Penney’s Palate

This month’s recipe came from Pierre Hermé, whom I had never heard of until this month. He is a very fancy French pastry chef. The recipe comes from a cookbook written by Dorie Greenspan that features a lot of his recipes involving chocolate, called Chocolate Desserts By Pierre Hermé.

I enjoyed making these, although they didn’t turn out quite how I had imagined. The Pâte à Choux was too eggy and the pastry cream was also very eggy. I chose to do a regular vanilla pastry cream instead of the chocolate pastry cream that was recommended. Next time I would like to find a pastry cream that is less eggy and tastes more like vanilla pudding. I also thought that making a chocolate sauce to go into the chocolate glaze was dumb. It tasted and acted just like chocolate glaze, but it took 3 times as long to make as regular chocolate glaze. So next time I will take the more simple approach and just make plain chocolate glaze with chocolate and heavy cream. The overall product looked ugly too… I wasn’t able to pipe them nice and smooth, so when they baked up they were a little deformed.

I keep saying next time because I really want to make these again. Despite the eggy choux and the fact that 90% of them flattened out so that I couldn’t fill them unless I sliced them in half, they were pretty good. The internet says that I should have kept them in the oven after baking (turn oven off and leave door open) so that they won’t deflate when I take them out. Tommy and I didn’t have a problem eating most of them over the weekend. They only took about 2 hours to make, start to finish including cleaning all of the dishes. Next time I make them, they won’t be eggy and they will look beautiful!

Eclairs

Ingredients
Cream Puff Dough (see below for recipe), fresh and still warm
Pastry Cream of choice
Chocolate Glaze

1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the oven into thirds by positioning the racks in the upper and lower half of the oven. Line two baking sheets with waxed or parchment paper.

2) Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 2/3 (2cm) plain tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough. Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long, 4 to 41/2 inches (about 11 cm) chubby fingers. Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff. The dough should give you enough to pipe 20-24 éclairs.

3) Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 12 minutes. After the éclairs have been in the oven for a total of 12 minutes, rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Continue baking for a further 8 minutes or until the éclairs are puffed, golden and firm. The total baking time should be approximately 20 minutes.

4) Using a small, sharp knife, cut a small slit in each eclair to let the steam out. Let cool for a few minutes before filling and icing.

5) Slice the éclairs horizontally, using a serrated knife and a gently sawing motion. Set aside the bottoms and place the tops on a rack over a piece of parchment paper (or you can poke a hole in them and fill with pastry cream instead of slicing them into two pieces).

6) Fill the eclairs with the pastry cream, then dip the eclairs (or eclair tops if you have cut them in half) down into the chocolate glaze. The glaze should be barely warm to the touch (between 95 – 104 degrees F or 35 – 40 degrees C, as measured on an instant read thermometer).

Pierre Hermé’s Cream Puff Dough
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé

Ingredients
• ½ cup (125g) whole milk
• ½ cup (125g) water
• 1 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature

Preparation
1) In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to the
boil.

2) Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together very quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. You need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough will be very soft and smooth.

3) Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using your hand mixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough. You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again do not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again by the time you have added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.

4) The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs as directed above.

Notes:
1) Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately.

2) You can pipe the dough and the freeze it. Simply pipe the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets and slide the sheets into the freezer. Once the dough is completely frozen, transfer the piped shapes into freezer bags. They can be kept in the freezer for up to a month.

Pastry Cream
I used a pastry cream from a cookbook that I was borrowing from the library. I have since returned the book, and forgot to write down the recipe. Basically, any pastry cream (or vanilla pudding) will work.

Chocolate Glaze
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé

Ingredients
• 1/3 cup (80g) heavy cream
• 3½ oz (100g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 tsp (20 g) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature
• 7 tbsp (110 g) Chocolate Sauce (recipe below), warm or at room temperature

Preparation
1)In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and slowly begin to add the chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.

2) Stirring gently, stir in the butter, piece by piece followed by the chocolate sauce.

Notes:
1) If the chocolate glaze is too cool (i.e. not liquid enough) you may heat it briefly? in the microwave or over a double boiler. A double boiler is basically a bowl sitting over (not touching) simmering water.

Chocolate Sauce
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé

Ingredients
• 4½ oz (130 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup (250 g) water
• ½ cup (125 g) crème fraîche, or heavy cream
• 1/3 cup (70 g) sugar

Preparation
1) Place all the ingredients into a heavy?bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure to stir constantly. Then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens.

2) It may take 10?15 minutes for the sauce to thicken, but you will know when it is done when it coats the back of your spoon.

A few nights ago I really wanted to make chocolate chip cookies. I wanted cookies and I wanted chocolate, so this seemed like a good choice. My favorite kind to make involve using 3 kinds of chocolate chips just like this recipe. The three kinds of chocolate chip cookies that I like to use are White chocolate, milk chocolate and bittersweet chocolate, all equal parts. Normally I like my chocolate stuff more chocolately and less sweet. With this combination, the bittersweet chocolate chips help to balance the sweetness of the white and milk chocolate chips. I only had maybe half of a handful left of bittersweet chocolate chips (not nearly enough to make this recipe possible). I meant to pick some up when I went grocery shopping but I forgot. After dinner when I was ready to make the chocolate chip cookies that I had been wanting all day, I realized that I didn’t have any bittersweet chocolate chips. I didn’t want to use only white chocolate and milk chocolate due to the sweetness factor, so I started to pout. Tommy suggested adding cocoa powder in place of the bittersweet chocolate chips to try and cut down on the sweetness factor. So after altering Melanie’s recipe, I ended up with 22 chocolate chocolate cookies. They turned out moist and gooey right out of the oven, and oh so chocolatey. I tried one the day after and it was still soft and chewy. I was surprised at how rich and chocolatey they were.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup AP flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350-degrees and prepare cookie sheets for baking.

1. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

2. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until blended.

3. Add flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt, mixing until just blended.

4. Add chocolate chips, mixing until combined.

5. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto cookie sheets and bake for 12 minutes

6. Let sit on cookie sheets until they have flattened out and cooled down, 3-4 minutes.

I don’t feel like writing much about this month’s challenge. The quick summary is that I followed all of the directions, everything seemed to come together with no disasters, I forgot to take pictures of the assembled cake, and when I tasted it I was not impressed.

And now for my favorite parts about the cake:

The Swiss buttercream recipe required a hazelnut brittle be made, then ground into a paste, then added to the buttercream. I have made caramel a few times before, but I have never melted sugar only. It took about twice the amount of time to melt, but it finally did and I didn’t burn it. I felt very accomplished after mixing in the hazelnuts and spreading it out on the mat. I mean, it actually looked like nut brittle! YAY! It tasted pretty good too. And it was so easy. I was very skeptical of the instructions that said to grind the brittle in a food processor until it turns into a paste. I didn’t quite understand how brittle would turn into paste. But I kept the food processor going and then all of a sudden, there was paste! It wasn’t as good as the brittle, but it was good.

My next favorite part was making the buttercream. My first attempt at making buttercream last month didn’t go so well. The buttercream looked like vomit. This buttercream used a different method, making a meringue instead and then mixing in the butter to make buttercream. Nothing seemed to fall apart, and in the end I had some pretty tasty buttercream to put between the cake layers.

Like I already said, in my rush to get ready for the party I was going to (and taking the cake to), I didn’t take any pictures of the final cake. I thought that the texture of the cake part was off, just like in the Opera cake. I think it was the nut-base instead of flour base. I won’t be participating in anymore nut-cake challenges, they just aren’t for me. The other part of the cake that my palate didn’t enjoy very much was the apricot glaze just under the ganache glaze. For some reason, the apricot and chocolate just didn’t taste right together. A few pieces were eaten at the party, but the majority of the cake came home and sat in the refrigerator until the following weekend, when my in laws came to town and ate it up. They seemed to enjoy it.

Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream
From Great Cakes by Carol Walter

1 Filbert Genoise
1 recipe sugar syrup, flavored with dark rum
1 recipe Praline Buttercream
½ cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks
1 recipe Apricot Glaze
1 recipe Ganache Glaze, prepared just before using
3 tablespoons filberts, toasted and coarsely chopped

Filbert Genoise
Because of the amount of nuts in the recipe, this preparation is different from a classic genoise.

1 ½ cups hazelnuts, toasted/skinned
2/3 cup cake flour, unsifted
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
7 large egg yolks
1 cup sugar, divided ¼ & ¾ cups
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. grated lemon rind
5 lg. egg whites
¼ cup warm, clarified butter (100 – 110 degrees)

Position rack in the lower 3rd of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10” X 2” inch round cake pan.

Using a food processor, process nuts, cake flour, and cornstarch for about 30 seconds. Then, pulse the mixture about 10 times to get a fine, powdery mixture. You’ll know the nuts are ready when they begin to gather together around the sides of the bowl. While you want to make sure there aren’t any large pieces, don’t over-process. Set aside.

Put the yolks in the bowl of an electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, and beat until thick and light in color, about 3-4 minutes on med-high speed. Slowly, add ¾ cup of sugar. It is best to do so by adding a tablespoon at a time, taking about 3 minutes for this step. When finished, the mixture should be ribbony. Blend in the vanilla and grated lemon rind. Remove and set aside.

Place egg whites in a large, clean bowl of the electric mixer with the whisk attachment and beat on medium speed, until soft peaks. Increase to med-high speed and slowly add the remaining ¼ cup of sugar, over 15-20 seconds or so. Continue to beat for another ½ minute.
Add the yolk mixture to the whites and whisk for 1 minute.

Pour the warm butter in a liquid measure cup (or a spouted container). * It must be a deep bottom bowl and work must be fast.* Put the nut meal in a mesh strainer (or use your hand – working quickly) and sprinkle it in about 2 tablespoons at a time – folding it carefully for about 40 folds. Be sure to exclude any large chunks/pieces of nuts. Again, work quickly and carefully as to not deflate the mixture. When all but about 2 Tbsp. of nut meal remain, quickly and steadily pour the warm butter over the batter. Then, with the remaining nut meal, fold the batter to incorporate, about 13 or so folds.

With a rubber spatula, transfer the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the surface with the spatula or back of a spoon. **If collected butter remains at the bottom of the bowl, do not add it to the batter! It will impede the cake rising while baking.

Tap the pan on the counter to remove air bubbles and bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes. You’ll know the cake is done when it is springy to the touch and it separates itself from the side of the pan. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Invert onto a cake rack sprayed with nonstick coating, removing the pan. Cool the cake completely.

*If not using the cake right away, wrap thoroughly in plastic wrap, then in a plastic bag, then in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. If freezing, wrap in foil, then the bag and use within 2-3 months.

Sugar Syrup
Makes 1 cup, good for one 10-inch cake – split into 3 layers

1 cup water
¼ cup sugar
2 Tbsp. dark rum or orange flavored liqueur

In a small, yet heavy saucepan, bring the water and sugar to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add the liqueur. Cool slightly before using on the cake. *Can be made in advance.

Praline Buttercream
1 recipe Swiss Buttercream
1/3 cup praline paste
1 ½ - 2 Tbsp. Jamaican rum (optional)

Blend ½ cup buttercream into the paste, then add to the remaining buttercream. Whip briefly on med-low speed to combine. Blend in rum.

Swiss Buttercream
4 lg. egg whites
¾ cup sugar
1 ½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly firm
1 ½ -2 Tbsp. Grand Marnier or liqueur of your choice
1 tsp. vanilla

Place the egg whites in a lg/ bowl of a elevtric mixer and beat with the whisk attachment until the whites are foamy and they begin to thicken (just before the soft peak stage). Set the bowl over a saucepan filled with about 2 inches of simmering water, making sure the bowl is not touching the water. Then, whisk in the sugar by adding 1-2 tablespoon of sugar at a time over a minutes time. Continue beating 2-3 minutes or until the whites are warm (about 120 degrees) and the sugar is dissolved. The mixture should look thick and like whipped marshmallows.
Remove from pan and with either the paddle or whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and sugar on med-high until its a thick, cool meringue – about 5-7 minutes. *Do not overbeat*. Set aside.

Place the butter in a separate clean mixing bowl and, using the paddle attachment, cream the butter at medium speed for 40-60 seconds, or until smooth and creamy. *Do not overbeat or the butter will become toooooo soft.*

On med-low speed, blend the meringue into the butter, about 1-2 Tbsp. at a time, over 1 minute. Add the liqueur and vanilla and mix for 30-45 seconds longer, until thick and creamy.

Refrigerate 10-15 minutes before using.

Wait! My buttercream won’t come together! Reheat the buttercream briefly over simmering water for about 5 seconds, stirring with a wooden spoon. Be careful and do not overbeat. The mixture will look broken with some liquid at the bottom of the bowl. Return the bowl to the mixer and whip on medium speed just until the cream comes back together.

Wait! My buttercream is too soft! Chill the buttercream in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes and rewhip. If that doesn’t work, cream an additional 2-4 Tbsp. of butter in a small bowl– making sure the butter is not as soft as the original amount, so make sure is cool and smooth. On low speed, quickly add the creamed butter to the buttercream, 1 Tbsp. at a time.

Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or can be frozen for up to 6 months. If freezing, store in 2 16-oz. plastic containers and thaw in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for several hours.

Praline Paste
1 cup (4 ½ oz.) Hazelnuts, toasted/skinless
2/3 cup Sugar
Line a jelly roll pan with parchment and lightly butter.

Put the sugar in a heavy 10-inch skillet. Heat on low flame for about 10-20 min until the sugar melts around the edges. Do not stir the sugar. Swirl the pan if necessary to prevent the melted sugar from burning. Brush the sides of the pan with water to remove sugar crystals. If the sugar in the center does not melt, stir briefly. When the sugar is completely melted and caramel in color, remove from heat. Stir in the nuts with a wooden spoon and separate the clusters. Return to low heat and stir to coat the nuts on all sides. Cook until the mixture starts to bubble. **Remember – extremely hot mixture.** Then onto the parchment lined sheet and spread as evenly as possible. As it cools, it will harden into brittle. Break the candied nuts into pieces and place them in the food processor. Pulse into a medium-fine crunch or process until the brittle turns into a powder. To make paste, process for several minutes. Store in an airtight container and store in a cook dry place. Do not refrigerate.

Apricot Glaze
Good for one 10-inch cake

2/3 cup thick apricot preserves
1 Tbsp. water

In a small, yet heavy saucepan, bring the water and preserves to a slow boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes. If the mixture begins to stick to the bottom of the saucepan, add water as needed.

Remove from heat and, using a strainer, press the mixture through the mesh and discard any remnants. With a pastry brush, apply the glaze onto the cake while the cake is still warm. If the glaze is too thick, thin to a preferred consistency with drops of water.

Ganache Glaze
Makes about 1 cup, enough to cover the top and sides of a 9 or 10 inch layer cake

6 oz. (good) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, like Lindt
6 oz. (¾ cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. light corn syrup
1 Tbsp. Grand Marnier, Cointreay, or dark Jamaican rum (optional)
¾ tsp. vanilla
½ - 1 tsp. hot water, if needed

Blend vanilla and liqueur/rum together and set aside.

Break the chocolate into 1-inch pieces and place in the basket of a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Transfer into a medium sized bowl and set aside.

Heat the cream and corn syrup in a saucepan, on low, until it reached a gentle boil. Once to the gently boil, immediately and carefully pour over the chocolate. Leave it alone for one minute, then slowly stir and mix the chocolate and cream together until the chocolate is melted and incorporated into the cream. Carefully blend in vanilla mixture. If the surface seems oily, add ½ - 1 tsp hot water. The glaze will thicken, but should still be pourable. If it doesn’t thicken, refrigerate for about 5 minutes, but make sure it doesn’t get too cold!

Assembling Cake
Cut a cardboard disk slightly smaller than the cake. Divide the cake into 3 layers and place the first layer top-side down on the disk. Using a pastry brush, moisten the layer with 3-4 Tbsp. of warm sugar syrup. Measure out 1 cup of praline buttercream and set aside.

Spread the bottom layer with a ¼-inch thickness of the remaining buttercream. Cover with ½ of the whipped cream, leaving ¼-inch border around the edge of the cake. Place the middle layer over the first, brush with sugar syrup, spreading with buttercream. Cover with the remaining whipped cream.

Moisten the cut side of the third layer with additional sugar syrup and place cut side down on the cake. Gently, press the sides of the cake to align the layers. Refrigerate to chill for at least 30 minutes.

Lift the cake by sliding your palm under the cardboard. Holding a serrated or very sharp night with an 8-ich blade held parallel to the sides of the cake, trim the sides so that they are perfectly straight. Cut a slight bevel at the top to help the glaze drip over the edge. Brush the top and sides of the cake with warm apricot glaze, sealing the cut areas completely. Chill while you prepare the ganache.

Place a rack over a large shallow pan to catch the ganache drippings. Remove the gateau from the refrigerator and put it the rack. With a metal spatula in hand, and holding the saucepan about 10 inches above the cake, pour the ganache onto the cake’s center. Move the spatula over the top of the ganache about 4 times to get a smooth and mirror-like appearance. The ganache should cover the top and run down the sides of the cake. When the ganache has been poured and is coating the cake, lift one side of the rack and bang it once on the counter to help spread the ganache evenly and break any air bubbles. (Work fast before setting starts.) Patch any bare spots on the sides with a smaller spatula, but do not touch the top after the “bang”. Let the cake stand at least 15 minutes to set after glazing.

To garnish the cake, fit a 12 – 14-inch pastry bag with a #114 large leaf tip. Fill the bag with the reserved praline cream. Stating ½ inch from the outer edge of the cake, position the pastry tube at a 90 degree angle with the top almost touching the top of the cake. Apply pressure to the pastry bag, moving it slightly toward the center of the cake. As the buttercream flows on the cake, reverse the movement backward toward the edge of the cake and finish by pulling the bag again to the center. Stop applying pressure and press the bag downward, then quickly pull the tip up to break the flow of frosting. Repeat, making 12 leaves evenly spaced around the surface of the cake.

Make a second row of leaves on the top of the first row, moving the pastry bag about ¾ inch closer to the center. The leaves should overlap. Make a 3rd row, moving closer and closer to the center. Add a 4th row if you have the room. But, leave a 2-inch space in the center for a chopped filbert garnish. Refrigerate uncovered for 3-4 hours to allow the cake to set. Remove the cake from the refrigerator at least 3 hours before serving.

This month’s challenge didn’t seem too daunting to me. I was excited for the first three weeks of May, anxiously waiting a free day when I could make it. During those 3 weeks, I dreamed up of the flavors that I wanted to add. I finally dreamed up a limoncello flavored cake. The butter cream looked like a disaster (though it tasted okay). And the jaconde was a little on the dark side (next time I will buy better almond meal that doesn’t appear to include the skins). Other than that, everything seemed to come together quite nicely. A touch of yellow food coloring to the glaze distinguished the glaze from the mousse layer. The result: a pretty tasty dessert! Although I have to admit, I wasn’t a fan of the texture. It seemed a little too mushy (too much syrup on the jaconde maybe, or the funky butter cream not adhering to a butter cream-like texture). And it wasn’t very lemony after all. The only thing that I made in advance was the butter cream. Everything else was assembled one exciting Saturday in May.

Le Opera Cake

Jaconde
6 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
2 cups ground blanched almonds
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
6 large eggs
½ cup all-purpose flour
3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1.Divide the oven into thirds by positioning a rack in the upper third of the oven and the lower third of the oven.
2.Preheat the oven to 425?F. (220?C).
3.Line two 12½ x 15½- inch (31 x 39-cm) jelly-roll pans with parchment paper and brush with melted butter.
4.In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or using a handheld mixer), beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add the granulated sugar and beat until the peaks are stiff and glossy. If you do not have another mixer bowl, gently scrape the meringue into another bowl and set aside.
5.If you only have one bowl, wash it after removing the egg whites or if you have a second bowl, use that one. Attach the paddle attachment to the stand mixer (or using a handheld mixer again) and beat the almonds, icing sugar and eggs on medium speed until light and voluminous, about 3 minutes.
6.Add the flour and beat on low speed until the flour is just combined (be very careful not to overmix here!!!).
7.Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the meringue into the almond mixture and then fold in the melted butter. Divide the batter between the pans and spread it evenly to cover the entire surface of each pan.
8.Bake the cake layers until they are lightly browned and just springy to the touch. This could take anywhere from 5 to 9 minutes depending on your oven. Place one jelly-roll pan in the middle of the oven and the second jelly-roll pan in the bottom third of the oven.
9.Put the pans on a heatproof counter and run a sharp knife along the edges of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Cover each with a sheet of parchment or wax paper, turn the pans over, and unmold.
10.Carefully peel away the parchment, then turn the parchment over and use it to cover the cakes. Let the cakes cool to room temperature.

Syrup
½ cup water
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp. limoncello

1.Stir all the syrup ingredients together in the saucepan and bring to a boil.
2.Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

Butter cream
Alton Brown’s Butter cream
Alton Brown’s technique (The Icing Man Commeth episode)

White Chocolate Mousse
7 ounces white chocolate
1 cup plus 3 tbsp. heavy cream (35% cream)
1 tbsp. limoncello

1.Melt the white chocolate and the 3 tbsp. of heavy cream in a small saucepan.
2.Stir to ensure that it’s smooth and that the chocolate is melted. Add the tablespoon of liqueur to the chocolate and stir. Set aside to cool completely.
3.In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream until soft peaks form.
4.Gently fold the whipped cream into the cooled chocolate to form a mousse.
5.If it’s too thin, refrigerate it for a bit until it’s spreadable.
6.If you’re not going to use it right away, refrigerate until you’re ready to use.

White Chocolate Glaze
14 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
½ cup heavy cream (35% cream)

1.Melt the white chocolate with the heavy cream. Whisk the mixture gently until smooth.
2.Let cool for 10 minutes and then pour over the chilled cake. Using a long metal cake spatula, smooth out into an even layer.
3.Place the cake into the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set.

Assembly
1. Cut the jaconde into 2 10X10-inch sqaures, and 2 10X5-inch rectangles. Place one 10X10 inch square on a serving platter or cutting board. Brush on 1/3 of the syrup.
2. Spread 1/2 of the butter cream onto first layer.
3. Put 2 jaconde rectangles side-by-side on the butter cream layer. Brush jaconde layer with next 1/3 of syrup.
4. Spread remaining 1/2 of the butter cream onto 2nd jaconde layer.
5. Put remaining jaconde layer on 2nd layer of butter cream. Brush with remaining 1/3 of syrup.
6. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
7. Spread mousse layer on top of 3rd jaconde layer.
8. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
9. Make the glaze while the cake is chilling in the refrigerator.
10. After 2 hours of chilling, pour the glaze on top of the mousse layer.
11. Refrigerate for at least 2 more hours.
12. Trim all 4 sides of cake so that layers are visible.
13. Eat the scrap.
14. Eat and share the cake.

Here it goes, my first Daring Bakers Challenge:

All was going well until the cake was in the oven for 45 minutes (the suggested baking time stated in the recipe). It was still very jiggly and far from “slightly golden”. 10 more minutes of baking and it was still jiggly and not even slightly golden. 10 more minutes, it seemed to be getting firmer, but no signs of goldenness. Five more minutes and it was slightly golden and firm. DONE. So that was a total of 70 minutes of baking. 25 minutes more than the recipe stated. I double checked the temperature of my oven, and the temperature that it was supposed to be set at. The temperatures matched.

Once the cheesecake was room temperature, I put it in the fridge to stay overnight. The next day when I began to scoop them out, I got my scale ready to measure the 2 oz rounds specified in the recipe. 2 oz. of cheesecake was A LOT bigger than I was expecting. I was thinking bite size, golf ball size, maybe even walnut size… Not the case. I switched from a small spoon to an ice cream scooper and forged on, measuring my 2 oz. cheesecake rounds. The cheesecake wasn’t very firm, so it was impossible to shape into round balls. Instead I got deformed round balls that were far from smooth. More like globs. I even tried to refrigerate the cheesecake blobs before shaping them, but that didn’t work. Next, I had to clean out our freezer to make room for 3 pans of cheesecake globs.

After a few hours of freezer time, it was time for the final part: CHOCOLATE! I had 1 pound of bittersweet chocolate and about a pound of semi-sweet and milk chocolate combined. I started with the bittersweet chocolate, and quickly ran out about 2/3 of the way through coating all of the balls. Coating wasn’t that hard, but the coating seemed thick, and trying to dip them in any kind of topping wasn’t easy because the melted chocolate fell into the dippings and then I had a big mess. I later realized (later meaning a week after making these) that I forgot to add the shortening to the chocolate. If I had done this, it probably wouldn’t have been so thick!

None of that matters though, because they were DEEEELICIOUS. They were well received at our wine tasting, and gobbled up when I took them into work the following day. They were very rich, but oh so oh so oh so good.

Cheesecake Pops
From Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O’Connor

Ingredients
Five 8-ounce packages of cream cheese at room temperature.
2 cups of sugar
¼ cup of AP flour
¼ teaspoon of salt
5 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
¼ cup of heavy cream
Boiling water
Thirty to forty lollipop sticks
1 pound chocolate for dipping and decorating
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 325F degrees.

Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Set some water to boil.

In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.

Grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a springform pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes (Note: mine took 70 minutes to bake).

Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight. When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 – 2 hours.

When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Do not heat the chocolate too much or your chocolate will lose it’s shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety.

Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.) Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed.

Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.

Tommy and I played host to Rachel and Mike and Tommy’s parents last weekend (Rachel and Mike on Friday night, Tommy’s parents on Saturday and Sunday night). I wanted to have a nice breakfast on Saturday morning, but I didn’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen either. I remember reading a blog post about coffee cake recently. I read through the recipe and realized that if I didn’t want to spend all morning in the kitchen, I would need to make this coffee cake the night before (it has to cook for an hour and then sit for at least 30 minutes before eating).

This was fairly easy to make and tasted great. It tasted like good coffee cake with a little strawberry jam in it. Tasty tasty. Rachel, Mike, Tommy and I only ate half of the cake on Saturday morning, so we ate it for breakfast again on Sunday morning with Tommy’s parent. After sitting on the counter, covered, for a day, it was still deeeelicious.

Strawberry Jam Coffee Cake

Crumb Topping
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/3 cup butter, melted

In a medium bowl, stir together dry topping ingredients until combined, then stir in melted butter until damp crumbs are formed and the mixture sticks together into chunks when you squeeze it between your fingers. Set aside.

Cake
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup strawberry jam or preserves

Preheat oven to 350F and line a 9-in square pan (I used an 8 X 11-inch glass dish) with parchment paper. Lightly grease and set aside. In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla, followed by the eggs, adding them one at a time until mixture is smooth.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to sugar mixture, alternating with sour cream in two or three additions, until well blended. Spread evenly into prepared pan.

Stir jam in a small bowl until smooth and drop by spoonfuls onto the cake batter. Gently swirl through with a knife. Top with crumb mixture, clumping it by squeezing it between your fingers while you work and spreading it into as even a layer as possible. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (mine ended up baking for 70 minutes, at which point the middle still didn’t seem finished, but I took it out anyway because the crumb topping was beginning to burn. When I cut into it the next morning, it was perfect.) Cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

Girl Scout season is here! I told myself that I would try my best not to buy any cookies. Because they’re expensive and I eat a lot of them. I decided to try and make my favorite cookie instead. They turned out surprisingly good (both in looks and taste). Even though they took about 4 hours to make, from start to finish, I enjoyed making them. I didn’t have much going on Saturday afternoon, so it was a fun way to spend the day. Eating them is fun too. If I made these again, I would improve on the caramel spreading process for sure. This was the hardest part, and the cause of 8 broken cookies. It took me so long to spread the caramel/cocunut topping on, so it kept getting hard, and I would have to heat it up in the microwave to soften it up again. By the time I got to the last handful of cookies, the caramel didn’t even want to soften up even when heated. So that was that. Those cookies aren’t as caramely and are a bit on the chewy side, but still extremely edible and delicious.

Samoas

Ingredients
The cookie:
1 cup butter, soft
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
up to 2 tbsp milk

The caramel mixture:
3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened)
12-oz chewy caramels
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk

The chocolate:
8 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate

Preparation
The cookie:
Preheat oven to 350F. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk, adding in the milk as needed to make the dough come together without being sticky (it’s possible you might not need to add milk at all). The dough should come together into a soft, not-too-sticky ball. Add in a bit of extra flour if your dough is very sticky.

Roll the dough (working in two or three batches) out to about 1/4-inch thickness (or slightly less) and use a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter to make rounds. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and use a knife (I used an apple corer), to cut a smaller center hole. Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are lightly browned and cookies are set. Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

The topping:
Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Unwrap the caramels and place in a glass bowl with milk and salt. Place bowl on a pot of boiling water and stir caramel mixture until melted. When smooth, remove from heat and fold in toasted coconut with a spatula. Using the spatula, spread topping on cooled cookies, using about 2-3 tsp per cookie. Reheat caramel for a few seconds in the microwave if it gets too firm to work with.

The chocolate:
While topping sets up, melt chocolate in another glass bowl over a pot of boiling water. Dip the base of each cookie into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle finished cookies with chocolate.
Let chocolate set completely before trying to eat (this takes a few hours, unfortunately). Fortunately for Tommy and I, we left for dinner just after I finished making these, so we didn’t have to be tortured by watching the chocolate get solidified. I had them as a second dessert when we got home from dinner.

The process improvement that I would make next time is with how the caramel topping is applied to the cookie. I would leave the caramel in the glass bowl over some simmering water (so that the caramel stays soft the entire time). I would then dip the cookie in the caramel, then dip it in the coconut. I think that this would save a lot of time too. The only thing you would have to be careful about is that the caramel is very hot when it is at this stage, so you might get a few burned fingertips if you’re not careful about dipping the cookies.

I bought a box of the REAL girl scout cookies on my way home from the store today (this is the ONLY box I am going to buy this year). I was shocked that I had to pay $3.50 for only 15 cookies! My cookies are bigger but the caramel is a bit harder than the REAL cookies. That’s probably because there are a bazillion preservatives in the REAL cookie’s caramel. Oh yeah, and I got about 45 cookies out of the deal, AND they’re bigger. So take that girl scouts!

I have some heavy cream in my refrigerator that I am determined to use before it goes bad. Making chocolate pudding got me a few inches closer to the bottom of the container. It satisfied my sweet tooth just fine.

Double Chocolate Pudding

Ingredients
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
3 tbsp cocoa powder (I used Dutch-processed because that is what I had)
Pinch of salt
1 1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate
2 tbsp butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp heavy cream

Preparation
Using the paddle attachment of your mixer, beat the egg yolks and sugar until light yellow and thick. Add the cornstarch, cocoa powder and salt. Bring the milk and heavy cream to a boil. With the mixer on slow speed, very slowly add the milk to the mixture in the mixer. Make sure that you start with just a few tablespoons of the hot milk at first, and then slowly add the rest. If you add too much of the hot milk at first, the eggs will cook and you will get small bits of egg in the finished pudding (I’m speaking from experience here).

Pour the combined mixture back into the pot and cook on low heat until thickened. Stir constantly while doing so. Once thick, remove from the heat and add the butter, vanilla and the heavy cream. Stir until the butter melts. Pour into serving bowls and cover with plastic wrap so that the plastic wrap is touching the pudding. Chill for a few hours.

Tommy’s family is spending Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with us. We decided to have a nice Christmas Eve Dinner, which turned out to be FABULOUS! The dinner was actually fairly simple and only required a little bit of preparation here and there throughout the afternoon. Harris Teeter had standing rib roasts on mega-sale, so we picked up an 8-pounder and experienced an immediate $40 savings by using our VIC card on one item. We had a roasted red pepper leek and potato soup for an appetizer, then served the rib roast with asparagus and bakery rolls. Desert was spectacular, a Nutella tart that I stole from someone else’s food blog.

Tommy and I have had the soup before but we thought that it would be a nice way to start the dinner. Elena was sick, so we thought that she could at least partake in this part of the meal if she wasn’t up to the rest. It was a nice, creamy incorporation of leeks, red peppers and potatoes. It was just as good as the first time that we made it.

The rib roast was insanely easy to make and way more delicious than expected given the minimal time that it took to prepare. The rib-eye portion of meat was okay (Tommy thought that this part was great). Then there was the portion on top of the rib-eye that was closest to the herb mixture. It was this portion that I wanted to eat forever and ever. It was marbly and full of seasoned goodness. We served this with asparagus, which I’m sure was good and I know I ate, but I do not remember the asparagus. The taste of the meat is still lingering in my head.

The nutella tart was the first tart that I have made. The crust came out absolutely perfect. The filling wasn’t as rich as I was expecting it to be, which was nice because it turned out to be a nice light-to-medium desert after a very filling carnivorous meal. I served it with whipped cream spiked with what else but frangelico.

Herb and Horseradish Crusted Standing Rib Roast

Ingredients
8 lb standing rib roast, with bones
1/4 cup salt
2 tbsp pepper
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup horseradish sauce
2 tbsp fresh thyme
1.5 tbsp rosemary, roughly chopped
1.5 tbsp sage leaves, roughly chopped
7 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

Preparation
Heave oven to 325 degrees. Put rib roast in a roasting pan fat side up. Apply a very generous amount of salt and pepper. Combine butter, horseradish, thyme, rosemary, sage and garlic in a food processor. Pulse until mixture is blended into a paste. Spread paste on top of rib roast, and on sides (we tried spreading on the sides and it didn’t stay very well). Put in oven and bake until the middle of the meat reaches 125 degrees (about 3 hours). Let sit for at least 20 minutes before carving. Serve and enjoy.