birthdays and tarts! part II

For M's birthday - a fat duck and this little chocolate tart. The crust is from the banana cream tarts and the chocolate ganache from the same recipe is spiked with a few teaspoons of Bailey Irish Cream. I also broke up pieces of hazelnut brittle to add to the bottom of the tart. The assembly was easy. Tart shell, brittle, chocolate ganache. Topped it off with a few small shards of caramel sugar.

Hazelnut Brittle (adapted from Bobby Flay)

1/2 cup white sugar
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp light corn syrup
1 tbsp butter
pinch salt
1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, chopped or halved


Heat sugar, water, corn syrup and salt in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until it becomes a medium amber in color. Stir in butter and hazelnut. Spread onto a greased pan and allow the mixture to cool. Break into smaller pieces.

new flavors, basic recipe

I had planned on baking Dorie Greenspan's "Best Chocolate Chip Cookies" the other night. Her recipe made almost 4 dozen, so I was going to halve it and modify it to also make some white chocolate cranberry cookies with pistachios. It was late and I had stuff on my mind, so somehow I added in 2 eggs instead of 1 large egg as required. Past experience told me that if I continue with the recipe I'm going to end up with puffy cookies, which I hate. But I was hoping that since the eggs were so small, they would only really be...1 1/2 large eggs. I went ahead and baked off 1 or 2 to try. Nope, puffy and cakey. No good. The dough tastes great though, so I think I'm going to freeze it and use it in cookie dough ice cream later on. Or eat it straight when The Small One comes over. Shhh...


Fast forward to this morning. I decided to use my tried and true basic cookie recipe since I was baking for my friend, and didn't want to mess up again. I've used the recipe for chocolate chunk cookies, chocolate walnut, white chocolate cranberry, etc. I was making white chocolate cranberry cookies with pistachios today. The pistachios I bought were shelled and raw, so I toasted them slightly in a dry pan, and tossed them in.


Nom nom nom...lucky I gave most of these away

Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tartlettes

A friend of mine ordered something for me a few months ago, and in return asked me to simply bake for him. I guess I was flattered that he held my baking skills in such high regard that he would take that over actual payment. He wanted something chocolatey. And so here it is, a little late, but nonetheless a sign of my appreciation. For you, my creme-brulee-loving friend, is Dorie Greenspan's Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart.

This is great in small doses, rich with chocolate, cream and butter. It's simple yet very decadent.


Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart

Sweet Tart Dough:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick plus
1 tbsp unsalted butter (cut into small pieces and frozen) 1 large egg yolk

Caramel:
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar, sifted
1 tbsp light corn syrup
2 tbsp salted butter (at room temperature and cut small)
a pinch salt if using unsalted butter

Ganache:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup plus 2 tbsp heavy cream
4 tbsp unsalted butter (at room temperature and cut small)

3/4 cup honey-roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped

To Make Sweet Tart Dough:
Put flour, confectioners' sugar and salt in food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Scatter pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until butter is coarsely cut in. Stir the yolk and add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. When the egg is in process in long pulses (about 10 seconds each) until the dough forms clumps. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and lightly knead to incorporate any dry ingredients. Butter a 9-inch fluted pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. You should save a little piece to do patchwork with later. The crust should still be crumbly, just be sure that the edges of the pieces cling to each other. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes, preferably longer, before baking. Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust. Place the tart on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 375 degrees oven for 25 minutes (for a partially baked crust). To fully bake a crust (as in this tart), remove the foil, press down the crust slightly if it has puffed, and bake for another 8 minutes or so, until firm and golden brown.

For the Caramel:
Bring the heavy cream to boil. In another skillet over medium heat, sprinkle in 3 tablespoons of sugar. When it melts, stir with a wooden spatula or fork and sprinkle over another 3 tablespoons. When that sugar has melted, add in another 2 tablespoons. Stir in corn syrup and boil teh syrup until it reaches a deep caramel color. Don't worry if it begins to smoke. Stand back from the skillet and add in butter and salt if you are using it. The caramel will bubble and sputter. When the butter is in, add the warm cream. The caramel will bubble again. Lower the temperature a bit and let the caramel boil for 2 minutes (candy thermometer should read 226 degrees F). Let cool.

For the Ganache:
Place the chopped chocolate in a heat proof bowl. Bring the heavy cream to boil and pour half of it over the chocolate, allowing it to sit for 30 seconds. Stir in concentric circles, starting in the center and working your way outward. Pour in the remaining half of the cream and blend in the chocolate until smooth. Add in the butter piece by piece, stirring just enough to blend the ingredients. The less you work it, the shinier, darker, and smoother the chocolate will be. Cover the ganache with a plastic wrap right up against the surface of the ganache. Set aside at room temperature or refrigerate if not using immediately.

To Assemble:
Stir the chopped peanuts into the caramel. If the caramel has cooled too much and turned hard, gently warm it in the microwave for about 3 minutes. Spread the caramel in a thin layer over the bottom of the cooled tart shell. Refrigerate tart for 15 minutes to set the caramel layer. Pour the ganache over the caramel, making sure there are no air bubbles. Refrigerate assembled tart for 30 minutes (no longer) and keep at room temperature until serving time.

That recipe being said, I made a few changes. I made individual tartlettes, and used a different method for making the caramel. Mine is made with caramel candy and a touch of heavy bream, melted together. The resulting caramel will harden quite quickly upon cooling, so I just keep it in the pot I made it, and heat it up briefly before use. I also used pecans instead of peanuts. As for the tart crust, it was ok. I was a little nervous making it because the crust is so crumbly. It is very short-bread like, while I like a tighter, moister crust. The tart, or rather tartlettes, got good reviews.

Apple Frangipane Tart

Beautiful, elegant, delicious. This tart consists of a tender, buttery crust, smooth almond filling, and sweet apples. It's simple enough for a casual dessert, but also pretty enough for an elegant dinner.

Apple Frangipane Tart
1 10-inch tart

Sweet butter crust:
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 pinch salt
1 egg yolk
3 tbsp ice water, or as needed

Frangipane
1/2 cup almond paste
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp almond extract

3-4 medium sweet apples - peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup apricot jelly, heated until thinned

For pastry crust:
Cream together butter, sugar, and egg yolk. Sift in flour and salt, and stir to combine. Add in enough cold water to bring dough together, being careful to not overmix. Pat dough into a round disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Lightly flour the board, and roll the chilled dough into approximately a 12 inch circle. Lay the tart dough into a buttered 10-inch fluted tart pan (with a removable bottom), and press into the bottom and up the sides. Prick all over with a fork and return to the fridge to chill.

For frangipane:
Combine butter and almond paste until smooth. Add in almond extract and egg. Stir in flour until combined.

To assemble:
Pour frangipane evenly into the tart shell. Arrange apple slices on top of the frangipane (be creative ^.^just make sure that they overlap because apples will shrink when baked). Bake in a preheated 400 degrees oven for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 and bake for 20 more minutes. The frangipane should be puffed and the apples golden. Remove from oven and brush with heated apricot jelly.

Toffee Almond Bars

Beach picnic: turkey and swiss cheese sandwich, washed down with cinnamony horchata, and finished off with gooey toffee squares.

This recipe is from Alpineberry, and gave me a way to use up half a box of cake mix. The original recipe called for toffee bits, but I found that Almond Rocas, which have the ultimate combo of chocolate, almond, and toffee, work very well.

Toffee Almond Bars
9x13"

Crust:
1 box yellow or white cake mix
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg

Filling:
1 can condensed milk (16 oz)
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup toffee bits or chopped almond rocas
1/4 cup chopped almonds

Mix cake mix, butter, and egg until combined. Pressed into a 9x13" pan. Bake in a 350 degrees preheated oven for 7 minutes. The crust wouldn't look done.

In the mean time, combine egg and condensed milk. Stir in toffee bits and chopped almonds. Pour filling on baked crust. Bake for 24-30 minutes until top is browned. Let bars to cool before cutting; this allows the filling to set.

Orange and Cranberries

I'm out of brown sugar and I'm still cutting weight, the combination of which rules out baking a lot of my favorite things. So no more gooey chocolate chip cookies, chewy oatmeal raisin, moist banana bread...But I did come across this recipe on Nicole's blog Baking Bites for Orange Cranberry Bread. With no butter and only 1 egg and 2 tbsp of oil, I thought it was a fairly good compromise.

Despite the lack of (a lot of) fats, the bread came out moist and delicious. The crumb was brilliantly golden, dotted with pops of red from the cranberries. The orange flavor was surprisingly pronounced, pairing well with the tartness of cranberry. The crunch from the walnuts and pecans added an extra layer of texture. I ate almost the entire loaf myself (what did I expect when I leave it out on the counter with a knife next to it) so I'm planning on baking another one next week to take to Stanford for post-weigh-in snacking.

I highly recommend using fresh orange juice and orange zest for this recipe, since it is such a major flavor. I also reduced the sugar by 1/4 cup and found the bread to be just sweet enough. The batter was quite thick when I followed Nicole's recipe, so I added a tablespoon of milk to it to loosen it slightly. It will still be stiff going into the pan, but just spread it out in an even layer, and it'll bake up beautifully.

Orange Cranberry Nut Bread - adapted from Baking Bites
Makes 1 9x5 inch loaf

2 cups flour
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 1/2 tbsp orange zest
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp milk
1 cup frozen or fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped if large
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts and pecans)

Rub sugar and orange zest together until orange zest is distributed well. Add to flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir well to combine. Add in orange juice, oil, milk, and egg. Stir until just mixed. Fold in the fresh (or frozen) cranberries, dried cranberries, and nuts. Pour into greased loaf pan. The batter will be slightly stiff.

Bake in a 375 degrees preheated oven for 45-55 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool, slice, and enjoy

Japanese White Chocolate Almond Cheesecake

I'm so glad I stumbled across this recipe. It makes a really unique and tasty cake, reminiscent of the airy sponge cakes you get at Chinese bakeries. The recipe for a 9-inches cake only has 3 tablespoons of flour and 1 1/2 tablespoon of cornstarch. It's lightened with beaten egg whites, and baked in a water bath. The first time I made it, I simply flavored it with vanilla, and found that it tasted too much of cream cheese and egg. I adapted the recipe this time by adding in melted Ghirardelli white chocolate and almond extract. It got the approval of me and some of my friends. It doesn't rise very much and comes out smooth and flat on top. I'm thinking of tripling the recipe and making a layer cake next time.

Japanese White Chocolate Almond Cheesecake
Makes 1 9" Cake

3 ounce package of cream cheese
1/3 cup milk
2 egg yolks
4 tbsp white sugar, divided
3 tbsp all purpose flour, sifted
1 1/2 tbsp corn starch, sifted
2 egg whites
1/3 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 cup white chocolate chunks
1/2 tsp almond extract

Combine cream cheese, milk, and white chocolate chunks in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally until cream cheese and chocolate has melted. The mixture wouldn't be completely smooth, but try to get out the big lumps. Let cool.

Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks and 2 tbsp sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the cooled cream cheese mixture and beat until smooth. Add in almond extract. Stir in sifted flour and cornstarch until combined.

Using an electric mixture with clean beaters, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually add in 2 tbsp of sugar until white whites reach stiff peak stage. Gently fold egg whites into the cream cheese mixture. The mixture should be smooth and look like clouds. Pour into a 9" parchment-lined pan, or a greased springform pan with a removable bottom. If using a springform pan, wrap the pan in foil so that water will not leak in.

Bake in a preheated 350 degrees oven in a water bath for 20 minutes. Then turn the oven down to 300 degrees and continue to bake for 15 minutes. Allow cake to cool before removing from pan. If using a springform, simply remove the side of the pan. If using a regular baking pan, invert cake onto a plate, peel off the parchment and re-invert onto another plate.

A few notes:

• When beating egg whites, make sure there are no fats coming into contact. That means no bits of egg yolk and clean beaters and bowl. Any amount of fat would prevent the egg whites from reaching stiff peaks. Since they are the leavening agent (in a sense of speaking) in this recipe, it is very important that they are well beaten.
  
• A water bath is used to maintain a moist environment so the cheesecake doesn't dry out. To make a water bath: place the cake pan inside another larger baking dish. Pour hot water into the baking dish until it comes about halfway up the side of the cake pan. Be careful to not get water into the cake mixture itself. It is best to set the baking dish on the oven rack first, place the cake pan inside, and fill with water from a kettle. You can prevent a lot of grief and potential burns this way.
  
• The top of the cake never takes on much color. If you like it pale yellow (which is still pretty) you can just follow the baking instructions above. I like to turn on the broiler for about 30 seconds at the end to brown the tops. Just a matter of preference.
  

the cookie monster

Conversation with my lovely 8-year-old sister:
Me: Dad's coming to see me next week. Do you want me to make something for him to bring to you?
Sister: Hmm....COOKIES! No one makes them quite like you.

Since I was spending the day baking Julia Child's French bread anyways, I thought I'd make a care package for the little one as well. After jogging to Berkeley Bowl's for semisweet chocolate chunks (and nuts and dried fruits), I baked up five types of cookies - oatmeal raisin, white chocolate macadamian nuts, semisweet chocolate with walnuts, oatmeal raisin with dark chocolate, and white chocolate cranberry. I found that with two basic cookie recipes, endless variations are possible. Needless to say, I had a lot of fun, and ate a lot of cookies. Cook's privilege :) The chocolate walnut was especially good.

Chocolate Walnut Cookies
makes about 2 dozen small cookies

1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 egg (beaten)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate (chopped)
1/2 cup walnuts (chopped)

Cream butter and sugar until well blended. Beat in egg and vanilla until smooth. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl, and add into butter mixture. Mix until combined. Fold in chocolate chunks and walnuts. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet and bake in a 375 degrees preheated oven for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven while cookies are still soft in the center and let cool on sheet.

Enjoy the chewy, soft cookies with a cold glass of milk. It's a good treat anytime.

an adaptation

With an intense craving for sweets one night and being quite lacking in ingredients, I made these pear almond cheesecake tartlettes, adapting the cheesecake recipe from alpineberry. They turned out really pretty and tasty. The filling is almost custard-like, contrasting nicely with the crust. You can bake them longer to get a firmer cheesecake. Unfortunately I didn't have almonds on hand, but I'm sure using them in the crust and also sprinkled on top would enhance the flavor and appearance of the tartlettes.

Pear Almond Cheesecake Tartlettes

Crust:
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup oats*
1/8 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
2 1/2 tbsp melted butter
1 tbsp honey

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese (softened)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 medium egg, beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
3 tbsp butter, melted

Topping:
2 pears, sliced thin
**

For crust:
Combine flour, sugar, oats, baking soda, and salt. Stir in honey and melted butter until mixture is crumbly. Place about 1 1/2 tbsp of mixture into each mini tart pan, and press down. Bake in a 350 degrees preheated oven for 8-10 minutes until golden. Remove and let cool.

For filling:
While the crust is cooling, beat cream cheese with sugar until mixture is smooth and the sugar has dissolved. Mix in egg until combined. Stir in vanilla and almond extract, and melted butter. Mixture should be smooth and free of lumps.

To assemble:
Pour filling into cooled crust, about 3/4 full. Arrange pear slices on top. Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 30 minutes until top is golden and cheesecake is set.

Let cheesecake cool before topping with sifted powdered sugar.

*substitute with 1/3 cup coarsely ground almonds
**top finished cheesecake with toasted sliced almonds

small piece of heaven...

I came across a recipe for Mini Mocha Rocha Cheesecake by Alpineberry. I thought I'd try it on my family while I'm home. I made a few modifications based on the ingredients I had on hand and they turned out very tasty. My mom has been complaining that no one's eating our large container of Brown & Haley's Almond Roca, so I grounded up a few for the filling of the cheesecake. I also substituted the cashew in the crust for toasted walnuts, which lend a wonderful fragrance and texture to the crust, complementing well with creamy cheesecake and melty filling.

My cheesecake cracked on the top and some of the almond roca filling oozed out. I don't think I used enough cream cheese batter on the top. However, since the cheesecakes sink in the middle after they come out of the oven, I topped them with more ground almond roca and they looked fine.

Mini Almond Roca Cheesecake (adapted from Alpineberry)
make 9 mini cheesecakes

Crust:
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup walnuts, toasted
1/8 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
2 tbsp butter, softened
Filling:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 medium egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup almond roca, grounded (enough for filling and topping after baking)

For crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 9 wells of a standard cupcake pan with liner. Process toasted walnuts, flour, powdered sugar, baking soda, and salt in food processor until walnut is finely ground. Add in butter and pulse until mixture resemble crumbles. Divide crust mixture evenly between the 9 wells and press down. Bake for 8 minutes until slightly brown.

For filling: Beat soften cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Blend in beaten egg and vanilla. Add in butter and mix until smooth.

To assemble: Add about 1 tablespoon cream cheese mixture to cooled crust, spread so that the crust is covered. Add in about 1 1/2 teaspoon ground almond roca. Top with another tablespoon or so of cream cheese mixture, making sure that the almond roca is completely covered. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes until golden brown. They will sink a bit as they cool.

To serve: Peel off the liner; there will be slight sticking along the edges. You can top the cheesecakes with more ground almond roca for additional crunch and decoration. Or add a dollop of whipped cream.