Luci's Tasty Adventures

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.

I'm a little late posting my challenge this month.  I had my Meringue done on time and I was pleased with how easy making meringue can be.  The second part of this challenge was to make Mascarpone cheese, I have made that before in past challenges so that was easy for me.  And lastly to make the Mousse was really simple and really tasty.

The only beef I have with this challenge is the actual look of the desert.  I made many different size and shape Meringues and tried to present them in different ways to make them look attractive.  Don't get me wrong this dessert is really well put together and the flavor is great it's just not pretty.  The chocolate Meringue topped with the chocolate mousse seemed to much of the same color.  Next time I think I will switch this up and use different things to flavor the Meringue or the Mousse.  Any way here is the recipe and some pictures. 

Chocolate Meringue:

• 3 large egg whites
• ½ cup plus 1 tbsp sugar
• ¼ cup confection sugar
• ½ cocoa powder

Method:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Put the egg whites in a bowl and beat them until they form soft peaks.  Gradually add the sugar, 1 tbsp at a time until stiff peaks form.











Sift the confection sugar into the eggs along with the cocoa powder.  Fold it in slowly till the mixture comes together.












Put the Meringue in a pastry bag with a large tip.  Pipe out the meringue into the size and shape you would like your dessert to be.  This can be one great big meringue for a family style service or small individual serving sizes.  I made individual size meringues.

Bake for 2-3 hours until the meringues become dry and crisp.


 








Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse:

• 1 ½ cups heavy cream
• zest of one lemon
• 9 ounces of 72% chocolate, chopped
• 1 2/3 cups homemade mascarpone cheese
• pinch of nutmeg *** ps say no to NutMeg***

Method:

Place ½ cup of the heavy cream and lemon zest in a sauce pan over medium heat.  As it heats up add the chocolate.  Once the chocolate starts to melt and become smooth remove the mixture from the heat and set aside till it is room temperature.

Place the mascarpone and remaining cup of cream in a mixing bowl along with the nutmeg.  Whip it till it is blended together, do not over do this part as the mascarpone  can break.

Take about 1/3 of the mascarpone mixture and add it to the chocolate.  Fold in the remaining mascarpone until well incorporated.  Fill a pastry bag with the mousse and add it to the top of your meringues. 

Serve with some fresh fruit, enjoy!

The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.

After making Pâte à choux for the first time I feel pretty impressed with myself.  Learning how to work with the dough and cook the flour prior to adding the eggs is truely the hard part of making Pâte à choux.  If you don't cook the dough long enough in the sauce pan you will end up with round jelly dounut looking Pâte à choux rather then big puffy clouds that are begging to be filled with tasty delights.

For this challenge I made the Pâte à choux, the pastry filling, and the Chocolate dipping sauce from scratch.  The hardest part I had with this challenge was making my mounted piece look pretty.  The second hardest part was really have no one to share this yummy desert with.  Aaron and I ate it, don't get me wrong.. I just would of liked to serve it to family and friends.  Here are my photos, if you would like to see the recipe please go to this link.  I did not have time to include my method of making the recipe, I started back to work this week and things have been busy.
































































































on nom nom nom

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.

For this challenge I drew inspiration from  Esther, Audax and from this video.  I went whole hog in and found suet from a butcher shop in Los Gatos, Ca.  I had to render the fat down and turn it into a lard type substance, I did not post any of those photos because I don't think people really want to see that part.  If I make this again I will just use vegetable shorting or butter.  I am glad I had a chance to cook with suet; however, it is just not healthy, or a practical ingredient for me to use again.  I also chose to do a savory pudding instead of a sweet pudding.

I made a gravy using Audax's instructions with the left over scraps of meat and kidney.  I tell you the winner was the gravy.. I could of eaten that with toast.  The pudding was good don't get me wrong, it's just not my cup of tea.  I would like to give cheers to everyone who did this challenge.  For me it was a learning experience, and I am really glad I participated in it, thank you Esther.

Pastry Ingredients:

• 12 ounces self rising flour- wtb Andy's biscuit recipe for my left over flour!
• 6 ounces shredded suit or substitute like Crisco, Lard, or Butter
• ¼ tsp kosher salt
• ¼ tsp freshly cracked pepper
• ½ cup milk, 2% worked fine
• ½ cup water

Filling Ingredients:

• 1 lb of stewing beef, cubed
• 2-3 lamb kidney's, chopped-make sure to toss out the white portion
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 3 Tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 tsp ground mustard
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp freshly grated black pepper
• 4 Tbsp chicken stock
• 2 Tbsp Oyster sauce

Oyster sauce and Chicken stock to shy to be photoed 
 
Assembly:

• 1 1/2 quart bowl oven safe bowl, like Pyrex.
• Large pot with a steamer and lid
• rubber-band
• kitchen twine
• heavy duty foil

Gravy: (optional, sorry no photos)

• left over steak and kidney scraps
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 cup of Cabernet Sauvignon
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 Tbsp flour

Method:
First make the pastry by blending the flour and suet together with a pastry blender.  Add the salt and pepper to the flour and suet mixture.  Slowly add the water and milk, 1 Tbsp at a time.  The dough should form a nice ball and none of it should be stuck to the bowl.  Take the dough and place it on a floured work surface.











Cut ¼ of the dough out and reserve it for the pudding lid.  Use a measuring tape and roll the dough out to fit your pudding bowl.












Coat the pudding bowl with some butter or fat before placing the dough inside.  Roll out the lid, use a measuring tape to get the size right.  Set the lid aside.

Place water in your steamer and bring water to a boil.

In a small bowl mix the ½ cup flour, ground mustard, salt and pepper together.  Take one of the piece of beef and try to wrap it around a small piece of kidney, and then coat it the flour mixture.












 
Place the piece in the pudding bowl.  Make one row of steak and kidney rolls and then cover them with a handful of sliced onions and chopped parsley.



























Create another row of meat and cover it again with the onions and parsley.  Continue this process till you run out of meat or your pudding bowl is filled up.  I had under a pound of beef and that is why my pudding bowl is not filled all the way.  If you use a full pound you will get one more layer in.













Add the chicken stock and oyster sauce over the top of the last layer and then seal the pudding with the pastry lid.














Make sure you get a good seal on it, you don't want any of it leaking out. 














Then cover your pudding with heavy duty foil.  Secure the foil with a rubber-band and some kitchen twin.  Cut away any excess foil as it might get in the way later.
  














Remove the lid from the steamer and carefully place the pudding inside. 

















The water should not touch the metal part of the steamer, fill it so it is just below that part.  Cover and turn heat to medium.  Steam for 3-5 hours.  I did mine for about 4.

If you want the make the gravy take a medium size sauce pot and turn it to medium heat.  Add one of the chopped shallots, beef and kidney scraps, wine, oyster sauce, and chicken stock.  Bring to a simmer, let it simmer for about a hour, or until it has reduced by half.  Strain the gravy and remove all the shallot, beef and kidney pieces.  In the same sauce pan saute the other chopped shallot and after it is soft add the 2 tablespoons of flour.  Mix together and cook for a minute and then return the strained gravy to the sauce pan.  Heat over medium heat till it thickens.

After the pudding has steamed for atleast 3 hours you can remove it.















Let it sit on your counter for about 15 minutes before attempting to flip it over.  If you made the gravy you can poke a small whole in the top of the pudding and fill it up with gravy.












Place a plate over the bowl and use pot holders to shimmieslide flip the pudding over.  The pudding should just plop out.












Cut the pudding like you would a pie and drizzle more gravy if you fancy.  Enjoy! 

The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

I made a Blood Orange and Pink Navel Tian.  I included the recipe for the caramel; however my caramel did not come out.  I made two batches and I was not satisfied with it's flavor or texture so I omitted it from this dessert.  In the end the winner was the homemade blood orange pink navel marmalade.  I am already planning other savory uses for this tasty treat.  Overall this was a good challenge. However, I was  disappointed in my caramel.

Pate Sablee:

• 2 medium-sized egg yolks at room temperature
• 6 Tbsp + 1 tsp granulated sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, ice cold
• 1/3 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 tsp baking powder

Method:
Put the flour, baking powder, ice cold cubed butter and salt in a flat bottom bowl and blend together with a pastry blender.











After it is well blended take bowl and stick it in the freezer for 5 minutes.  In a separate bowl, add the eggs yolks, vanilla extract and sugar and beat with a whisk until the mixture is pale.  Add to flour mixture and blend together with the pastry blender.  If the dough does not come together add some water to it.  Get the dough to form a loose ball and cover in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface until you obtain a ¼ inch thick circle.  Using your cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough and place on a parchment (or silicone) lined baking sheet.










Bake for 20 minutes or until the circles of dough are just golden.












Marmalade:

• ¼ freshly pressed blood orange
• 1 small blood orange, sliced thinly
• 1 small pink navel orange, sliced thinly
• 5 grams pectin
• ½ cup sugar

Method:

Place the sliced oranges in a sauce pot and cover them with water.  Bring water to a simmer and simmer for 10 minutes.

















Drain the oranges and fill the pot back up with water. Simmer for another 10 minutes, and repeat this process one more time.

Drain and cool the orange slices.  Once they are cool chop them up and put them in a pot with the blood orange juice, pectin, and sugar.  Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes then transfer to a storage container.  Cool and then refrigerate.

Orange Segments:
For this step you will need 8 oranges.  Cut the oranges into segments over a shallow bowl and make sure to keep the juice. Add the segments to the bowl with the juice.

Caramel:

• 1 Cup sugar
• 1 1/2 Cups + 2 Tbsp orange juice

Method:

Put sugar in a medium size sauce pan over a medium flame.  Heat the sugar till it starts to bubble.  Slowly add the orange juice and remove from the heat once the mixture boils.  Poor half of the caramel mixture over the orange segments and reserve the other half for service. (please note I had trouble following this caramel recipe, and I did not use the caramel in my dessert) 


Whipped Cream:

• 1 Cup heavy whipping cream
• 3 tablespoons of hot water
• 1 tsp Gelatine
• 1 Tbsp confectioner's sugar
• orange marmalade (see recipe above) 1 Tbsp

Method:

In a small bowl, add the gelatine and hot water, stirring well until the gelatine dissolves. Let the gelatine cool to room temperature while you make the whipped cream. Combine the cream in a chilled mixing bowl. Whip the cream using a hand mixer on low speed until the cream starts to thicken for about one minute. Add the confectioner sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high. Whip the cream until the beaters leave visible (but not lasting) trails in the cream, then add the cooled gelatine slowly while beating continuously. Continue whipping until the cream is light and fluffy and forms soft peaks. Transfer the whipped cream to a bowl and fold in the orange marmalade.











Assembling the Dessert:
Make sure you have some room in your freezer. Ideally, you should be able to fit a small baking sheet or tray of desserts to set in the freezer.  Line a small tray or baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone sheet. Lay out 6 cookie cutters onto the parchment paper/silicone.














Drain the orange segments on a kitchen towel.  Have the marmalade, whipped cream and baked circles of dough ready to use.












Arrange the orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter. Make sure the segments all touch either and that there are no gaps. Make sure they fit snuggly and look pretty as they will end up being the top of the dessert. Arrange them as you would sliced apples when making an apple tart.













Once you have neatly arranged one layer of orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter, add a couple spoonfuls of whipped cream and gently spread it so that it fills the cookie cutter in an even layer.














Using a butter knife or small spoon, spread a small even layer of orange marmalade on each circle of dough.  Carefully place a circle of dough over each ring (the side of dough covered in marmalade should be the side touching the whipping cream). Gently press on the circle of dough to make sure the dessert is compact.   Place the desserts to set in the freezer to set for 10 minutes.

Using a small knife, gently go around the edges of the cookie cutter to make sure the dessert will be easy to unmold. Gently place your serving plate on top of a dessert (on top of the circle of dough) and turn the plate over. Gently remove the cookie cutter, add a spoonful of caramel sauce and serve immediately. (please note I did not use the caramel in my Orange Tian.

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

So, for the February Darling Bakers' challenge was to make Tiramisu.  Let me clear this up from the start, I just did not make Tiramisu, I made everything from scratch.  The challenge was to make Mascarpone cheese, Salvoiardi biscuits (ladyfingers), and Zabagline.  At first the part that scared me the most about this challenge was making the cheese.  I had never made cheese before, and the unknown is scary I suppose.  So this blog post is going to take you though my journey.  My ups and downs of my first Tiramisu.  First I will explain the Mascarpone, then biscuits, then Zabaglione and finally how to assemble the darn thing.  Please keep in mind that this is a three to four day process.  I would recommend making the cheese and the biscuits on the first day.  The next day make the pastry cream and the Zabaglione.  Assemble it the following day, and eat on the fourth day.

In the end my Tiramisu did not set up like I would of liked it too.  I let it sit in the refrigerator for over 24 hours, but I was not able to get it to cut clean.  I'm not sure if this is an error in my pastry cream or the Zabaglione.  Either way I served this dish at my parents house and everyone loved it.  My mom said it was the best she had, but she is my mom.. she has to say that.  *wink

Ingredients:

Mascarpone:

• 474ml (approx. 500ml)/ 2 cups whipping (36 %) pasteurized (not ultra-pasteurized), preferably organic cream (between 25% to 36% cream will do)
• 1 Tbs fresh lemon juice

Salvoiardi biscuits (ladyfingers)

• 3 eggs, separated
• 6 Tbsp sugar
• 3/4 cupcake flour, sifted
• 6 Tbsp confectioner's sugar

Zabaglione:

• 2 large egg yolks
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 1/4 cup Sweet Marsala wine
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest

Vanilla pastry cream:

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg yolk
• 3/4 cup whole milk

Whipped cream:

• 1 cup chilled heavy cream
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

To assemble the Tiramisu:

• 2 cups brewed espresso, warmed
• 1 tsp rum extract (optional)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup Mascarpone cheese
• 36 Savoiardi/ladyfinger biscuits (you may use less)
• 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Recipe Sources:
Mascarpone Cheese – Vera’s Recipe (Baking Obsession) for Homemade Mascarpone Cheese.
Savoiardi/ Ladyfinger Biscuits – Recipe from Cordon Bleu At Home
Tiramisu – Carminantonio's Tiramisu from The Washington Post, July 11 2007

Mascarpone Method:

To make mascarpone cheese you must have a double broiler.  If you normally use a glass bowl as part of your double broiler that will not work for this recipe.  Many of the Daring Bakers' found out that the glass works as an insulator and it will not allow the cream to reach the all important 190 degrees.  So basically you need to use a stainless steel bowl, or double broiler... right?  Wrong. 

I own a double broiler, it's a Calphalon stainless steel.  I could not get my cream past 185 degrees.  It sat at 185 for close to 45 minutes before I decided to bravely poor the cream into another sauce pan and put it directly over the heat.  In less than two minutes my cream hit 190 degrees, and I was very pleased.  Mixed in my lemon and I watched it thicken.  It does not curdle like cottage cheese it just gets think.

Okay so this is what you do.  Bring one inch of water to boil in your double broiler, reduce heat to medium and pour cream into the top of your double broiler.  Heat the cream till it reaches the magical 190 degree mark, you will see small bubbles pushing to the surface.  The bubbles are like little cheerleaders, cheering you on, letting you know that you did it right.  After looking for these bubbles for close to 45 minutes I started hallucinating.   It “should” take about 15 minutes to reach 190 degrees.  Just be patient with it, keep stirring it and wait it out.  If it comes to the point where you have to put it on the heat directly, do so with caution.  Don't burn it <3.

After your cream is 190 degrees and you see your cheerleaders mix in the fresh lime juice and wait for it to thicken.














After it thickens remove from the heat and cool it.  I put mine in an ice bath.  Not sure why I did that, but I did.














After the the cheese has cooled to room temperature line a sieve with some fine damp cheesecloth or even a clean dish rag will do.  Poor cheese into the cheesecloth, do not press on it.  After it is completely cooled cover with some plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

Don't fuss with it, it will turn into Mascarpone cheese over night if you got it up to 190.  It was like Christmas morning the next day.  I ran to the refrigerator and found my sieve packed full of the most beautiful Mascarpone cheese I had ever seen, or tasted for that matter.  This recipe is such a keeper.  Thank you!

















Salvoiardi biscuits, ladyfingers (hobbit toes) Method:

















Preheat oven to 350 degrees, then lightly brush 2 baking sheets with oil or softened butter and line with parchment paper.

Beat the egg whites using a hand held electric mixer or a standing mixer until stiff peaks form. Gradually add granulate sugar and continue beating until the egg whites become stiff again, glossy and smooth.

In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly with a fork and fold them into the meringue, using a wooden spoon. Sift the flour over this mixture and fold gently until just mixed. It is important to fold very gently and not overdo the folding. Otherwise the batter would deflate and lose volume resulting in ladyfingers which are flat and not spongy.

Fit a pastry bag with a plain tip (or just snip the end off; you could also use a Ziploc bag) and fill with the batter. Pipe the batter into 5" long and 3/4" wide strips leaving about 1" space in between the strips.
Sprinkle half the confectioner's sugar over the ladyfingers and wait for 5 minutes. The sugar will pearl or look wet and glisten. Now sprinkle the remaining sugar. This helps to give the ladyfingers their characteristic crispness.

Hold the parchment paper in place with your thumb and lift one side of the baking sheet and gently tap it on the work surface to remove excess sprinkled sugar.

Bake the ladyfingers for 10 minutes, then rotate the sheets and bake for another 5 minutes or so until the puff up, turn lightly golden brown and are still soft.

Allow them to cool slightly on the sheets for about 5 minutes and then remove the ladyfingers from the baking sheet with a metal spatula while still hot, and cool on a rack.

Store them in an airtight container till required. They should keep for 2 to 3 weeks.

Zabaglione Method:

Heat water in a double broiler.  In the top of the double broiler mix egg yolks, sugar, Marsala wine, vanilla extract and lemon zest.  Mix together till the mixture looks smooth.  Transfer mixture to the top of the double broiler, cook mixture over low heat for 8 minutes.











It will bubble a bit as it reaches the right consistency.  It should look like a think custard when it is done.  Run custard through a fine mesh strainer to catch any clumps that may have formed up.  Let custard cool completely and then cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to assemble Tiramisu.

Pastry Cream Method:

In a medium sauce pan mix together sugar, flour, lemon zest, and vanilla extract.  Add the egg yolk and half of the milk.  Heat the sauce pan over low heat and mix constantly.  Add the rest of the milk, a little bit at a time.














Cook for about 12 minutes, the mixture should be thick.  Take the cream off the heat and push through a fine mesh strainer and transfer to a bowl.  Let the pastry cream get to room temperature and then cover it with plastic wrap and store it in refrigerator until you are ready to assemble the Tiramisu.

Whipped Cream Method:

Using a hand held mixer or a standing mixer, beat cream, sugar, and vanilla extract.  Beat it till it forms soft peaks.  Don't make this whipping cream until you are ready to assemble the Tiramisu.

Assemble the Tiramisu:

Have ready a rectangular serving dish (about 8" by 8" should do) or one of your choice.
Mix together the warm espresso, rum extract and sugar in a shallow dish, whisking to mix well. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, beat the Mascarpone cheese with a spoon to break down the lumps and make it smooth. This will make it easier to fold.













Add the prepared and chilled Zabaglione and pastry cream, blending until just combined. Gently fold in the whipped cream. Set this cream mixture aside.
Now to start assembling the Tiramisu.

Workings quickly, dip 12 of the ladyfingers in the sweetened espresso, about 1 second per side. They should be moist but not soggy. Immediately transfer each ladyfinger to the platter, placing them side by side in a single row. You may break a lady finger into two, if necessary, to ensure the base of your dish is completely covered.












Spoon one-third of the cream mixture on top of the ladyfingers, then use a rubber spatula or spreading knife to cover the top evenly, all the way to the edges.  I spooned about half of the mixture, not one third.  My Tiramisu only had two layers of hobbit toes, not three.

Repeat to create 1-2 more layers, using 12 ladyfingers and the cream mixture for each layer.











Clean any spilled cream mixture; cover carefully with plastic wrap and refrigerate the Tiramisu overnight.

To serve, carefully remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle the Tiramisu with cocoa powder using a fine-mesh strainer or decorate as you please. Cut into individual portions and serve.