a kid and although I was not paying much attention to the lyrics, it stuck to me like glue up to this day. I was always mesmerized by my Papi’s singing, his physique commanding respect (still does) and silence, and it kind of became "my" song. I realized the other day that it could be my wake up song because it always puts me in a great mood.

With this song and beat, I also thought it was about time to answer the questions I receive the most in the emails that readers send me "Do you eat everything you make all the time?" and "What do you really eat?". Yes, I eat the desserts I make and post about here, unless they are for special orders and then I just make a couple extra cupcakes or pastries for B. and me. Yes, I eat cake, cheesecakes and yes, I have chocolate everyday….but in a reasonable portion and we often share a dessert after dinner. No, I don’t polish a whole bowl of chocolate mousse on my own although I could totally see myself do that since I seem to have an expandable stomach, especially past 4pm, which brings me to this fruit salad.

I have a very difficult time eating in the morning and fruit and yogurt are usually the only thing I have time to fix and eat since I like to stay in my bed until the very last minute possible. It’s usually cut up seasonal fruits, yogurt and a drizzle of honey, sometimes a sprinkle of granola or toasted coconut (like here). Every winter I cannot wait to see blood oranges pop up at the store and I stock up big time last week and made a batch of syrup with a few. We pour it on almost everything: waffles, ice cream, yogurt, and even pork roast (trust me it rocks!). I get a good dose of vitamins and plenty of nutrients right from the start…it’s in the afternoon that things get a little different! When you bake for others you are often not hungry enough afterwards to want something big (or anything at all) and it is the case for me until a couple of hours later. Thus, I make sure there is dessert around so I can have a few spoonfuls of chocolate mousse or cake. Starting the day with this invigorates me, makes me feel good inside and out, and I know I have gotten one thing right ….especially if I somehow happen to lose my spoon to Ben&Jerry later on.

Feel Good All Around Fruit Salad With Blood Orange Syrup:

1 cup peeled and diced kiwis
1 cup diced strawberries
1 cup diced pineapple
toasted coconut
Blood Orange Syrup
Yogurt (Greek or any thick variety)

Make the orange syrup first and let cool completely. In a bowl, combined all the fruits. Layer the yogurt, fruits in glasses or cups and top with the cooled syrup. Top with toated coconut.

This more a method than a recipe and you can change the fruits at will depending what is available in your area (I am in a relatively tropical area so these are always to get).I have to add that my fruit salads are now even prettier in a cool polka dot bowl that Chris from Mele Cotte sent me (originally filled with chocolates, but these are long gone, ahahah!!) along with funky paper napkins that I love. Thanks Peaches, but helping you with your big event was a treat for me and I hope I could do it in person one day!!

I need to end this post on an even sweeter note. My favorite French student, great friend, pastry confident and all around amazing blogger Veronica, from Veronica’s Test Kitchen launched her very own baking business in Richmond VA, aptly called Petites Bouchees . To help her test taste the viability of shipping she asked a few of us if we agreed to be her guinea pigs….like I was going to refuse me a macaron?!!! I get to sit down for once!! I emailed her as soon as I got home and snatched the box from B’s hands "Is your name on the box?" I asked. "Hugh…I knew what is was and I figured I’d refrigerate them…you know..to help" he said…."Minus 4 already!" As you can probably guess, the box is almost empty, and I am keeping guard tonight…these babies will be mine!! The boxing and packaging is exquisite but the macarons themselves are divine! The vanilla buttercream is absolutely wonderful and the scent makes you want to lay in a field of vanilla beans! The caramel is soft and deep golden, leaving that salty little touch on your tongue. If I were you people living in Richmond, I would run to my computer and get her info because I suspect Veronica is going to be busy filling orders they are so good.

Frozen Honeycomb Mango Mousse & Pistachio Dacquoise

27.07.2007 35 Comments

I was trying to think of a more elusive or more creative title but I always have a difficult time doing so with desserts that incorporate several elements from others I have made or admired through pastry shops front windows (my favorite past-time), but sometimes you have to call a cat a cat. Note for the future: if you are good at it, you are hired the day I publish a book!

The dessert came about when Mary from Alpineberry announced that "Tropical" would be this month Sugar High Friday theme. Every single month, no fail, I am stuck with the same problem: my thoughts start racing and it takes me forever to make up my mind. I never thought I would say this concerning desserts, but in this case abundance is not great! Most of the produce I find here is what I would consider tropical, with plenty of papayas, limes, kiwis of different kinds, cactus pears and so forth but for me the little French alien, I still consider them exotic in some sort of way. For the event I chose to focus on mangoes, pistachios and pineapple. I knew I wanted a pistachio dacquoise at the base and a mango mousse on top, but that sounded kind of basic, so I added a layer of pinneapple preserve (store bought I confess) in between. I started to think about different design elements that would make it more interesting to the eye when I came to plate it for guests. At the restaurant I had those really nice flexible molds made specifically to give a form to a mousse or frozen custard. But I was at home, ready to get started on my dessert…and no desire to head downtown to borrow one (too hot outside!). I did not have those but I had a few sheets of large bubble wrap that would do the trick in a pinch. The honeycomb design echoes the honey in the mousse and creates little pockets very useful to prop up a few cut fresh fruit for plating and decorating.

Dacquoise (dah-kwaz) refers to both the cake it is named after composed of layers of nut meringue and buttercream, as well as one of the layers of meringue. It is used at the base of many cakes in French pastries and provides a nice change from a pastry or shortbread crust. A dacquoise is very close in texture to a macaron, with some recipes adding a touch of flour or cornstarch to the batter. I already like a dessert where the base is a big giant layer of macaron and who better fitted to provide me with a great recipe than the master of macaron himself? My sugar daddy, Pierre Herme. The mousse is one that I developped over the years from different sources making it safe to adapt with all sorts of fruits. This time I replace some of the sugar with wildflower honey and added some freshly grated ginger to perk it up a bit. The dessert looks a lot more intricate than it is. You can prepare the dacquoise a couple of days ahead, make the mousse and layer the rest of the dessert the day before you plan to serve it.

Honeycomb Mango Mousse & Pistachio Dacquoise:

Serves 8

For the dacquoise layer: (inspired from Herme’s Plaisirs Sucres)

70 gr. finely ground pistachios
75 gr. powdered sugar
25 gr. granulated sugar
3 egg whites

In a large bowl, mix togther the nuts and powdered sugar. Beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Slowly incorporate the granulated sugar with the machine running, until you get nice glossy peaks. Delicately fold in the nut mixture. Spread on a parchment line 8×8 baking dish and bake at 340F for about 35 minutes.

For the mousse layer:

2 ripe mangoes, peeled, cut up and pureed
1/2 cup water
1 envelope unflavoured gelatin
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tb fresh grated ginger
1 cup whipping cream, whipped

Sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let soften for about 10 minutes.
In a medium saucepan, combine the mango puree, sugar, ginger and honey. Heat until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the gelatin. Stir to dissolve and let cool to room temp, or until it starts to thicken a bit. Fold the whipped cream into the mango. Use it in the dessert assembly before it has time to thicken so it will be easier to pour.

Dessert Assembly:

Remove the dacquoise from the baking pan. Line the same pan with heavy duty plastic wrap. Cut a sheet of bubble wrap to fit and put it on top of the plastic, bubbles side up. Pour the mango mousse and freeze until set.
Spoon 1 cup pineapple preserves (or others of your choice) on top of the mango mousse. Press the sheet of dacquoise on top with a light pressure of your fingertips so all the elements adhere together. Freeze until ready to use.
To unmold, flip the pan over and remove the plastic and bubble wrap. Decorate and serve.