Daring Bakers: Croquembouche

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

This recipe is all about cream puffs. Kicked-up-a-notch cream puffs. Piled high in a gravity-defying mountain of cream puffs, glued together with sticky (then oh-so perfectly crunchy) caramel.

Sweet, sweet cream puffs. How do I love thee?

It all starts out as pate a choux being piped onto parchment paper. (Lucky me, I have a group of lovely friends that also like to bake. I enlisted their help taking on this month's challenge. We've also baked some other fantastic treats that I will share later.)


The magic little pastry puffs are cooled and then filled with heaven's gift to the pastry world, pastry cream.


Next comes the stacking, a scary proposition for a first timer.


A healthy drizzling of caramel and then it's time to stand back and admire. Ahhh....


oooh...


Last but not least, dig in. Wish I had some pictures of the carnage to share with you.

Oh my, this was such a lovely challenge. I didn't think cream puffs could be improved upon, but the crunchy caramel did just that. Thanks so much to Cat for the challenge. I seriously loved everything about it!

Croquembouche
Ingredients:

For the Vanilla Crème Patissiere (Half Batch)
1 cup (225 ml.) whole milk
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
6 Tbsp. (100 g.) sugar
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
2 Tbsp. (30 g.) unsalted butter
1 Tsp. Vanilla

Dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup of milk. Combine the remaining milk with the sugar in a saucepan; bring to boil; remove from heat.

Beat the whole egg, then the yolks into the cornstarch mixture. Pour 1/3 of boiling milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the eggs do not begin to cook.

Return the remaining milk to boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, continuing whisking.

Continue whisking (this is important – you do not want the eggs to solidify/cook) until the cream thickens and comes to a boil. Remove from heat and beat in the butter and vanilla.

Pour cream into a stainless steel/ceramic bowl. Press plastic wrap firmly against the surface. Chill immediately and until ready to use.

For Chocolate Pastry Cream (Half Batch Recipe):
Bring ¼ cup (about 50 cl.) milk to a boil in a small pan; remove from heat and add in 3 ounces (about 80 g.) semisweet chocolate, finely chopped, and mix until smooth. Whisk into pastry cream when you add the butter and vanilla.

For Coffee Pastry Cream (Half Batch recipe)
Dissolve 1 ½ teaspoons instant espresso powder in 1 ½ teaspoons boiling water. Whisk into pastry cream with butter and vanilla.

Pate a Choux (Yield: About 28)
¾ cup (175 ml.) water
6 Tbsp. (85 g.) unsalted butter
¼ Tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup (125 g.) all-purpose flour
4 large eggs

For Egg Wash: 1 egg and pinch of salt

Pre-heat oven to 425◦F/220◦C degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Preparing batter:
Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely.

Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly.

Add 1 egg. The batter will appear loose and shiny.

As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes.

It is at this point that you will add in the next egg. Repeat until you have incorporated all the eggs.

Piping:
Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip (I piped directly from the bag opening without a tip). Pipe choux about 1 inch-part in the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1 inch high about 1 inch wide.

Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. You want them to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top.


Brush tops with egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten with pinch of salt).

Baking:
Bake the choux at 425◦F/220◦C degrees until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 10 minutes.

Lower the temperature to 350◦F/180◦C degrees and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 20 minutes more. Remove to a rack and cool.

Can be stored in a airtight box overnight.

Filling:
When you are ready to assemble your piece montée, using a plain pastry tip, pierce the bottom of each choux. Fill the choux with pastry cream using either the same tip or a star tip, and place on a paper-lined sheet. Choux can be refrigerated briefly at this point while you make your glaze.

Use one of these to top your choux and assemble your piece montée.

Chocolate Glaze:
8 ounces/200 g. finely chopped chocolate (use the finest quality you can afford as the taste will be quite pronounced; I recommend semi-sweet)

Melt chocolate in microwave or double boiler. Stir at regular intervals to avoid burning. Use the best quality chocolate you can afford. Use immediately.

Hard Caramel Glaze:
1 cup (225 g.) sugar
½ teaspoon lemon juice

Combine sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan with a metal kitchen spoon stirring until the sugar resembles wet sand. Place on medium heat; heat without stirring until sugar starts to melt around the sides of the pan and the center begins to smoke. Begin to stir sugar. Continue heating, stirring occasionally until the sugar is a clear, amber color. Remove from heat immediately; place bottom of pan in ice water to stop the cooking. Use immediately.

Assembly of your Piece Montée:
You may want to lay out your unfilled, unglazed choux in a practice design to get a feel for how to assemble the final dessert. For example, if making a conical shape, trace a circle (no bigger than 8 inches) on a piece of parchment to use as a pattern. Then take some of the larger choux and assemble them in the circle for the bottom layer. Practice seeing which pieces fit together best.

Once you are ready to assemble your piece montée, dip the top of each choux in your glaze (careful it may be still hot!), and start assembling on your cake board/plate/sheet. Continue dipping and adding choux in levels using the glaze to hold them together as you build up. (You may want to use toothpicks to hold them in place).

When you have finished the design of your piece montée, you may drizzle with remaining glaze or use ribbons, sugar cookie cut-outs, almonds, flowers, etc. to decorate. Have fun and enjoy! Bon appétit!

Daring Bakers: Traditional English Pudding

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

For those that don't know, a "traditional British pudding" is a dessert that is cooked by steaming. It's more cake or pie-like than it is like typical American-style pudding. Esther also added a very interesting ingredient challenge, suet, a solid fat that comes from cows.

I wasn't quite up to using the suet as-is, since I didn't know the good parts from the bad, so I heated it until the fat liquefied then I strained it through cheesecloth. Below you can see the suet raw, after straining, and once it's had a chance to harden back up.






I guess I shouldn't have been surprised by how beef-ish my house smelled afterwards.

OK, so far, so good. I decided to mix the suet crust in the food processor. Here you can see pre- and post-processing (say that three times fast).




I lined my Pyrex blow with the crust and added apples mixed with sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice to the brim.

I have to admit I had my doubts when I noticed my crust tasted ever so slightly beefy.




Oops, didn't have quite enough crust left to cover the top properly. But, since the top would eventually become the bottom, I didn't sweat it.


I sprinkled the top with sugar and a little bit of Lyle's Golden Syrup.


It was at this point that I sadly realized that this particular "pudding" isn't actually steamed. It's baked. D'oh! Looks like I'm only only half finished with this challenge. But anyway, here's the pudding after baking and unmolding.




Isn't it pretty? It was delish too. The pastry was pleasingly flaky and crumbly, and didn't taste like beef after all. It was very good with apples. I would definitely try this again.

I chose to made the Toffee Apple Pudding from The Pudding Club website (recipe is---> HERE.)
OK, that's all folks. Thanks so much, Esther! I really enjoyed trying this most interesting dessert.

Daring Bakers: Vols-au-Vent

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

Mmmm, homemade puff pastry. It seems much harder to make than it really is.

Puff pastry is a laminated dough, where a slab of butter is first wrapped in a simple flour dough, almost like a present wrapped in wrapping paper , and then repeatedly rolled out and folded like a business letter.


With all of the rolling and folding, the butter layers get thinner and thinner, sandwiched between increasing layers of dough. When baked, the moisture in the butter turns to vapor and the layers poof and puff, hence the name.

We were to use our puff pastry to make Vols-au-Vent, or cute little puff pastry "bowls" holding our choice of filling. I filled mine with peanut butter mousse (recipe below) and just a touch of leftover chocolate icing from another recipe that I thinned down.

I cut various shapes, two of each size. One of each was used to form the bottom of the bowl and one was cut a second time using a smaller cutter to form the sides of the bowl.


The shapes are stacked in preparation for baking. The "leftover" cutouts can be baked and used for lids (or snacking).


Then it's time to fill and enjoy!




I have to say I really enjoyed making puff pastry. Something about the rolling and folding... very therapeutic! And it tastes fantastic! So light and flaky, it's a dream.

I don't think mine rose as much as some I've seen. I'm not sure why though. But it was still good and I'm so thankful I've had a chance to make it. Thanks Steph!

Michel Richard’s Puff Pastry Dough
From: Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan

You can find a copy of the printable recipe by clicking ----> HERE.

Peanut Butter Mousse
(from cooks.com.)

3 oz. cream cheese
1 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. milk
3/4 c. peanut butter
2 c. heavy cream
1 tbsp. vanilla

Cream the cream cheese with powdered sugar. Add milk and peanut butter. Whip and fold in the cream and vanilla.

Daring Bakers: Apple Strudel

Believe it or not, it's Daring Bakers time again. This month, the gang made... (drum roll please)... Apple Strudel!

Yeah! I've been wanting to try apple strudel forever, but have been too chicken (bock, bock).

And now a word from our sponsors...The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

Enough yappin', let's get to it. I'm going to let the pictures speak for me today since I have nothing interesting to say (unlike all those other days when I have really interesting, important things to say, coughcough).

First, we start with a simple dough and give it a nice little rest and then... (this is where we step into uncharted territory, for me anyway) roll it out on a floured cloth.


Next comes a slightly strange, unfamiliar process of stretching the dough with your hands until it's paper thin.


...keep going...


...almost there...


Done!

OK, so that wasn't so hard. (I recommend spending some confidence-boosting time on YouTube watching veteran strudel makers demonstrating the technique.)

Next up, a slathering of butter...


... followed by a generous sprinkling of toasted breadcrumbs, and finally a layer of pecans and apple filling on one of the short sides.


Roll that bad boy up using the cloth, which helps to avoid spilling the whole thing all over the table (YouTube, people).


I made two smaller strudels rather than one monster strudel. For the second, I made a caramelized banana filling with some chocolate chunks and almond slivers sprinkled in.


We were to bake until the strudel was a deep golden brown. I don't think I baked mine quite long enough.


The filling was cooked through, but the pastry layers weren't very crisp. Within several hours, they weren't crisp at all. It still tasted good, though.

Here's the apple strudel...


... and the banana.


How did they taste? Both were quite tasty, although I preferred the apple. The banana bordered on "too sweet". Would I make this again? Sure. It was some work, but if the fillings were made a day ahead, it really wasn't that hard. It was a fun and impressive dessert and I'm so glad the hosts got me to try it. Thanks so much, Linda and Courtney!

I chalk this up as a successful challenge, and I'm looking forward to next month's. See ya' then!

Apple Strudel
from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

2 tablespoons (30 ml) golden rum
3 tablespoons (45 ml) raisins
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (80 g) sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick / 115 g) unsalted butter, melted, divided
1 1/2 cups (350 ml) fresh bread crumbs
strudel dough (recipe below)
1/2 cup (120 ml, about 60 g) coarsely chopped walnuts *I used pecans
2 pounds (900 g) tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch-thick slices (use apples that hold their shape during baking)

1. Mix the rum and raisins in a bowl. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.

2. Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the breadcrumbs and cook whilst stirring until golden and toasted. This will take about 3 minutes. Let it cool completely.

3. Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a large baking sheet with baking paper (parchment paper). Make the strudel dough as described below. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using your hands (a bristle brush could tear the dough, you could use a special feather pastry brush instead of your hands). Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs. Spread the walnuts about 3 inches (8 cm) from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch-(15cm)-wide strip. Mix the apples with the raisins (including the rum), and the cinnamon sugar. Spread the mixture over the walnuts.

4. Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.

5. Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.

Strudel Dough

1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

1. Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.
Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.

2. Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.
Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).

3. It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.
Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.

4. The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

Tips
- Ingredients are cheap so we would recommend making a double batch of the dough, that way you can practice the pulling and stretching of the dough with the first batch and if it doesn't come out like it should you can use the second batch to give it another try;
- The tablecloth can be cotton or polyester;
- Before pulling and stretching the dough, remove your jewelry from hands and wrists, and wear short-sleeves;
- To make it easier to pull the dough, you can use your hip to secure the dough against the edge of the table;
- Few small holes in the dough is not a problem as the dough will be rolled, making (most of) the holes invisible.

Both Courtney and Linda did a trial run on making the strudel. Below are their notes:

Courtney's notes
- She couldn't get it to stretch to 2 feet by 3 feet, it turned out more like 2 feet by 2 feet. But the dough was tissue thin nevertheless;
- She got some serious holes, but after rolling it wasn't noticeable;
- She used a large cheese cloth which helped manipulate and stretch the dough more than a heavier cloth would have.

Linda's notes
- I made the dough by hand, just mixed the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon. Kneaded it for about 5 min like you would bread dough. This worked as well. Haven't tried using a stand mixer so I don't know how it compares.
- Instead of cider vinegar I used red wine vinegar;
- I used bread flour;
- Picking up the dough to let it stretch didn't work well for me, holes appeared pretty much instantly. Instead I stretched the dough while it was lying on the tablecloth by putting my hands underneath and stretching it out further and further;

Daring Bakers: Chocolate Eclairs

This month's Daring Baker's challenge was Chocolate Eclairs, chosen by Meeta K of "What's for Lunch, Honey?" and Tony of "Tony Tahhan". (Thanks guys, it was a learning experience, as always.) This was my second attempt at choux pastry (the first being the peppermint cream puff ring) and I've come to realize I'm not really feeling the love for cream puffs or eclairs.

To me, it totally depends on how good your filling is. The pastry themselves are a little bland. Cute, but bland.

It's been such a busy month, I barely got them made. I'm afraid I don't have any entertaining stories or witty discussion about them. (I know, I know...would I like some cheese to go with that whine, lol?)

As for the puffs... I made a peanut butter glaze for dipping the tops.


The only pictures I got were of the cream puffs and not the eclairs.


It was my first time making chocolate pastry cream and it turned out nicely and tasted good.


These kind of reminded me of peanut butter stalagtites, or maybe peanut butter board game pieces. Cute, huh?


Thanks so much for stopping by, and feel free to check out the other Daring Bakers and their creations.

If you'd like the recipe, you can visit Meeta or Tony's sites at the links above. For the peanut butter glaze, I didn't really measure, but the ingredients were approximately:

Peanut Butter Glaze
3 Tablespoons peanut butter
1/3 to 1/2 C. powdered sugar
milk to thin to desired consistency

Mix all ingredients well with a spoon. Adjust amounts to taste.

TWD: Peppermint Cream Puff Ring

The thing about blogging is… sometimes I feel an immediate connection to someone. Maybe through a comment they’ve left, or a story they’ve told, a picture they’ve taken. Complete strangers, affecting me. I don’t know where on this big planet they reside, who their friends are, what they sound like, or what they do for a living. I wouldn’t know them if I passed them on the street. But yet, there’s this bit of emotion that goes out to them.

Someone who touched me (months ago) was Marion from "Il en faut peu pour etre heurex". Her picture of her cheesecake pops from the April Daring Bakers challenge just blew me away! Chocolate covered pops, with green chunks of pistachio against a purple background. I don’t know why, but the colors and composition seemed a thing of beauty and perfection to me.

I must have subconsciously stowed that picture away just beneath the surface because when it came time for this week’s Tuesday’s with Dorie recipe, I was inspired by it. (Thank you, Marion.) The recipe, chosen by Caroline of A Consuming Passion, was Peppermint Cream Puff Ring.

I knew peppermint wouldn’t fly with my husband. As I was tossing around in my head… what to do, what to do, Marion's picture came to mind and I knew...

pistachio flavored cream, chopped pistachios on top, purple background.

The verdict? Weeell, I think the recipe was probably best as written, lol. But I got some nice pictures, by darn!

Without the peppermint to balance it, the sour cream in the filling was overwhelming and made for a too-sour filling and somewhat bland confection overall. In fact, after taking pictures I scraped off the filling, stirred some peppermint oil into the leftover cream and scooped that onto the ring. Much better!


I read that some TWD-ers had fallen rings, so I heeded the advice of others and baked for the recommended time , plus I stirred and heated the milk-flour mixture for the full two minutes, plus paddled the flour-milk mixture in my Kitchenaid for maybe 30 seconds before adding the first egg. Thank you fellow bakers! I had no problems with the pastry (well, except that my piping job wasn't too pretty).

In addition to the ring, I got 18 bite-size cream puffs from the batter. (I hope they freeze well because that’s where they are at the moment.)

Dorie has graciously provided the recipe on epicurious.com HERE.

See you for next week's recipe: Mixed Berry Cobbler.