Category: PASTRY/SMALL CAKES

Filled Pate a Choux Swans – Daring Bakers, Ugly Ducklings and Swans

“I believe that every human has a finite number of heartbeats and I don’t intend to waste any of mine.”
Neil Armstrong

Filled Pate a Choux SwansWhen the pastry turned from ugly ducklings into swans it was definitely an ‘almost missed a heartbeat’ moment!  Ever since I got these gorgeous glasses from Urban Dazzle, I thought coffee filled pate-a-choux drizzled with melted chocolate would look beautiful in them! Fancy getting to the Daring Bakers rather late this month, and finding one of the easiest pastries ever but with a delightful challenge woven in –  Filled Pate a Choux Swans!

Kat of The Bobwhites was our August 2012 Daring Baker hostess who inspired us to have fun in creating pate a choux shapes, filled with crème patisserie or Chantilly cream. We were encouraged to create swans or any shape we wanted and to go crazy with filling flavors allowing our creativity to go wild!

 It was a strange coincidence that I’d been thinking choux pastry the last few weeks and knew I HAD to make the swans even though they did look a little formidable. My only concern was the pastry creme filling, given the hot and humid weather these days. However, the month passed in a heartbeat {what is it with time these days?} and the challenge got left behind!Then 2 days ago at Veda for a Delhi Bloggers Table meet, the very talented and sweet {wickedly so if I may add} food blogger and fellow Daring Baker Ruchira fished out a pastry bag clandestinely and whispered, “Have got these. How much do I snip to get the necks right? Mine are just not piping OK!”You need a trigger sometimes … sometimes stronger than Mr PABs persistent prod when he doesn’t see a show stopper by the 25th of any month. This was it! The next evening it was choux pastry time, done in minutes by the ever efficient Thermomix! The weather has been REALLY drippy and wet the past week, and all of last night too {the pic above is from this morning}. Humidity is HIGH … and crisp pastry proved elusive.The arty daughter decided to pipe a few swan necks too, and got the one that looks the best! See…Made the pastry cream last night {Thermomix again, 7 minutes and done} … and just as my DB alarm rings out loud on my phone, I am hitting the keyboard while the pictures download! Breathless as always, so much to do and so little time … but I got there! Thank you for the inspiration Ruchira @ Cookaroo!I loved the way these came out … whimsical, charming, romantic like a fairytale! Much like the ugly duckling story we read when we were little. I would have liked to whip some home made mascarpone that I had left over into the pastry cream, but there was no time!Pate a choux is one of the simplest and lightest pastries to make – think chooclate eclairs, think Croquembouche, think profiteroles, think cream, puffs or think gougères. One delightful, light as air, crisp golden puff and so much variety. I love that you need very basic ingredients, a strong arm and you are good to go!The Thermomix Cookbook had a choux recipe in there, so my work was easy! The tough part was the waiting to see if the necks came out good, if the piped out ‘poopy‘ shapes made the ugly ducklings into swans, if the crème patisserie  would hold. Worked a charm! The swans remind me of Tchaikovskys Ugly Duckling … a ballet we attached on TV several times as kids; the LP would play forever at home!

Thank you Kat, and thank you as always Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice for hosting this fab kitchen!! Do stop by here and check out some more fabulous swan songs!!!

[print_this]Recipe: Filled Pate a Choux Swans

Summary: Light as air p’pate a choux swans filled with a crème patisserie. Choux recipe source: Good Housekeeping Illustrated Guide to Cooking, 1980 edition. Crème patisserie recipe source adapted from Thermomix Cookbook

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour {plus cooling time}
Ingredients:

  • Pate a choux (cannot be doubled)
  • ½ cup (120 ml) (115 gm) (4 oz) butter
  •  1 cup (240 ml) water
  •  ¼ teaspoon (1½ gm) salt
  •  1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm) (5 oz) all-purpose flour
  •  4 large eggs
  • Crème patisserie
  • 75g raw sugar {or granulated
  • 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
  • 200ml low fat cream
  • 300ml 2% milk
  • 4 eggs
  • 40g cornflour

Method:

  1. Pate a choux
  2. Line at least two baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper, or grease pans well.
  3. Preheat oven to moderately hot 190°C.
  4. In a small saucepan, combine butter, water, and salt. Heat over until butter melts, then remove from stove.
  5. Add flour all at once and beat, beat, beat the mixture until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pot.
  6. Add one egg, and beat until well combined. Add remaining eggs individually, beating vigorously after each addition. Resulting mixture should be somewhat glossy, very smooth, and somewhat thick.
  7. Thermomix Recipe
  8. Place water, salt, sugar and butter in TM bowl and cook at 100C /Speed 2 for 10 minutes.
    Add the flour and mix for 30 seconds on speed 4. Allow to cool for around 10 minutes.
    Once cool, add eggs to the mix by dropping one egg at a time onto rotating blades for 30-40 seconds each on speed 5.
  9. … the choux swans
  10. Using a ¼” (6 mm) tip on a pastry bag, pipe out about 36 swan heads. You’re aiming for something between a numeral 2 and a question mark, with a little beak if you’re skilled and/or lucky.
  11. Remove the tip from the bag and pipe out 36 swan bodies{ I got about 28}. These will be about 1.5” (40 mm) long, and about 1” (25 mm) wide. One end should be a bit narrower than the other.
  12. Bake the heads and bodies until golden and puffy. {I baked the heads and bodies in separate lots}. The heads will be done a few minutes before the bodies, so keep a close eye on the baking process.
  13. Remove the pastries to a cooling rack, and let cool completely before filling
  14. Crème patisserie
  15. In the meantime, whisk the egg yolks and sugar with a wooden spoon in a big bowl until the mixture becomes pale and light. Stir in the flour slowly until it is thoroughly mixed with the egg mixture.
  16. Pour the boiling milk into the mixture a little by little while whisking continuously to avoid curdling. And then stir in the rest of the milk until the mixture is well combined.
  17. Transfer the whole mixture into a pot, with the seeds scraped from the vanilla bean, and heat it under low setting. Stir it constantly with the wooden spoon or spatula scraping the sides and bottom until it has thickened.
  18. Once the custard has thickened, take it off the heat, and strain / pour it into a clean bowl.
  19. Thermomix Recipe
  20. Place sugar and vanilla bean in TM bowl, and process for 30seconds on speed 10.
  21. Add remaining ingrdeints, plus vanilla bean shell and cook on 90C/Speed 4 for 7 minutes {until thick}. Strain into a bowl immediately to cool. I chilled it overnight.
  22. Assembling
  23. Take a swan body and use a very sharp knife to cut off the top 1/3rd to ½. Cut the removed top down the center to make two wings.
  24. Dollop a bit of filling into the body, insert head, and then add wings. {I used some pastry cream to secure the wings too}.
  25. Your first attempt will probably not look like much, but the more you make, the more your bevy of swans will become a beautiful work of swan art.

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Oven Roasted Plum & Almond Cakes … Happy 100th Birthday Julia

“Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.”
Julia Child

Those lines by Julia Child defined my spirit of blogging from day one. To celebrate Julia’s 100th birthday on the 15th of August, 2012, I chose and adapted this beautiful everyday dessert –  Oven Roasted Plum & Almond Cakes from Baking With Julia. There was an energy about her, the chef who changed the way America cooked and baked. Food bloggers worldwide woke up to a new identity after Julie & Julia. People looked at us differently, suddenly recognising the band of foodies who passionately belted out deliciousness online day after day.The ever sweet Suma @ Cakes & More sent me Dorie Greenspans amazing book Baking With Julia as a gift. The book is packed with sweet and savoury recipes from the PBS series that Julia hosted, and doubles up as a baking encyclopedia too. The commentary is warm and friendly, puts you at ease instantly as Dorie talks to you through each recipe. Baking With Julia now shares place of honour on my bookshelf with both volumes of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking!Bread is what I wanted to bake, a Fougasse, but I didn’t plan well in time as the dough needed to sit for 24 hours to get bubbly and squeaky! I love the way Dorie writes that because even the bread dough has ’emotions’! My next natural choice was a simple everyday dessert. With plums in the fridge, these little Oven Roasted Plum & Almond Cakes were but going to happen!I changed the recipe a little bit, and pretty soon realised that I might have to ‘grin and bear it‘ soon. The batter was runnier than required. Into it went some almond meal, and since the eggs were small I went for 3 knowing pretty well that 2 whole + 1 yolk should do the trick! Should have used ramekins, threw caution to the wind and used dessert rings. I knew I was in trouble when the plums on top sank right in; with them my heart!!I fixed it though, topped the cakelets with more plum halves {and slices} halfway through baking, safe in the knowledge that maybe an invisible Julia peered over my shoulder. This is the untold joy of baking with a good book. It keeps you company, the characters pop up all over the place giving you tips, hints, telling you all is well, yelling at you when not! My time in the kitchen is always virtually in good company!I am fortunate to have some good company in reality too – a little plum thief that I have raised. Coco, our cocker spaniel took a shine to plums when she came to our home in the summer of 2011! Nothing’s changed! She didn’t notice me looking at her, and soon nicked a ‘plum prop’ and made a meal out of it, the little blighter! It was really tart!! She has great taste and will be any Mums delight! Loves her greens {beans, spinach, purslane, peas – raw or cooked}, loves her protein {eggs, cottage cheese, chickpeas} and even loves fruit {banana, mango, kiwi , plums, peaches, cherries, strawberries!}That’s just how well my time in the kitchen is spent! I love it! Creating food is almost an obsession and I love the culinary adventures that great chefs like Julia Child encourage. “This is really good you know!” exclaimed the 16 year old aka the dieting diva. {She couldn’t resist my ‘maybe you’d like to try some’ nonchalant reference to a plum cake in the oven !} “YUM! Can I have another?” was the more excited response from the junior teen who was hoping for a yes but got a NO instead! The little cakes were indeed delicious. Well balanced, beautiful light crumb and just right with the sweetness too. The plums gave up their juices and became delectable part of the cake. Topped with vanilla ice cream or even some low fat unsweetened cream … mmm! Dorie suggests a chocolate sauce … that must taste divine!

[print_this]Recipe: Oven Roasted Plum & Almond Cakes

Summary: Tiny little delicious dessert cakes that celebrate summer, stone fruit and plums! They are light and delightful, the almond meal adding beautiful texture to the crumb! Recipe adapted minimally from Marsel Desaulniers, Baking With Julia. {Makes 8 3″ cakes}

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup raw sugar {khand}
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 3 small eggs
  • 1/2 vanilla bean scraped
  • 1 scant cup flour
  • 1/2 cup almond meal
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 cup buttermilk
  • 4 large ripe plums, halved and pitted
  • Whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, or dark chocolate sauce if desired

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 180C.
  2. Grease 8 3″ dessert rings or 12 2″ ramekins with melted butter {I used clarified butter} and place on a foiled lined rimmed baking sheet.
  3. Sift the flour, almond meal and baking soda. Reserve in a bowl.
  4. Combine raw sugar and 2 tbsp of brown sugar in a bowl with butter. Cream for 2-3 minutes on medium high speed.
  5. Add the eggs, vanilla bean and cream on high for another 2-3 minutes.
  6. Add the flour mix and beat in on low speed until just combined, followed with the buttermilk. Mix in on low speed until uniformly mixed, 30 seconds.
  7. Divide batter equally between prepared rings / ramekins, sprinkle over the remaining brown sugar and bake in oven to 15 minutes. Once the top is somewhat set, quickly place half a plum, cut side up into each cup. Continue to bake for another 15-20 minutes until light golden brown and done {toothpick inserted into middle should come out clean.}
  8. Cool the tray on the rack for at least 15-20 minutes, then gently ease out using a blunt bitter knife. Serve warm or at room temperature as is, or with low fat unsweetened cream or vanilla ice cream.

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Sweet Orange, Roasted Strawberry & Chocolate Buttermilk Rolls … the best of The Pioneer Woman

“I wanted to make a cookbook full of food that you’d absolutely love, because I love all of you.”
Ree Drummond

Of course I got tempted again! What’s not to love about Sweet Orange Rolls? The day I saw these delicious rolls from Rees new cookbook, I was in a trance. 24 hours later, my kitchen was enticingly orangey, deeply strawberryish … and like the best bakery in town. These Sweet Orange, Roasted Strawberry and Chocolate Buttermilk Rolls were winners.I knew they would be! I am a huge fan of The Pioneer Womans cinnamon roll dough, a dough I have endlessly experimented with outstanding results each time. If the Apple Cranberry Almond Olive Oil Pull-Apart Loaf & Popovers weren’t a screaming success enough, these Savoury Chili Cheese & Garlic Olive Oil Pull-Apart Bread reconfirmed it!So when I saw the dashing and talented {in Rees words of course, but seriously, it’s true} Brians post on  A Thought For Food, I knew my homemade bitter tangerine marmalade had found a new destination. This has turned out to be the yummiest one yet. It was a bread dessert waiting to be baked, and while I worked on the dough I made changes, just a few changes.Nothing radical as the basic recipe is a winner. I had some buttermilk on hand, so in it went instead of milk. Then, when I opened the fridge to take out the jar of marmalade, I couldn’t resist thinking the oranges might enjoy some colourful company …So the marmalade got slathered over with some roasted balsamic strawberries I had made the day before. These are delightful to have in the fridge. For times when you buy too many strawberries in temptation and then panic that they will spoil, this is a good recipe. It keeps them safe for at least a few days longer. I make small portions at a time and put them into fruit bakes, sandwich and top a cake with cream, or drizzle a few spoonfuls over a parfait or ice cream. You can see them in these – Quark Mousse Cake, Quarkauflauf, Eggless Caramel Cream Cakes. Just yesterday I topped a cheesecake with the left overs. So many ways and so much fun; taste, colour and variety all packed into one jar! Because they are oven roasted, they are nice and thick, they don’t ‘leak‘ extra liquid into the dough to make it soggy. To keep the ‘not so terrible any more’ teen happy I threw in some dark chocolate too. Orange, strawberry and chocolate together worked some magic in there to serve up some darned delicious dessert rolls! We loved them … LOTS! {I made 2 individual pop over rolls too with left over dough}.How do I describe something bursting with the freshness of orange, seduced by the heady combination of deep roasted strawberries and dark chocolate … ooeeey, gooeey, wonderful. They were fabulous warm, and very very good at room temperature. And with obligatory lashings of unsweetened low fat cream, even more DELICIOUS!This is my new favourite dessert – light, eggless, fruity, chocolaty. I love it! Dark chocolate only makes good things even gooder better. It’s adapted minimally from the Rees new cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks – Food From My Frontier. If the recipe is anything to go by, the book has to be a winner.I made a half quantity and am glad I did. Half was hard to keep away from, how could we have  justified digging into 48 rolls? Next 24 to be made soon, and more bitter marmalade making coming up just for these! Yes, they were that good! Thank you Brian for the inspiration to bake this ‘miracle‘! Loved your ‘thought for food‘!

[print_this]Recipe: Sweet Orange, Roasted Strawberry & Chocolate Buttermilk Rolls

Summary: Sweet dessert rolls bursting with the freshness of orange flavour, seduced by deep roasted strawberries and then given the kick of dark chocolate … all ooeeey, gooeey, wonderful. Adapted minimally from The Pioneer Woman Cooks – Food From My Frontier

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes {plus resting time}
Ingredients:

  • Buttermilk Dough
  • 240ml {1 cup} buttermilk
  • 70gm {1/4 cup} granulated sugar
  • 60ml {1/4 cup} vegetable oil
  • 1 1/8 tsp active dry yeast
  • 270gm {2 1/4 cups} all purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • Filling
  • 50gm {1/4 cup} unsalted butter, melted
  • 4 tbsp orange marmalade
  • 1 serving roasted balsamic strawberries {recipe follows}
  • 100gm dark chocolate chips {good quality}
  • 1/2 cup {1 stick} butter, melted
  • Icing
  • Zest and juice of 1 orange
  • 60gm {1/2 cup} powdered sugar
  • 50gm {1/4 cup} unsalted butter, melted
  • 2-3 tbsp milk, room temperature
  • Dash of salt
  • Roasted Balsamic Strawberries
  • 225gm strawberries
  • 30gm  {2tbsp} brown sugar
  • 15ml {1tbsp} balsamic vinegar

Method:

  1. In a large saucepan over low heat, heat the milk, granulated sugar, and oil until warm but not hot. Add the yeast and 2 cups of flour, then mix and transfer to a bowl. Cover and let it rise for at least an hour.
  2. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup flour, the baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  3. {Thermomix: warm milk, sugar,oil, yeast and flour in TM bowl. Mix at Speed 6 for 5 seconds. Knead at intermittent speed for 2 minutes. Leave dough in TH for an hour until it doubles. Cover TM if weather is cold. Add baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix on reverse speed 2 for 10 seconds.}
  4. Roll the dough into a long rectangle, about 15 inches wide by 10 inches deep. You’ll want it to be as thin as you can get so that you can add plenty of goo.
    Drizzle the melted butter all over the surface of the dough. Use your fingers to smear it all around so that it coats evenly.
  5. Spread the orange marmalade all over the buttered dough, distributing it as evenly as you can, followed by the roasted balsamic strawberries.  Sprinkle as much good quality dark chocolate all over the two …
  6. Using both hands in a back-and-forth motion, gradually roll the dough toward you into one long log. {I took a little long getting here, so the dough began to rise. It’s a slightly shaggy dough, so might be a good idea to roll it on parchment, especially if you fill it ‘up’ like I did!}
  7. Pinch the seam to seal it. Slice the log-o’-dough into 1/2 inch pieces.
  8. Preheat the oven to 190C. Place the rolls in a buttered baking dish and allow them to rise for 20 minutes while the oven preheats. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes until nice and golden.
  9. While the rolls are baking, make the icing.  Add the zest and juice of 1 orange to a bowl. Add the powdered sugar and salt, some milk.
  10. Then some melted butter and whisk it together until it’s nice and smooth and lovely.
  11. Pull the rolls out of the oven when they’re golden brown and drizzle on the icing right off the bat. The piping hot rolls will suck that gorgeous icing right down into their crevices and the whole thing pretty much becomes a miracle.
  12. Serve them warm.
  13. Roasted Balsamic Strawberries
  14. Toss the quartered strawberries well with the brown sugar and balsamic vinegar. Bake at 180C for about 45 minutes until nice and bubbly, stirring once or twice. Cool completely, transfer to a clean glass jar and refrigerate.

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Mini Apple Upside-down Cakes with Salted Butter Caramel… #applelove

“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”
Martin Luther

Sometimes I wonder if I love stone fruit more or apples. After hanging on to the last of summer fruit so desperately, I think I was childish. Apples are a whole new passion and hold so much versatility. Munch them or bake them, never ending possibilities… one such delightful possibility being these homey, comforting Mini Apple Upside-down Cakes with Salted Butter Caramel … #applelove!I absolutely love the goodness of simple bakes. For me, individual portions hold eternal charm, so when I saw these delicious bites at Jamies place one day, I knew I would be baking them really soon. As I crept into Lifes A Feast while she was in sleeping {day here, night in Nantes}, I knew these little apple cakes were going to be good.

I also knew that the salted butter caramel sauce would be the most delicious sauce I had ever made!  Mmmm … while the cakes baked, the addictive sauce cooled. Spoonfuls did the disappearing act as usual, the hungry little dwarves at work in the kitchen! These cakes are convenient to make. Great for a fast track fall/winter dessert, individual portions that warm the cockles of your heart, slathered in a buttery caramel sauce . C’est bon … caramel, butterscotch, butter, sweet, salty – all goodness in my little white jug, delicious thoughts happily playing in my head! It’s a good sauce to have in your  recipe folder. Très savoureux!! These are tasty little cakes to make you happy this holiday season. Make a double helping of the salted butter caramel if you like as it stores well refrigerated. Reheat it in the microwave for 15-20 seconds and you’re good to go! I added a bit while whipping up my low fat cream for this Perfect Pumpkin Pie; I dare say that cream would make a delicious frosting for a cake!

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Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Talking about the holiday season, here are a few things I’d like to share with you …

California Olive Ranch has a ‘Baking a Better Holiday’ program and all you have to do is join their online community – enewsletter and Facebook – prior to Dec 1 to receive the ‘launch’ newsletter that outlines the entire program. You can find my Olive Oil Brownies here too.
Facebook  |  http://www.facebook.com/CaliforniaOliveRanch; Twitter  |  http://twitter.com/CA_EVOO; Blog

Play Visa Signature’s ‘Go Weekends‘ Instant Win Game for a Chance at $300 worth of prizes. For your chance to win, visit the Visa Signature Facebook Page  and click on the Go Weekends tab. Drag and drop the activities you’d like to do this weekend and submit your plans to see if you are an instant winner. You can play once every day until November 18th. No purchase necessary. Prizes could include $100 to Restaurants.com, Omaha Steaks, and even Sur la Table.

For my local readers in India … Timesdeals have an an amazing deal in partnership with Barista Lavazza – ‘Buy any beverage and Get another one absolutely Free @ Barista Lavazza’. This deal is available Pan India.

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NUTS about Alton Brown’s DOUGHNUTS …Yeastly tales with the Daring Bakers

“Be sweet and honest always, but for God’s sake don’t eat my doughnuts!”
Emma Bunton

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.

It’s the 27th again, and the  much awaited Daring Bakers time of the month again! I’m still not sure if I got it right. Maybe I missed the fine print that states somewhere that we have to bake a batch too, but here I am with the challenge for October 2010. Going nuts about dougnuts is the call, and I think it’s something we love to love universally! What’s not to love about this tasty fried dough, an end result that can be seen across various cultures. Call a doughnut by another name – beignets, crullers, fritters, Sufganiot, and krapfen; tasty little bites they are!

But hello? No baking here, and 650gms of flour…what was I thinking? Was bitten by a bug from la-la land; I really should have halved the recipe. I chose the yeasted doughnuts version, and there was dough popping right out of the bowl, threatening to explode. It was everywhere and I had to fry some in a hurry as it looked like the very active yeast was set to explode. Within the hour of the yeastly rise {in the fridge that too} I quickly set the wok on fire and got frying!

They say ‘hurry makes curry‘. Tch tch … the first doughnut went into the oil in haste, and I was miserably rewarded with a splattering of hot oil! OUCH!! Got branded a confirmed Daring Baker with 2 burns across my forehead. Some stamp eh? Never heard the end of it for 5 days, “OMG, what happened?“…  blah blah blah! Could have kicked myself! Please always be CAREFUL when deep frying! Another tip: Do keep a plant of aloe vera handy in your yard/garden. It is soothing and healing, and you can barely see any marks on my face now. Just break off a bit of the cactus stem, squeeze out the clear gel, and apply… works wonders!Completed a quick batch that day after being rudely interrupted by the incident, and the remaining dough went back into the fridge. It stayed there for 2 days because by then I had so much more to do, and it just felt safe sitting there. Day 3 had me running again because it wasn’t safe to let it be anymore. I wish I had made half the quantity of dough because doughnuts are best eaten fresh. IMHO, they just seem to lose their charm as they cool off, losing their characteristic fluffiness and charm.

I made a batch in the oven too, just in case I had missed out on a DB rule for the challenge. They were OK. To make up for their lack of apparent lightness, I dressed them with a low fat cream and vanilla sugar glaze. Had to be PINK in support of Breast Cancer Awareness for Pinktober. {I’ve been going quite PINK this month – Pinkarons {pink macarons}, Quark Mousse with Roasted Balsamic Strawberries, A Strawberry and Vanilla Bean Mascarpone Cake}. The kids enjoyed the pink ones because of the glazing. I had many plans for the fried ones – pumpkin topping, pastry cream within, dessert donuts etc. But the number that had been eaten already didn’t warrant any more calories, so I let them be. They were absolutely light and delicious served fresh. This is one recipe I will use in the future, for it’s ease of making, and taste! YUM!!

The Alton Brown yeast doughnut recipe is  great one, except that 4.5 tsps of yeast sounded like too much. I used fresh yeast from my block in the freezer, and despite cutting 10g {10g = about 1 tsp dry}, and placing the dough in the fridge after kneading, an hour later it had more than doubled. The results were very good. After refrigeration, the dough was very easy to work with, and the fresh doughnuts were very, very good. I dusted them with a cinnamon/vanilla sugar mix …

Thank you Lori of Butter Me Up for this fun challenge. It’s been a while since I made donuts, and I have to say it was wonderful making them! Got to use my new donut cutter too that I got from my little shop in Old Delhi. As always, a HUGE THANK YOU to Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice for keeping this fab kitchen together … and growing!!

Yeast Doughnuts
Minimally adapted from recipe by Alton Brown
Yield: 30-35 doughnuts & 30 to 35 doughnut holes, depending on size {Mine were regular sized}
Ingredients
1.5 cup milk, lukewarm
70g unsalted butter,melted
30gms fresh yeast
1/3 cup warm water {35°C}
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup granulated vanilla sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp grated nutmeg
4 2/3 cup (650g} all purpose flour {plus extra for dusting}
Vegetable oil for frying  { at least 3 inches of oil}
Method:
Mix the warm milk and butter. Set aside.
In a small bowl, pour the warm water over the fresh yeast and let dissolve for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, pour the yeast mixture into the large bowl of a stand mixer and add the milk and shortening mixture, first making sure the milk and shortening mixture has cooled to lukewarm.
Add the eggs, sugar, salt, nutmeg, and half of the flour.  Combine the ingredients on low speed until flour is incorporated and then turn the speed up to medium and beat until well combined.
Add the remaining flour, combining on low speed at first, and then increase the speed to medium and beat well.
Change to the dough hook attachment of the mixer and beat on medium speed until the dough pulls away from the bowl and becomes smooth, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. If you do not have a dough hook/stand mixer – knead until the dough is smooth and not sticky.
Transfer to a well-oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size. {I left it cling wrapped in the fridge, and it rose in 30 minutes}
On a well-floured surface, roll out dough to 3/8-inch thick. {Make sure the surface really is well-floured otherwise your doughnuts will stick to the counter}.
Cut out dough using a 2 1/2-inch doughnut cutter or pastry ring or drinking glass and using a 7/8-inch ring for the center whole. Set on floured baking sheet, cover lightly with a tea towel, and let rise for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oil in a heavy bottom wok to 185°C. {Test the oil to see if it’s ready with a doughnut hole. It should immediately bob to the top of the oil, and begin to brown. If it comes up slowly, the oil needs to get hotter. If it becomes dark brown immediately, the oil is too hot…beware!}
Gently place the doughnuts into the oil, 3 to 4 at a time. Cook for 1 minute per side or until golden brown.
Transfer to a cooling rack placed in baking pan. Sift a mix of powdered vanilla sugar and cinnamon over both sides immediately. Alternatively, allow to cool for 15 to 20 minutes prior to glazing.

♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥

Do stop by HERE and check out how the rest of our talented bakers have gone nuts over doughnuts this October!

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CHOCOLATE & CHERRY POTS de CREME … the yolks head home!

“You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.”
Stephen King

If you know a little about me, you might figure out where the egg yolks came from. No mystery here! Of course they came from my quest for feet, and the failure associated with them! And in case you haven’t stopped by before, feel at home, grab some coffee, and join me in my footless saga! In a nutshell, it’s about finding feet in macarons, and then finding a home for the yolks! 

Macaron madness hits us this time every month and the theme for MacTweets, the macaron obsessed blog that Jamie and I host, this September, is childhood memories! Mac Attack #11 – Long ago & far away … CHILDHOOD SUMMER MEMORIES.

 
Memories I had many – of nature, of flowers, of pressed flowers, of endless summers hanging upside down from mango and tamarind trees, of purple stained teeth from cramming sweet jamuns into our little mouths, of sneaking a spoonful of malt from the jar when I thought no one was looking, of my first  and only pea pod that grew on pea plant…
I tried to weave all those into my macs, and failed miserably. Got macarons, delicious macarons, but no frills or fancy feet. There were some vanilla macarons, with pressed dried edible flowers on top, and others with malt. I hurriedly sandwiched them with Nutella! I think the weather was just too humid and I had to fix a small something which I couldn’t lay a finger on. By the time I counted my failures, I had wiped my memories clean!
It was time to look at the yellows in life, as the whites were being fiddly again! I had 4 yolks on hand and didn’t want to make an ice cream with the family on the flu express. Googling through images, I picked the one that caught my eye, and I knew it had to be a Canelle et Vanille recipe. Simple Chocolate Raspberry Pot de Creme, very Aran, gorgeous pictures. I didn’t have raspberries, those not being native to India, so my next best bet were preserved cherries from my summer slavery! I have 2 jars of brandied cherries preserved and refrigerated, and I thought they’d do well here! Did I tell you that chocolate and cherries are a marriage made in heaven? They are!
What are pots de creme? Pots de Creme refers to both the custard dessert as well as the small lidded pots this dessert is served in. Pot de creme, or pot-au-creme translates from French to English as “pot of cream”. The French do not have a word for “custard” the dish is simply referred to as “creme”. The pots may also be referred to as “petits pots“.   Technically the pots de creme is a lightly set, baked custard.  The “traditional” proportions for this dessert is one whole egg to every five egg yolks for 2 1/2 to 3 cups of liquid.  A dessert made with these basic proportions will yield a barely firm custard.  This is why the custard is best served in small pots (or ramekins). You can read more about it at Pots de Creme. 

Feedback on these divine pots was obviously good, what with the luscious chocolate, cherries and cream! sharing space! The 3C’s together got me a 5/5!! The son asked, ‘Mousse? No? Well it’s really nice and chocolaty!’ Having just watched an episode of Master Chef moments ago, he charmingly added, ‘You would have won it if you were there. They made some really bad looking stuff today!’ Funny fellow he is! The teen who lives in the clouds also graciously mentioned that they were ‘VERY NICE’, and continued to spoon it into her mouth saying,’Fatty too huh?’ Didn’t seem to deter her though!!

For those of you who might wonder about the eggy aromas, I can assure you there were none. The vanilla bean took care of that, and chocolate in there must have appropriately masked the rest. It was a smooth, silky, deep mousse like potful! Good to the last scrape! I’ve heard lots about this delightful dessert, and I’ll have to say it’s one of the best dessert in the world, really is! Now that the weather is warming up, I’m thinking pumpkin pots de creme next!

Mr PAB bought me a new oven recently, and I finally found a patch of positivity in the PAB feet saga. I did try yet another desperate batch of macs this morning, and met with some degree of success – see some kind of  feet above? Life is looking up, and this new oven might just help me find feet. Maybe it’s significant too that the monsoons have finally stopped here, and the sun is out again! Just in time thankfully, because Mr PAB was beginning to show signs of utter despair, and asked me yesterday if I thought I should buy another brand of oven! The obsession with feet is clearly infectious!

Chocolate and Cherry Pots de Creme
Adapted from Canelle et Vanille
200ml whole milk

50ml full fat cream {top of the milk cream}
200ml low fat cream {Amul 25% fat}

1 vanilla bean, split and seeded
40gms vanilla sugar
4 egg yolks
160gms bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1 cup preserved cherries {or raspberries, fresh or frozen}
Method:
Bring the milk,both creams, vanilla bean and half of the sugar to a boil. Pour this over the chopped chocolate and stir until the chocolate is completely melted.
In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the other half of the sugar. Temper the hot chocolate mixture into the egg yolks while whisking constantly. Strain the custard through a fine sieve.
Place some preserved cherries into ramekins and pour the custard into them. Place the ramekins on a sheet pan and bring this to a preheated 160C oven.
Place the sheet pan in the oven and pour hot water in the sheet pan. Bake the pot de creme in the water bath until center is set, mine took about 45 minutes since the oven is new. Do check after 30 minutes. Refrigerate until completely cooled.

 ♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥
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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India
Posted by Deeba @ PAB
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