The Unappreciated Baker

Where has all the rum gone?

October 27, 2010 at 2:12 pm | Posted in Cake, Chocolate, prunes, rum | Leave a comment
Tags: Cake, chocolate, prunes, rum

In the spirit of the Top Chef Just Desserts episode a couple weeks ago, I have also flambeed my dessert. The competitors had to make a dessert inspired by the Lucient Dossier experience, it’s basically like cirque de soleil with fire.

This is the first time that I have ever flambeed something and I was very excited. I was imagining something like they do in Top Chef with big flames, so I tried to prepare accordingly. In the end it was not as dramatic, though when I saw what they did on Top Chef Just Desserts, I realized that perhaps flambeing food as opposed to pastry might be very different, or perhaps wine flames more than liquor.

We took this dessert to our friends A. and E. (our Star Trek buddies). I was given a request to make something chocolatey, as A. is not so into fruit desserts, or peanut butter for that matter. I looked through Dorie’s cookbook for something interesting and I came across this cake. It is supposed to be made with Armangnac, but I haven’t the faintest idea what that is, so I used rum because rum goes well with the prune flavor.

Whisked eggs and sugar.

I thought that adding prunes instead raisins was different and I agree with what Dorie said about prunes getting a bad rep. Everyone always associates prunes with old people and babies (yet another similarity between the two groups, hmmm) and they are really delicious even by themselves. People just need to give them a chance.

Chocolate mixture

I made the flambeed prunes earlier in the day and then made the rest of the cake later (you have to wait for the prunes to cool anyway).

Lightening the cake with the egg whites.

The cake came out nice and chocolatey-dense with a delicious chocolate glaze. I let the glaze cool a bit before spreading it on the cake so it came out more like icing. The prunes added something different to the cake that made it different from any other chocolate cake, something memorable.

Chocolate Glaze

The final pictures were taken by E. as I was unable to take pictures of the finished product before we ate it – she enjoyed it too!

Chocolate Rum Cake - before (photo credits to E.)

Chocolate Rum Cake - after (photo credits to E.)

Recipe (adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: from My Home to Yours):

Cake:

2/3 cup finely ground pecans or walnuts

1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp. salt

12 moist prunes, pitted and cut into bits

1/4 cup plus 3 tbsp. water

1/4 cup rum

7 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 stick (8 tbsp.) unsalted butter or margarine, cut into 4 pieces

3 large eggs, separated

2/3 cup sugar

Glaze:

3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

3 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar

3 tbsp. unsalted butter or margarine, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter an 8 inch springform pan, fit the bottom with a round of parchment paper and butter the paper. Put the pan on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.

Cake: Whisk together the nuts, flour and salt.

Put the prunes and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook, being careful not to scorch the fruit, until the water almost evaporates. Pull the pan from the heat and pour in the rum. Stand back and set it aflame with a match. When the flames die out, transfer the fruit and any remaining liquid to a bowl and let cool.

Combine the chocolate, butter and remaining 3 tbsp. of water in a heatproof bowl. Heat in a microwave on medium strength in 30 second bursts until the chocolate and butter are melted.

In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until they are thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Switch to a rubber spatula and, one by one, stir in the chocolate mixture, the nut mixture and the prunes with any leftover liquid.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until they hold firm and glossy peaks. Stir about 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten the batter, then gently fold in the remaining whites. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake the cake for 25-32 minutes, or until it is puffed and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out streaky. Let cool on a rack for about 10 minutes, then remove the cake from the pan, and continue to cool until the cake has cooled completely. Place a piece of foil or parchment paper under the rack to catch drips.

Once cool, if the cake has crowned, take a serrated knife and gently even the top, using a sawing motion. Turn the cake over on the cooling rack. The flat bottom will become the top of the cake.

Glaze: Melt the chocolate in a microwave on medium heat. Slowly stir in the sugar and then the butter or margarine. Stir until you have a smooth glaze.

With a long icing spatula, pour the glaze over the top of the cake, allowing the excess to run down the sides of the cake. Use the spatula to smooth the top of the cake if necessary. Let the glaze set at room temperature.

If you would like the icing to be more like a frosting, let it cool a bit before spreading it over the cake. Make decorative swirls in the icing once it is on the cake.

Pie Crust

October 26, 2010 at 10:00 pm | Posted in crust, Pie | Leave a comment
Tags: fruit pie, pie crust

Here is the basic recipe for an awesome pie crust that can be used for just about anything:
from Dorie Greenspan‘s Baking From My Home to Yours

For a 9 inch Double Crust

3 cups all purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
1 ½ tsp salt
2 ½ sticks very cold unsalted butter, cut into tbsp size pieces
1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces (or use margarine for both the butter and shortening)
About ½ cup ice water

Margarine for the pie crust.

Put the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse just to combine the ingredients. Drop in the butter and shortening and pulse only until the butter and shortening are cut into the flour. Don’t overdo the mixing- what you’re aiming for is to have some pieces the size of fat green peas and others the size of barley. Pulsing the machine on and off, gradually add about 6 tbsps of the water- add a little water and pulse once, add some more water, pulse again and keep going that way. Then use a few long pulses to get the water into the flour. If, after a dozen or so pulses, the dough doesn’t look evenly moistened or form soft curds, pulse in as much of the remaining water as necessary, or even a few drops more, to get a dough that will stick together when pinched. Big pieces of butter are fine. Scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto a work surface.

Pie crust dough ready for refrigeration.

Divide the dough in half. Gather each half into a ball, flatten each ball into a disk and wrap each half in plastic. Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour before rolling (if your ingredients were very cold and you worked quickly, though, you might be able to roll the dough immediately: the dough should be as cold as if it had just come out of the fridge).

Ready to be rolled out

To Roll Out the Dough: Have a buttered 9 inch pie plate at hand.

You can roll the dough out onto a floured surface or between sheets of wax paper or plastic wrap or in a rolling slipcover. If you’re working on a counter, turn the dough over frequently and keep the counter floured. If you are rolling between paper, plastic or in a slipcover, make sure to turn the dough over often and to life the paper, plastic, or cover frequently so that it doesn’t roll into the dough and form creases.

If you’ve got time, slide the rolled out dough into the fridge for about 20 minutes to rest and firm up.

Butter a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate (I use a Pyrex pie plate). If you want to use a standard 9-inch pie plate, just reduce the amount of filling by about one quarter.

Rolling out the dough

Working on a well-floured surface (or between wax paper or plastic wrap), roll out one piece of the dough to a thickness of about 1/8 inch.

Flouring the dough

Fit the dough into the buttered pie plate and trim the edges to a 1/2-inch overhang. Roll the other piece of dough into a 1/8-inch-thick circle and slip it onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. Cover both the circle and the crust in the pie plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 20 minutes, while you preheat the oven and prepare the filling.

Pressing the dough into the pie plate.

Add your filling, lay the top crust and crimp as you like. Make sure to cut steam slits in the top crust. Brush with a little milk or cream and sprinkle some sugar on top.

Bake at 425 degrees F for about 15 minutes, and then lower the oven to 375 degrees F and bake the pie for another 50-60 minutes. If there is a fruit filling, it should be bubbling.

After about 40 minutes in the oven, if the top crust looks as if it’s browning too quickly, cover the pie loosely with a foil tent.

Transfer the pie to a rack and let it rest until it is only just warm or until it reaches room temperature.

Tuesdays with Dorie: All-American All-Delicious Apple Pie

October 26, 2010 at 9:40 pm | Posted in apple, Fruit, Pie | 1 Comment
Tags: apple pie, tuesdays with dorie

I am so behind on my posting, and I apologize to everyone out there. Things have been busy at work and even busier at home. I have been involved in planning three different wedding-related celebrations, we went to one wedding and still have two more this week. It’s a busy time, and I have been baking, I promise, I just haven’t had time to post it. So let this post be the first drop in the bucket.

A little apple pie

This week’s recipe was the All-American Apple Pie. It was chosen by Emily of Sandmuffin. She chose it because she loves apple pie. Of all the fruit combinations in the world, I LOOOOOOOVE apple pie! I think that apples are my favorite fruit to bake with and I love baking with fruit. I was looking forward to this recipe as soon as it was chosen, and I finally made it last week.

Margarine for the pie crust.

Rocker Dude had been nudging me for a while saying that I haven’t ever made a pie with a lattice crust and why haven’t I made one and is it because I can’t make one. After reminding him that I have made pies with a lattice crust before (he still doesn’t believe me), I decided that just to prove him wrong, I would make this pie a lattice-topped pie.

Pie crust dough ready for refrigeration.

I made this pie a week and a half ago, on Friday, so because Little Rocker came home from daycare early and I needed to entertain her, I decided to make this a joint project and we had a ton of fun with it.

Ready to be rolled out

I made the dough while she was napping, so it was all ready to be rolled out when she woke up. For her birthday, J. and M. had gotten her a mini kitchen set – but with real tools, not toys. It has a mini whisk, a mini rolling pin, a measuring cup, a mini sifter and some little cookie cutters. I gave the Little Rocker a 4 inch pie plate and we were in business.

Rolling out the dough

We rolled out the dough together, and made sure there was enough flour.

Flouring the dough

Then we placed the bottom crust in the pie plate and put it in the refrigerator while we got the filling ready.

Pressing the dough into the pie plate.

I did not have tapioca, and I had no idea where to get some, so I just added some cornstarch to the mix. This is the first time that I have used lemon zest in an apple pie, but I can promise that it won’t be the last (even though Rocker Dude complained that he could taste lemon and it made the pie too tart).

Apple filling

We filled the crusts with the filling, and then I rolled out the top crust. I cut it into lines, and the Little Rocker helped me put the “stips” on the pie. We crimped the edges and then went to work on her little pie.

Elephant Cookies

We rolled out a top crust and carefully pressed it over the apples. Because there was some extra dough, and the Little Rocker has developed a total obsession with elephants (or ephelants), I used one of her new cookie cutters, which conveniently was an elephant, and we made little elephant cookies. Some we put as decoration on top of the crust and the others we baked plain.

Pies ready to be baked!

The pie came out looking beautifully. I got to prove to Rocker Dude that I could make a lattice-topped pie and the Little Rocker got to make her own little apple pie. Okay, I will admit, she didn’t really eat the pie, she just gobbled down all the elephant cookies while doing her elephant impression – it was really cute!

The Little Rocker is a little possessive of her apple pie.

This pie tasted delicious. The apple filling wasn’t gooey and it didn’t make the pie crust soggy at all. Unlike commercial apple fillings, you really taste the apple and it makes eating the pie so much more enjoyable.

All-American All-Delicious Apple Pie

For the recipe go to Emily’s blog here, and see what other TWD bakers did here.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Fold-Over Pear Torte

October 12, 2010 at 10:32 am | Posted in apricot, pear | 2 Comments
Tags: apricot, pear, torte, tuesdays with dorie

Hmm. Pears and apricots in a custard tart. Definitely an interesting combination and something to try. I haven’t real used pears yet this season as they are just coming into season. (It’s still not cold here.) But I love pear tarts and other pear desserts, and the apricots add a nice splash of color.

This week’s recipe was hosted by Cakelaw of Laws of the Kitchen. She chose the Fold-Over Pear Torte. I noticed that a number of bloggers were ambivalent about the use of pears and planned on substituting apples. I love pears, I love when they are ripe and soft and the juice drips everywhere when you bite into them, so yeah, no substitutions, exchanges or refunds (Bonus: what children’s movie is that from?).

Pears ready for dicing.

Well, actually, I did decide to not include the walnuts as I am surrounded by nut-haters, tough they would have added some more texture to the torte.

Rolling out the pie dough.

I realized on Thursday night that I did not have dried apricots in the house, so I decided to take the Little Rocker to the farmer’s market on Friday and get some from the spice store there. They always have the best stuff.

Fruit Filling

Of course there was another factor added to this mix, the weather forecast predicted the first rain of the season for Friday and of course it would start as soon as I picked up the Little Rocker from daycare (it only rains between October and March in Israel).

There we were, mom, kid and stroller, racing through the drip dropping of the beginning of the rain. Racing before the thunder that threatened from the next town over, counting the seconds between the lightning and the thunder. And all the while the Little Rocker is entranced by water dripping on her pants. (Not a bad description – I too can get a masters in creative writing – so there Rocker Dude!)

Filling in the crust.

We made it to the spice store before the rain really started. There we got a whole bunch of delicious things, not just the apricots. We then braved the pending rain to run out to the farmer’s market to get the best pickles ever. Just as we paid for the pickles, the sky opened up in earnest. We raced to the bank and took shelter inside, to the harmony of the Little Rocker saying, “Weening, weening!”

The rain eventually stopped and we were able to make it home with no further mishaps, though it was fun to watch the rain fall (from inside of course).

The base of this torte is a regular pie crust that is rolled out into a springform pan. The fruit (and nuts) are poured into the middle and the custard poured over that.

Custard on the filling and crust folded over it.

I wasn’t 100% sure what Dorie meant by her instructions, when she said to fold the dough over the custard but to leave space (I wasn’t sure how the crust was supposed to defy gravity), so I just lightly laid the crust on the custard and when it baked, it rose when the custard rose as well.

The finished product.

I was not super impressed with this dessert, but everyone else liked it, so they must know what they are talking about. I thought that it needed more texture – that’s probably why the recipe called for walnuts. Something to think about next time.

Fold-Over Pear Torte

To see the recipe, check out cakelaw’s blog here and see what other TWD bakers did here.

Lemon Cream Tart

October 11, 2010 at 8:45 am | Posted in Cream, lemon, tart | 1 Comment
Tags: lemon cream, lemon tart

I have been dreaming about lemons for a few weeks now. Lemon Meringue Pie, Lemon Squares, pretty much anything lemon. The only problem is that lemon is not one of Rocker Dude’s favorite flavors and he tends to shy away from lemon desserts.

This week I didn’t care. If lemon is so much on my mind it must be a sign from heaven that I am supposed to be baking with lemon. I decided to make the lemon cream tart from Dorie Greenspan’s book Baking: From my Home to Yours. I have made it before when I first started blogging and for some reason it never made it onto the site. This time I meticulously photographed so that I could write a proper post.

Before you ask, lemon cream is different from lemon curd. Both have a strong tart flavor, but lemon cream is silkier than lemon curd and the flavor is slightly more mellow (very slightly). Dorie says that she learned this recipe from pastry god Pierre Hermé. And anything that comes from him must be good.

The process of making lemon cream is very similar to that of lemon curd, but instead of just waiting for the mixture to thicken, you have to get it to 180 degrees F and then when it cools to 140 degrees F, mix it in a blender while slowly adding butter or margarine, emulsifying the mixture to silky creaminess.

Silky creamy lemoniness.

The first time I made this, I don’t think that I got the mixture to the right temperature, as the thermometer that I was using was not a candy thermometer and did not quite reach 180 degrees F. Also, the Little Rocker had been fascinated by it and dropped it on the floor quite a few times before I put a lock on the drawer.

So I used my new thermometer, that also has a clip to attach it to the side of the pot so I didn’t have to stop mixing to check the temperature, and we did this “scientifically” (in the words of my mother, the pharmaceutical chemist).

The crust is the regular tart crust that I posted here. I made it the night before so that it would be fully cooled when I put the filling inside.

Fresh lemon juice

Then in the morning, I got the lemons ready, grating the zest and juicing the lemons.

Sugar rubbed with lemon zest

Then I mixed everything up in my version of a double boiler (a pot on top of another pot) and stirred and stirred and stirred and stirred (you can see where this is going) until finally the mixture hit 180 degrees F.

Doesn't it look like some complicated science experiment?

Then I poured the whole mixture into the food processor to cool off, and when it cooled to 140 degrees F, I started mixing the cream with the metal blade and added chunks of margarine to be mixed in. I followed the instructions to the letter, and the cream came out beautifully. It was so good. I put the cream into a container to cool in the refrigerator and then proceeded to lick the bowl of the food processor and the spatula. I had to physically stop myself from stealing spoonfuls of cream from the bowl in the refrigerator.

When the cream had cooled, I spread it in the crust and chilled it some more. FYI, and this is something I learned the hard way, you can’t transport this in the stroller once it has been assembled. The cream doesn’t set firm, so if the pan is not straight…

We had a number of guests on Friday night and J. and M. were coming for dessert after dinner. I knew that J. would appreciate what I was making, he fancies himself an appreciator of good food (aren’t we all though?).

Lemon Cream Tart

When it came time for dessert, by the time I had finished passing out the tart, J. had already finished his. If that’s not appreciation I don’t know what is. And surprise surprise, Rocker Dude loved the tart. He said that it was because this time, the crust was really good, but I know better. I think his taste buds are finally getting used to new flavors (I hope!).

The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart (from Baking: From My Home to Yours):

1 cup sugar

Grated zest of 3 lemons

4 large eggs

¾ cup fresh lemon juice (from 4-5 lemons)

2 sticks plus 5 tbsp. (10 1/2 oz.) unsalted butter or margarine

1 9 inch tart shell, fully baked (see the recipe here)

Have an instant read thermometer ready.

Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a saucepan. Place a heatproof bowl over the pot (or another pot) and make sure that the bowl does not touch the surface of the water.

Rub the sugar and zest together until the sugar is moist and very aromatic. Whisk in the eggs followed by the lemon juice.

Place all the ingredients into the bowl over the pot and start stirring with a whisk as soon as the mixture feels tepid. Cook the lemon cream until it reaches 180 degrees F. You must whisk constantly to keep the eggs from scrambling. As you whisk, the mixture will get thicker and the whisk will start to leave tracks – this means that you are getting close. Don’t stop whisking and checking the temperature. Have patience.

As soon as the cream reaches 180 degrees F, remove the bowl from the heat and pour the cream through a strainer into a blender or food processor. Let it cool to 140 degrees F.

Turn the food processor on high, and with the machine going, add the butter or margarine a few tablespoons at a time. Once the butter is incorporated, keep the machine going for another 3 minutes, you want the mixture to be light and airy.

Pour the cream into a container and cover with a piece of plastic wrap on the surface of the cream to prevent a skin from forming. Chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.

When you are ready to assemble the tart, just whisk the cream a little to loosen it and spread it into the tart shell. Serve immediately or chill until needed.

Happy Birthday Little Rocker!

October 10, 2010 at 9:21 pm | Posted in birthday, Cake, icing | 1 Comment
Tags: birthday cake, elmo cake, little rocker

The Little Rocker turned two on September 15th (I know this has taken a while to post). We waited until Sukkot to do the party for her because then we had vacation from work. There is nothing the Little Rocker likes more that Elmo, except for maybe Winnie the Pooh. So I decided to be really organized and I bought an Elmo shaped cake pan off Amazon.com while we were in America this summer.

Because we were going to be at the in-laws in Jerusalem for the holidays, and they don’t have a kitchen-aid, I knew that I was going to have to prepare all the components of this cake a week ahead of time. So while Rocker Dude was off doing his radio show (www.rock4rookies.com) I made a basic yellow cake and a whole batch of white buttercream icing. In order to make sure that I had enough of each color I decided to tint the icing right before using.

The pan came with recipes for both the cake and the icing (Wilton’s standard recipes for yellow cake and buttercream icing), but I decided to use recipes that I had used before and was successful with.

So with everything successfully transported to Jerusalem on a bus with the Little Rocker (not an easy feat I assure you), we were ready to begin.

The party was planned for Monday evening. So on Monday morning, I took out my Elmo cake and put it on a tray.

Then I took some white icing and covered the eyes. Then added two mini-York Peppermint Patties for eyes.

Elmo's eyeballs

Next step, the nose. I mixed a small amount of icing with two orange drops of orange gel food coloring and one drop of red gel food coloring.

Elmo's eyes and nose and mouth.

The mouth was a little harder because I had to use a lot of black food coloring to get it so dark. It was only afterward that I remembered that the best way to make black icing is to start with chocolate icing and then tint that with the black food coloring. I decided to pipe in the mouth instead of spreading it with a spatula because I wanted to make sure to get the detail of the fur around the edges. Smile Elmo!

Getting there, it's hard work.

Then the hard part – little red stars all around the cake. This icing was tinted with three drops of red gel food coloring and one drop of orange gel food coloring. It was a bit tedious and my hand started cramping in the middle, but as the icing warmed up a bit, it flowed a lot easier and it moved faster. There was an option to just smear the icing on top of the cake with little peaks to represent the fur, but as I have not done a lot of cake decorating, I wanted to push myself all the way.

The detail

And then it was done! Into the fridge for a few hours until the party, and out it came again. We sang “Happy Birthday,” though the Little Rocker was too amazed by an Elmo cake to really care, and then we had to cut into it.

This is the song, la la la la, Elmo's song...

It kind of makes me think about the transient nature of so many things in life, here one minute and gone the next. It was good though, and everyone was suitably impressed.

Basic Yellow Cake (from The Perfect Cake by Susan G. Purdy) makes 2 8 or 9-inch round pans or one sheet pan:

3 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

2 cups sugar

5 large eggs

1 1/4 cups milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Coat the cake pan with nonstick spray (if you are using a shaped pan, then do an extra coat). Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter until soft and smooth. Add the sugar and beat until light and smooth. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl.

With the mixer on a low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Stir in the vanilla.

Pour the batter into the pan(s). For the Elmo size cake pan, bake for about 80 minutes. Cool the cake on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Even off the top of the cake so that the shape won’t fall apart when you invert it (this is only for the Elmo pan). Invert the cake onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

This cake freezes really well.

All Purpose Frosting (from The Perfect Cake by Susan G. Purdy) makes 3 cups frosting:

1/3 cup unsalted butter or margarine

pinch of salt

1 tsp. flavoring extract (I used vanilla)

4 1/2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

5 tbsp. milk, or as needed

In a mixer, cream the butter or margarine really well (this is really important). Beat in the salt and the flavoring. With the mixer on the lowest speed, beat in the sugar and milk. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat on high until creamy. Add more milk as necessary to achieve a spreading consistency.

This icing can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Bring to room temperature and whip smooth before using.

To make Elmo:

Tint 1/2 cup icing black.

Tint 1/4 cup icing orange/red (small amount)

Leave 1/2 cup icing white

Tint whatever is left red/orange (small amount)

Using a spatula, cover the eyes with white icing. You can either use chocolates as the eyes, or use some black icing.

Also with a spatula, ice the nose with the orange icing.

Using Wilton tip 3 with black icing, outline and fill the mouth (and pupils).

Using Wilton Star tip 16, cover the rest of the face with little stars of the red icing.

Rest your hand often.

Fig Almond Tartelettes

October 4, 2010 at 12:39 pm | Posted in almond, fig, Fruit, tart | 1 Comment
Tags: almond, fig, tart

The holidays are over! After about three weeks of on-and-off holidays (Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and Sukkoth) we are finally returning to normal life. Rocker Dude, the Little Rocker and I have had a lot of fun over the past few weeks. We spent about a week and a half at the in-laws, and the Little Rocker was spoiled silly (isn’t that their job in the world? I always thought so). We also had a birthday party for her as you saw in this post, though I will make a separate post about the birthday cake – who likes Elmo?

On Friday I went to the Farmer’s Market here in Givat Shmuel as I usually do on Fridays. I got the awesome pickles that I love from a kibbutz, and I looked around for other things to inspire me. There was one stand with four different types of cherry/grape tomatoes – they were so fresh! I brought about a kilo of those home, and then I saw the figs. I thought I had missed fig season when it started in August because we then flew to the US and when we came back, all the figs that I saw were mushy and not appealing. Not these figs. They were soft but not mushy, and they tasted so good! I have never had a fresh fig before as they are not common in the northeast being more of a warm weather fruit. I was a little hesitant as I had tried fresh guavas last week and they were nasty.

Look at these beauts!

Dried figs are good, but after three or four, they kind of lose their appeal. And dried figs feel like they are just full of seeds and nothing else. So I bought a container and decided to bake something with them for the Sabbath. I remembered seeing a lot of interesting recipes and as I have not baked anything really elegant in a while, I figured that something with figs qualifies as elegant.

I looked through some of the blogs that I follow, and came across this Fig and Almond Tartelette on Tartelette’s blog. Her food always looks so elegant and her photography is gorgeous. One day I hope that I can attend one of her lectures on photography.

Almond Fig Tart

I know that Rocker Dude doesn’t like almonds, but he doesn’t like figs that much either, so I decided that this dessert was not for him – it was for the other 8 people at the table. I made Tartelette’s pie crust, a crust that did not require refrigeration before rolling out, though I froze it for an hour before baking it.

Tart crust before adding liquid

Out with the old and in with the new. I got these from my mom's pantry when we went to the US in January, good thing I took both! Thanks Imma!

It did shrink a tiny bit, but not enough to ruin the shape. I knew that we were going to be 9 people for dinner and I only have 8 tartelette pans, so I decided to make this into one big tart and serve it in slices. In order to make sure I had enough, I doubled the recipe. it made enough for one 10 inch tart and two 4 inch tartelettes. Although the recipe originally says to bake the crusts for 30 minutes, I decided to only parbake the crusts as they would be baked again and I did not want to overbake them.

All three tart crusts, parbaked.

The filling was really easy to make. I ground up the almonds in the food processor and added the rest of the ingredients, including the rum and then poured it into the cooled tart crust. I have to admit that it didn’t look like there would be enough filling to fill the big tart let alone the two little tartelettes. But I trusted that Tartelette knows what she is talking about and indeed, I was wrong, and there was plenty.

The filling, before mixing.

Then I gently pressed the fig halves over the filling (after eating two of them) and baked them in the oven. The filling rose to encase the figs gently. When they came out, the tarts looked wonderful.

Almond Fig Tart

I did not have apricot jam to glaze the tarts, so I used strawberry. I figure that if the figs already have a red sort of color, the faint pink of the strawberry and rum would not color the tart too much. I was right.

A delicious bite.

The tart was well enjoyed by everyone (except for Rocker Dude), though you could really feel the alcohol. My ex-roommate R. was over for the weekend and brought a nice dessert wine, and they paired very nicely together. R. is training right now to run the Venice marathon at the end of the month – she is crazy. But if anyone in the Jerusalem area is looking for a personal trainer or a massage therapist, she is certified in both and is really good. (She used to practice on me and Rocker Dude while she was learning – free massages anyone?)

Make this tart – and feel fancy!

Recipe (adapted from Helene of Tartelette):

Fig Almond Tartelettes

Makes 1 10-inch tart and 2 4-inch tartelettes

For crust
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 tablespoons ice water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For filling

2/3 cup whole almonds (about 4 ounces)
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
8 teaspoons rum
24 ounces ripe figs, cut into halves (about 8 )
1/2 cup strawberry (or apricot) jam

Make crust:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine first 3 ingredients in processor. Using on/off turns, cut in butter until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Mix 4 tablespoons ice water and vanilla in small bowl. Pour water mixture over dough. Process until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Roll out on floured surface to 12-inch round. Fit into tart pan and trim excess dough. Roll out the excess dough to fit the tartelette pans. Freeze the dough in the pan for at least 30 minutes. Using fork, pierce dough all over. Bake crust until pale golden, about 20 minutes (crust may shrink slightly). Cool on rack. Maintain oven temperature.

Make filling:
Finely grind almonds with sugar in processor. Add eggs, butter and 4 teaspoons rum. Process until batter forms. Pour filling into crust. Arrange fig halves atop filling. Bake until figs are tender and filling is golden and set, about 25 minutes.
Melt jelly with remaining 4 teaspoons rum in heavy small saucepan over medium-low heat. Brush jelly mixture over figs. Cool tarts. Serve at room temperature.

Daring Bakers do Sugar Cookies

September 27, 2010 at 10:41 am | Posted in Cookies, fondant, icing | Leave a comment
Tags: Daring Bakers, fondant, sugar cookies

Sugar Cookies! I haven’t made these in a long time, not since this post in March. I have a recipe that I like a lot, but I have never iced them. Icing and frosting or whatever you want to call it, is just not my forte – it’s a bit intimidating. So I decided that I had to do this month’s Daring Baker’s challenge so that I would force myself to learn how to use it.

The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.

In preparation for this big feat, I emailed my friend S. of The Cookie Cutters fame as she is an expert in the cookie decorating field. I know that the challenge was to use royal icing, but I wanted to try using fondant, something that I have never used before.

Fondant

The necessary tools - 100 cookie cutters!

Conveniently the Little Rocker’s birthday was on September 15th, sheturned two years old! So I decided to make these cookies for the birthday party that we were hosting over the Sukkoth holiday. As we were at the grandparents’ we are doing the party in their Sukkah. Check it out:

Sukkah entrance

Inside the Sukkah - the Little Rocker helped me make some of the chains that are hanging from the roof.

So I spent a three nights making these cookies – one night to bake, one night to cover in fondant and one night to add the details. My darling daughter is obsessed with Elmo and Sesame Street, so I made Elmo and Big Bird cookies (if you use your imagination a little – but isn’t that what Sesame Street is all about – oh wait, that’s Barney).

The Little Rocker helps roll out the dough.

I got the Elmo one more or less down, until I realized that I didn’t have anything to make his fur look fluffy. It was already 11:30 at night, and I just did not have the energy to make another batch of royal icing to make little tufts of “fur”, so Elmo has lost someof his hair. The Big Birds were okay until I remembered that Big Bird has a yellow beak and not an orange one…

Rolling out the fondant

I ended up using fondant for the eyes, noses and Big Bird’s mouth, because I thought it would be easier, and I only used the royal icing for Elmo’s mouth and the pupils in the eyes – it definitely added.

Eyes on the cookies

Oh well, the Little Rocker knew right away that they were supposed to be and as soon as she saw them she said “Elmo!” Okay that was after she said “Cookie!!”

Royal Icing

Don't they look just like Elmo and Big Bird?

We are having a bunch of people over this afternoon to celebrate – pizza, Elmo cake, the whole kit and kaboodle. Hope she enjoys!

Elmo! (Sorry the picture is a bit blurry, bad lighting!)

Here is the recipe from the Daring Baker’s site:

Basic Sugar Cookies:
Makes Approximately 36x 10cm / 4″ Cookies

200g / 7oz / ½ cup + 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
400g / 14oz / 3 cups + 3 Tbsp All Purpose / Plain Flour
200g / 7oz / 1 cup Caster Sugar / Superfine Sugar
1 Large Egg, lightly beaten
5ml / 1 tsp Vanilla Extract / Or seeds from 1 vanilla bean

Directions
• Cream together the butter, sugar and any flavourings you’re using. Beat until just becoming
creamy in texture.
• Tip: Don’t over mix otherwise you’ll incorporate too much air and the cookies will spread during
baking, losing their shape.
• Beat in the egg until well combined, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the sifted flour and mix on low until a non sticky dough forms.
• Tip: I don’t have a stand mixer so I find it easier to switch to dough hooks at this stage to avoid
flour flying everywhere.
• Knead into a ball and divide into 2 or 3 pieces.
• Roll out each portion between parchment paper to a thickness of about 5mm/1/5 inch (0.2 inch)
• Refrigerate for a minimum of 30mins.
• Tip: Recipes commonly just wrap the whole ball of dough in clingwrap and then refrigerate it for an
hour or overnight, but by rolling the dough between parchment, this shortens the chilling time and
then it’s also been rolled out while still soft making it easier and quicker.
• Once chilled, peel off parchment and place dough on a lightly floured surface.
• Cut out shapes with cookie cutters or a sharp knife.
• Arrange shapes on parchment lined baking sheets and refrigerate for another 30mins to an hour.
• Tip: It’s very important you chill them again otherwise they’ll spread while baking.
• Re-roll scraps and follow the above process until all scraps are used up.
• Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C Fan Assisted) / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.
• Bake until golden around the edges, about 8-15mins depending on the size of the cookies.
• Tip: Bake same sized cookies together otherwise mixing smaller with larger cookies could result in
some cookies being baked before others are done.
• Tip: Rotate baking sheets half way through baking if your oven bakes unevenly.
• Leave to cool on cooling racks.
• Once completely cooled, decorate as desired.
• Tip: If wrapped in tinfoil/cling wrap or kept in airtight containers in a cool place, un-decorated
cookies can last up to a month.

Royal Icing:

315g – 375g / 11oz – 13oz / 2½ – 3 cups Icing / Confectioner’s / Powdered Sugar, unsifted
2 Large Egg Whites
10ml / 2 tsp Lemon Juice
5ml / 1 tsp Almond Extract, optional

Directions

• Beat egg whites with lemon juice until combined.
• Tip: It’s important that the bowls/spoons/spatulas and beaters you use are thoroughly cleaned and
grease free.
• Sift the icing sugar to remove lumps and add it to the egg whites.
• Tip: I’ve listed 2 amounts of icing sugar, the lesser amount is good for a flooding consistency, and the larger amount is for outlining, but you can add even more for a much thicker consistency good for writing. If you add too much icing sugar or would like to make a thinner consistency, add very small amounts of water, a few drops at a time, until you reach the consistency you need.
• Beat on low until combined and smooth.
• Use immediately or keep in an airtight container.
• Tip: Royal Icing starts to harden as soon as it’s in contact with air so make sure to cover containers with plastic wrap while not in use.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Coffee-Break Muffins

September 21, 2010 at 9:02 pm | Posted in coffee, muffins | 2 Comments
Tags: coffee, muffins, tuesdays with dorie

So as not to pull another last minute TWD baking, I decided to make these muffins on Thursday night. Conveniently, our friends A. and E. came back from the US on Wednesday so they were able to join us and watch Empire Records together. That is a classic movie that deserves to be watched every few months so that you always remember how to rock out. I love the song at the end when Renee Zellweger sings “Sugarhigh”! It’s probably my favorite part. So while watching we had some of these muffins and fruit – you know, so that we wouldn’t starve before the Yom Kippur fast that started Friday night (I swear, what is it with Jews and food, either you’re eating too much or you’re not eating at all!!).

Batter - mixed up by hand!

The Little Rocker saw me pulling them out of the oven as she was about to go to bed, so I had to promise her that she could have one in the morning. I know that I shouldn’t give her caffeine, but I have to be honest, I don’t feel a difference when I have coffee in food, and I don’t notice a difference in her either.

Filling the muffin cups.

Either way, this week’s recipe was hosted by Rhiani of Chocoholic Anonymous. She chose these muffins, actually a recipe that I skipped over a few times because it didn’t seem my style, not sweet enough I think. But for Tuesdays with Dorie – I will try anything. These muffins mixed up in about five minutes (in between bathing the Little Rocker and getting her into pjs) and baked really quickly. When we tried them, there were mixed reviews. Everyone said that they tasted good, though Rocker Dude did say that they were a bit bitter. Rocker Dude’s comment was that it was missing something sweet. I told him that they didn’t have soymilk which is what I normally bake with, which adds a lot of richness to the end product. So he said that next time I should add the soymilk, after all, who likes coffee without milk?

Coffee-Break Muffins

For the recipe, check out Rhiani’s blog here and see what other TWD bakers did here.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Peach Upside-Downer

September 14, 2010 at 8:12 am | Posted in Cake, peach | 2 Comments
Tags: Cake, peach, tuesdays with dorie, upside down

Due to Rosh Hashana and all the holiday-ing that ensued, I was a bit behind on this week’s recipe. I had bought peaches last week in anticipation (see, I am planning ahead!) but I did not have a chance to make the cake until Sunday night, which come to think of it is not that last minute.

I was really happy to see that Dorie provided the peach option for this cake as there is no way in heaven that I was going to be able to get my hands on fresh or frozen cranberries. It’s just not a fruit that exists here in Israel (may have something to do with the climate, hmmm). The most I can get are dried cranberries, or canned cranberry sauce imported from America. Besides, it’s still peach season here, so why not take advantage?

This week’s recipe was hosted by Sabrina of Superfluous. She just got married in August (actually on the same day as my brother!) so congratulations to her and her new husband and may they find only happiness together.

Sabrina picked the Cranberry Upside-Downer and I was really excited to make this. I haven’t made an upside-down cake in a long time, in fact, I think I’ve only made one other upside-down cake ever. (When I brought the cake into work on Monday, my coworker asked, “Why did you need to flip it over?” I didn’t really have a good reason for that except that that’s what the recipe said.) This cake turned out so easily and nothing got messed up when I flipped it over!

Margarine-sugar mixture waiting for placement of peaches (right next to break the fast potato-leek soup - mmmm)

I almost didn’t make this until Monday night because I was so tired. Sunday was a fast day (almost like practice for the 25 hour long fast of Yom Kippur), and unfortunately, our air conditioning decided not to work on Saturday night, and on top of that, the Little Rocker decided to get up about four times during the night. So we woke up on Sunday morning tired, already dehydrated and not ready for a fast day. By the end of the day I was just so wiped that I almost went to sleep right after putting the Little Rocker to bed, but then I remembered this week’s recipe, and I sucked it up and made the cake.

So glad I did.

The hardest part of the cake was pitting and slicing the peaches – just goes to show how hard it was, and in about 20 minutes, I had the cake in the oven, smelling up the house.

Peaches are in!

Dorie recommends to eat the cake warm – no problem there, and when I tried the cake after it was done I was surprised. I am used to apple cakes, and the peaches just added something special to the cake and made it just a little bit different.

Cake batter in and ready for the oven

In order to further our dieting goals, I decided to bring the cake to work so that we wouldn’t eat it all. As I packed it up in the morning, Rocker Dude protested. I asked if he wanted to try the cake (his excuse the night before was that he had already brushed his teeth, humph). He said that he had planned on eating a slice for breakfast. I offered to cut him a slice, but he declined. I am not blaming him, he is under a crazy amount of stress, poor guy. He just started a new job teaching high school English, and on top of that he has to defend his masters’ thesis on Monday – he’s a bit stressed – you can do it baby!

And when he passes (because I know he will) champagne and cheesecake for everyone!

Right, back to this week’s recipe – everyone, go get some peaches and make this cake! But only if you want to eat something totally delicious.