dessert

Blueberry Almond Streusal Cake

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 1 Comment

IMG_1730 (3)While we can now purchase blueberries all year round, we are officially in summer berry season. The basic cake is a simple butter kuchen and in the fall I make this with Italian plums and sliced almonds on top or thinly slice apples. It’s wonderful to have something like this in your repertoire. It is easy to throw together, it’s versatile and – well, it’s delicious. You can even freeze the cake, although I never have room to do that.

Use the best unsalted butter you can buy and the freshest eggs. When you are making something that is not masked with lots of spices, the quality of your ingredients really matter. I’m afraid I no longer recall where the original recipe came from, although it likely was the New York Times.

Blueberry Almond Streusal Cake

Yield: One 9-inch cake   IMG_1730

Ingredients

For the cake

1 scant cup of granulated white sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1.5 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour

pinch of salt

2 large eggs

2 Tablespoons milk or cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract OR zest of one lemon

For the Streusal

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

1/4 cup light or dark brown sugar

1/4 cup almond flour (meal)

2 Tablespoons whole wheat flour

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, cold

2 cups of washed and picked over blueberries

Garnish

1 Tablespoon of sliced almonds

Directions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Butter or spray with cooking spray a 9-inch springform pan and set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, mix all of the streusal ingredients except for the blueberries by hand. You want to have some lumps of coated butter. Once this is mixed, gently toss through the washed and dried blueberries and set aside.
  3. In the bowl of a standing mixer (you can do this by hand or in a processor, but the lightest results will be with a standing mixer), cream the butter and sugar.
  4. Add the eggs, vanilla, almond extract OR lemon zest, salt and cream and mix until light and fluffy. On low speed add the flour and mix thoroughly. Turn the speed up to medium high and mix for 3 minutes.
  5. Spread the mixture on the bottom of the prepared pan. This is not a very high cake. It does not need to be perfectly smooth on top – just try to make the thickness even.
  6. Pour the blueberry streusal mixture over the top and with your hand, gently spread it to evenly distribute things. Bake for about 1 hour. As soon as it is ready to come out of the oven, scatter the sliced almonds over the top, if using.
  7. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then loosen the spring. Continue cooling the cake on a wire rack. When it is totally cool, you can remove the outer springform. With a very thin metal spatula, carefully loosen the cake from the bottom of the pan and place on a cake plate. IMG_1699

The cake will get moister and the flavors more pronounced  after sitting covered for a day. It’s good to go as soon as it cools, but for optimal flavor, make it the day before. Sometimes I dust it with confectioner’s sugar just before serving but it will seep into the berries over time.

Mini Berry Tarts

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ Leave a comment

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I love berry tarts, and generally I’ve always made the large(ish) 10-12″ ones.  But whenever my sister used to visit, I would always go to a local French bakery and buy one of these super small but adorable, bite-sized fruit tarts since I knew she loved them.  Recently, my friend and I decided to try recreating them ourselves, with Matthew providing “quality control” and we all couldn’t get over how delicious they were!  (As an aside, as part of our baking adventure we also made this rhubarb snacking cake and it was also fantastic.)

I had researched a bunch of fruit tart recipes and was generally underwhelmed or maybe overwhelmed with the ones I was reading when it occurred to me that I had one awesome pie crust recipe (from Lisa, of course) and one great filling recipe from a tart I had made years ago (that I had nearly forgotten about), and together they were a perfect pairing. (As my friend pointed out, these little tarts also were very reminiscent of Olaf… just saying, not saying.)  I also splurged and bought this mini muffin tray, mainly because I figured it would be much easier than trying to bake and clean 20 some-odd mini tart molds, and since I figured I could reuse it for a muffin party.

Crust

2 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour
1⁄4 tsp. Kosher salt
2 T granulated sugar
8 T margarine (unsalted) from the freezer cut up into approx. 16 pieces
4 T unsalted, sweet butter from the refrigerator, cut up into approx. 8 pieces
2 large egg yolks
3 T ice water
1⁄4 tsp. pure almond extract

Directions for Crust

1. Place the flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor with the steel blade. Pulse twice to mix.

2. Add the shortening and the yolks and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs

3. Add the ice water and almond extract, preferably while the machine is running. Let the machine run until the pastry begins to ball-up at the end of the blade.

4. Gather the pastry carefully and handling as little as possible, form a ball over a piece of waxed paper. Flatten with your hand to form a disk.  (For best results, stick this into the fridge covered with plastic wrap for about an hour or more if possible, but I was in a rush and didn’t do this and given how small the tart shells were, it worked out okay.)

5. Turn the dough as you roll it out and use even pressure going from the center out to the edge. If a crack appears, take a bit of dough from an edge and cover the crack, sprinkle with flour and roll over it.

6. Have your muffin tray ready, and cut out about 3″ diameter circles (I used a small Ball jar lid for this) and press into the mini muffin tray slots.

7. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until browned.

Filling

1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
12 oz mascarpone cheese
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions for Filling

1. Combine lemon juice, mascarpone cheese, vanilla extract and confectioner’s sugar.  Mix thoroughly until silky smooth.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

Putting it all Together!

1. After the tart shells have come out of the oven and cooled off, use a teaspoon to dollop filling into each of the tart shells.

2. Dice about 1 pint of strawberries into quarters (or whatever shape you would like) and rinse some blueberries and place them on the mini filled tarts.

3. Refrigerate until ready to serve, or serve immediately and enjoy!

 

 

Orange Flan

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ Leave a comment

I have been making this recipe for at least 30 years and it never fails. About that time, I treated myself to some wonderful French glazed custard cups that look a bit like little flower pots. I don’t recall where I got them, but I have loved them from the moment I saw them. However, this recipe will work perfectly well in any oven-safe custard cups. I generally make this with dark rum, but today decided to use an orange liqueur. You can make it without the alcohol, but it does add something special and the alcohol actually burns off during the cooking, so it is just the flavoring that you are left with. The trickiest part about making these is carmelizing the sugar. It only really requires a little bit of patience and then the ability to work quickly. This recipe is for two and I believe originated in an old Bon Appetit article on “Cooking for Two” however it easily can be doubled or tripled.

Orange Flan flan5

Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients

1/4 cup granulated sugar plus 2 Tablespoons

1 cup half & half

2 large egg yolks

1 large egg

2 teaspoons dark rum or orange liqueur

Grated zest of one navel orange

Directions

  1. In a small pan (like an omelette pan) pour 1/4 cup of sugar and set over medium heat. Watching it carefully – BUT DO NOT STIR! – heat the sugar until the edges begin to turn a lovely caramel color. This can take 10 minutes or even a little more. If you get impatient and turn your heat too high, the sugar will burn. If you stir the sugar, it won’t caramelize. Once it looks like this photo, you can then carefully stir the mixture with a wooden spoon until it is completely liquified. If you go too far and burn the sugar, just throw it out and start again. It cannot really be salvaged, Thankfully sugar is your least costly imgredient.caramelized sugar2
  2. As soon as the sugar is completely liquified, quickly and carefully (sugar can cause terrible burns) divide the liquid between your custard cups and immediately swirl the sugar around to coat the bottom and partially up the sides of the cups. You must work quickly since it hardens almost immediately. caramelized sugar3
  3. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
  4. In a bowl or large measuring cup, combine all of the other ingredients and beat it well with a wire whisk to break up the egg and yolks and to distribute the orange zest.
  5. Evenly divide the liquid over the now hardened caramel. You should have enough to go to the top of each 1 cup-size custard dish.
  6. Place the dishes in a pan and fill the pan with boiling water to about half-way up the sides of the custard cups. This is a bain Marie.
  7. Place the pan with the custard cups and water into the oven and bake for about 55 minutes.flan ready for ovenDo not overbake. There should just be the slightest jiggle of the custard. It will continue to set after it cools. If you overbake it, the top will split and the custard will still taste good but it won’t be silky and a crust may develop around the edges.
  8. Cool slightly and then place in the refrigerator to cool completely.
  9. When you are ready to serve, take a thin knife and carefully slide it around the edge and down the side of the custard mold. Place a dish over the top, flip it over, give it one good shake and it should come right out. The caramel will drip down the sides. Depending on the dish you bake it in, there will be a disk of caramel left in the bottom. You can either crack it out and eat it, or dissolve it with hot water.

Blood Orange, Almond and Ricotta Cake

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 1 Comment

I’m hosting a dinner party in a few weeks, and this always means that I’m looking for delicious ideas for all the meal parts, but especially dessert.  This was so beautiful and different looking that I thought I might serve it, but being the naturally risk-averse person that I am, decided to “test” it first before finding out three hours before dinner that the recipe failed me or anything unexpected like that.

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THANK GOODNESS I did, since this ended up taking nearly twice the amount of time it claimed it would in baking, and I definitely needed an extra orange to get that amount of juice.  All in all, a delicious cake that is rapidly being devoured.

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Ingredients

1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoon water
3 large eggs, separated
2/3 cup (135 grams) granulated sugar
3 blood oranges
1/2 cup (4 ounces or 115 grams) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup (165 grams) ricotta
1/3 cup (45 grams) cornmeal
1 cup (135 grams) firm-packed almond flour or meal
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 cup apricot jam

Heat oven to 300 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper.

Stir brown sugar and water together so they form a thick slurry. Pour into prepared cake pan and spread thin. Set aside.

Whip egg whites in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until they hold thick peaks. Set aside.

Place granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl. Finely zest all 3 oranges over it.

Cut oranges in half. Cut one of the halves into paper-thin slices and arrange slices over brown sugar base in cake pan. Juice other 5 halves (to get about 1/3 cup juice) and set juice aside.

Add butter to zest and granulated sugar in large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer (you can use same beaters you just did for egg whites) until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, and beat to combine. Add juice and ricotta; mix until smooth. Sprinkle salt over batter, then add almond flour and cornmeal and mix until just combined. Gently fold in egg whites.

Scoop batter in large dollops over prepared cake pan base. Gently spread batter flat, trying not to disturb orange slices underneath. Bake in heated oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  (The original recipe calls for 35-40 minutes but my cake was waaaaaay undercooked at that point and had to keep cooking and cooking it!)

Cool cake in pan on rack for 5 minutes, and then run a knife around the side and invert onto a cake plate. If any orange slices don’t come out easily, just gently arrange them on the top of the cake. If desired, heat jam until loose and brush over cake top for a glossier finish. Let cool and cut into slices. Tastes good at room temperature or after being chilled.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen.

Vegan Chocolate Cream Pie

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 3 Comments

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I’m always searching for great vegan dessert recipes so that my godson, who is deathly allergic to eggs, can enjoy everything that the rest of us do. However, I also only want to make things that everyone enjoys – not something that people will eat and say “well, for vegan, it’s pretty good.” My husband and I are having Shabbat dinner with my niece and my godchildren asked if I would make the dessert. I found a recipe for a chocolate cream pie that is wonderful and I have been reading all about something called aquafaba as an egg substitute. Aquafaba is the liquid in the can of chickpeas (or chickpeas that you cook yourself) that most of us drain off and discard. Well apparently, it shares many of the same protein qualities as eggs without adding any strange tastes. So now you can make all of those lovely meringue kisses or even lemon meringue pie – without eggs. You could also cover this pie with whipped cream, but since my niece also keeps Kosher and we are having meat for Shabbat dinner, I am going with the vegan meringue. No one who eats this will say anything other than “more please!”

Vegan Chocolate Cream Pie adapted from Chocolate Cream Pie by Claryn

Yield: One 9-inch pie

Ingredients

1 baked 9-inch pie crust of your choice (I’m actually making an Oreo crust this time for the children and Oreos are vegan)

For filling

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup sugar

3 Tbsp unsweetened Dutch cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup  plus 2 Tablespoons almond or vanilla soy milk

2 Tablespoons strong black coffee

1 15–ounce can coconut milk (the higher the fat percentage, the better)

5 ounces good quality dark chocolate (I used a Valhrona 64%) finely chopped. (You don’t want to use a chocolate with a higher cacao percentage because it simply won’t have enough cocoa butter in it and the custard will not work correctly.)

1 tsp vanilla

chocolate curls, optional or dust with sifted cocoa powder if using whipped cream as your topping

 

Instructions

  1. In a 2-quart heavy saucepan, whisk together cornstarch, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt.
  2. Gradually whisk almond OR vanilla soy AND coconut milks and black coffee into dry mixture.
  3. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture comes to a simmer.
  4. Whisk constantly until custard is thick – it happens suddenly so watch carefully.
  5. Remove from heat and whisk in chopped chocolate and vanilla until smooth.
  6. Pour filling into cooled pie crust, tilting the pie dish as needed until it’s evenly distributed.
  7. Cover chocolate filling with plastic wrap pressed right onto the top and let cool for at least 3 hours (or overnight), until fully set.  IMG_1063
  8. Right before serving, top very generously with whipped cream or vegan meringue.
  9. Garnish with chocolate curls. (Optional)

For Vegan Meringue and the lessons I learned in using it!

Okay, I just made this for the first time and this is magic! It looks and tastes and feels just like meringue – only it’s totally vegan! Who EVER thought of using chickpea liquid this way? Just incredible.

Ingredients

1 15 OR 16 ounce can of chickpeas – put a colander over a large mixing bowl and pour the chickpeas in to drain the brine into the mixing bowl. Put the chickpeas in an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to eat.

¾ of a cup of finely ground sugar – grind regular sugar in a blender if you don’t have finely ground sugar

¼ teaspoon of cream of tartar

1.5 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract

Directions

In a large standing mixer bowl add the cream of tarter to the brine (aquafaba) and mix with the balloon whisk attachment on a high speed until combined. Turn off the mixer and add the sugar and vanilla and mix on a high speed for 10 to 15 minutes or until the meringue forms stiff peaks. After this is placed over the chocolate pie filling, you can take a kitchen blow torch and brown the edges of the meringue peaks. You could also do this under the broiler watching VERY CAREFULLY. Refrigerate for several hours to make sure that everything is fully set.

Lessons learned

If you are using this as a pie topping, put it on at the last minute. I first topped my pie the night before and the next day, I had all of this sticky liquid on the shelf in my fridge and down the sides of the pie dish. So I scooped the meringue off the top of the pie, cleaned up the mess and started over. This time I placed only about half of the meringue over the top of the pie and I didn’t go to the edges of the pie. It still gave off some liquid over the course of a few hours before we ate dessert, but it wasn’t too bad. However, I took the remaining half of meringue and put it in a container in my fridge to see what would happen and to try baking some meringue kisses. The meringue gave off some more liquid which went to the bottom of the container, but the remaining meringue was stiffer, which was what I actually wanted.

So my advice is that if you have the time, make the miraculous meringue the day or morning before you need it and place it in a fine mesh strainer over a bowl in the fridge. I do this with whipped cream all the time. The resulting cream or meringue will be a bit more dense and you will have none of the liquid on the dessert because it went through the stariner into the bowl below.

Gateau Breton – French Shortbread Cake

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 2 Comments

gateau breton1

I have been making this recipe for over 30 years. It is ina book I keep of hand-written recipes and the more beloved they are, the more stained the page. The page for this recipe is very stained! It is a deceptively easy recipe, but if you don’t use the best quality ingredients – and all of them – then please do yourself a favor and make something else. For years I would scrupulously write down recipes for people only to have them later complain to me that it didn’t taste like mine when they made it. After trying to determine the problem, I found out that they decided to not use real butter or left out the bourbon or cut the sugar or didn’t add the coffee to the chocolate. It finally got to the point that I stopped giving out recipes. Make this cake as written and you will not be disappointed.

This wonderful almond shortbread cake is best made at least one day ahead and will keep at least a week if it isn’t all eaten up. It can be cut into thin slivers for those forever on a diet and becasue it is so rich, a little goes a long way. This would take a starring role for any “high” tea and goes equally well with coffee or a little dessert wine. Unfortunately, I have no recollection where the recipe originated, so my apologies to that cook. I have made a few minor changes to it over the years as I do with most things.

Gateau Breton

Yield: One 9-inch cake that will easily serve 8-10

Ingredients

1.25 cups of unsalted butter, at room temperature (2.5 sticks)

3/4 cup granulated sugar (I always store my sugar in a glass jar with a few vanilla bean pods embedded)

1 large egg

2 large egg yolks

1/3 cup ground almonds (they can be blanched or unblanched – both work)

1.5 teaspoons vanilla paste or vanilla

1 Tablespoon Kirschwasser (cherry liqueur, which is also wonderful for mascerating fruit)

1.75 cups all purpose unbleached flour, sifted

1 egg yolk mixed with 1 teaspoon of ice water or milk and lightly beaten

2 Tablespoons sliced almonds (with skins or blanched)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lavishly butter a fluted flan pan with a removeable bottom. (If you don’t have one, buy one. They are so useful.)
  2. In the bowl of a standing mixer, with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. (I have done this entirely by hand, but the results are better and it is so much easier with a standing mixer and if y ou intend to do much baking you should really get one. I had one that lasted over 30 years, so they are an investment.)
  3. Beat in the whole egg and 2 egg yolks one at a time.
  4. Beat in the almonds, kirsch and vanilla. And then fold in the flour using the lowest speed on the mixer.
  5. Spoon the mixture into the lavishly buttered pan and using a spatula, spread it evenly. If you made this by hand, the batter will be stiffer and harder to spread – not impossible, but more difficult. It also won’t be as fluffy.
  6. Brush the beaten egg yolk mixture of the top. I would suggest placing the pan on a baking pan since sometimes the butter can ooze through the bottom a bit. Gateau Breton ready for ovenBake until the top is golden, about 30-35 minutes. This cake is almost impossible to dry out because of the high butter content.
  7. Cool in the pan on a wire rack and then carefully remove from the pan. gateau breton2When totally cool, wrap it well in foil lined with waxed paper or parchment.

 

No Bake Nutella Cheesecake

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ Leave a comment
I wasn’t planning on making any special desserts for Valentine’s Day, mainly because I had just made a week’s worth of post-dinner desserts in the form of pot de creme.  However, when Lisa sent me this round-up of recipes, I knew that I had to make the Nutella cake.  The thought of  basically taking a tub of Nutella and then not having to bake anything to create a dessert was too tempting to pass up.
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This cake vanished in a matter of days, and was wonderfully dense and like eating blocks of fudge on top of a graham cracker like crust.  I would probably make it with a graham cracker crust next time. Thanks to this recipe, I also learned what Digestives are.  True to their name, apparently they were originally used to help with digestion!  (A product name that describes exactly what it does? Brilliant.)

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While I could have added Hazelnuts, I couldn’t seem to find them in my grocery store and had not thought to add them to my nuts.com order, and as it turns out – I think it was much better without the extra nuts!
Ingredients
  • one 8.8-ounce package of “Digestive” cookies, or substitute graham crackers or chocolate wafer cookies
  • 75grams (5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon) soft unsalted butter
  • 400grams (one 371-gram jar is fine) Nutella, at room temperature, divided
  • 100grams (2/3 cup) hazelnuts, well-toasted and chopped (see note), divided
  • 500grams (two 8-ounce packages is fine) cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 60grams (1/2 cup) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
Directions
  1. Break the digestives into the bowl of a processor, add the butter and a 15-milliliter/1 tablespoon of Nutella, and blitz until it starts to clump.
  2. Tip into a 23-centimeter/9-inch round springform and press into the base either using your hands or the back of a spoon. Place in the fridge to chill.
  3. Beat the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar until smooth and then add the remaining Nutella to the cream cheese mixture, and continue beating until combined.
  4. Take the springform out of the fridge and carefully smooth the Nutella mixture over the base. Place the tin in the fridge for at least four hours or overnight. Serve straight from the fridge for best results.

Sachertorte

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 1 Comment

One of my favorite restaurants in NYC serves the most beautiful Austrian desserts in an old time-y, wood paneled room that feels like a time capsule that sends you straight to Inter-war Europe.  My favorite dessert there, the “Sachertorte” apparently derived its name from a famous hotel in Vienna called the “Hotel Sacher” where this dessert was first made.

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According to the cookbook this recipe derived from, this cake was invented by a sixteen-year-old pastry apprentice named “Franz Sacher” for Prince Klemens von Metternich.  In 1876, his son Eduard opened the now famous “Hotel Sacher” where this is still served today.  After having tried this famous dessert on both sides of the pond, I still think the one from NYC is better, and so I was over the moon when the chef published a cookbook and included the recipe for this dessert!

Ingredients

  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
  • 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 4 large eggs, separated
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup cake flour, sifted
  • All-purpose flour for dusting

Rum Syrup and Jam

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 tbsp dark rum
  • 1.5 cup smooth raspberry (or apricot) jam (Don’t get preserves; while the cake will taste just as good, it will look a little lumpy as mine does below because of all the fruit chunks)

Glaze

  • 6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped ( 1cup)
  • 8 tbsp unsalted butter

Directions

  1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees.  Brush a 9″ round cake pan with butter and dust lightly with flour.
  2. In a double boiler, heat the chocolate until just melted.  Remove from the heat and stir until smooth.
  3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Set aside for now.
  4. In a large bowl, using a hand-held (or standing) mixer, beat the butter with the confectioners’ sugar and cinnamon until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.
  5. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition until smooth.  Add the melted chocolate and beat until just combined.
  6. In another large bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites at medium speed until slightly thickened and foamy, about 2minutes.  Gradually add the granulated sugar, and beat until the whites hold a soft peak.  Using a rubber spatula, stir one-third of the beaten egg whites into the yolk mixutre to lighten it.  Gently fold this mixture into the remaining egg whites until just smooth.  Fold in the cake flour.
  7. Using a spatula, spread the batter into the prepared pan.  Transfer to the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, 35-45 minutes.  Remove the cake from the oven and carefully flip it onto the prepared baking sheet.  Let the cake cool for about 20 minutes.
  8. Meanwhile, make the rum syrup: In a small saucepan, combine the sugar with the water and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves.  Stir in the rum, remove from heat, and let it cool.
  9. Generously brush the cake all over with some of the rum syrup, reserve the remaining syrup.  Cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
  10. Cut the cake horizontally in half.  Brush each cut side generously with the rum syrup.  Spread 1/2 cup of the jam evenly over the bottom of the cake.  Set the other half on top.  Spread the remaining 1 cup of jam evenly over the top and sides of the cake.  Refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.
  11. Make the glaze: In a double boiler, melt the chocolate with the butter until melted.  Remove from the heat, stir until smooth and let cool only slightly (too cool and the mixture will harden).  Remove the cake from the refrigerator.
  12. Pour the glaze over the top and sides of the cake, and then spread it evenly over the cake.  I like to put my cake on a cooling rack, put foil or something else below it, and then drizzle the chocolate so that it falls smoothly on the sides.  Refrigerate the cake until the glaze is set (yes, another 5-10 minutes of waiting before eating!) before serving.
  13. Transfer the cake to a cake plate, and serve (with whipped cream it is even more decadent!)

 

From Neue Cuisine: The Elegant Tastes of Vienna by Kurt Gutenbrunner

Thomas Jefferson’s Chess Pie

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 2 Comments

chess pie2

 

Matthew and Frances are arriving today for the New Year and Matthew’s birthday! I couldn’t be more excited!! Of course I took the day off so I could be cooking and just generally getting the house ready for their visit. We have several fun things planned for the week, but tonight we will just be home catching up. The weather has been filthy and I am completely content to be inside. I am making a pork shoulder ragu with a pappardelle pasta and my sunshine kale salad. For dessert, I made Thomas Jefferson’s Chess Pie, a variation on a pecan pie. While I don’t often brag, I can honestly say that I make the best pecan pie. So why mess with it, you ask? I get bored and I want to try new things – or in this case, something a few hundred years old. It won’t replace my pecan pie, but it is delicious in its own right.

While I was trying to track down the recipe that my friend had made for us about 20 years ago, I came across many versions and variations on chess pie – but none were the one I wanted. My friend finally came through and found the recipe and I’m sharing it with you, with 2 small changes. The name, by the way, has several origins, but the one I like is that it is a mispronunciation of “cheese.” There is butter and cream in the recipe, which along with the eggs forms a custardy, sweet “cheese.” I am also including a pie crust recipe that has changed my baking forever. Over the years, I have tried many, many pie crust recipes. I have thrown out lots of awful dough, and suffered through patching and much hand-wringing. So I was skeptical when I read a recipe for “Foolproof Pie Crust.” It REALLY WORKS! And it is flaky and delicious. You can make it vegan if you simply substitute out the butter for Earth Balance buttery vegan sticks. I read it on what is fast becoming my favorite website Food52.

Thomas Jefferson’s Chess Pie – mostly

Yield: One 9 inch pie

Ingredients

1 unbaked 9 inch pastry shell (recipe below)

4 Tablespoons (1/4 cup) butter at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated white sugar

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

3 large eggs

1/8 teaspoon Kosher salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla paste

2 Tablespoons all-purpose unbleached flour

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 Tablespoon Kentucky Bourbon

1 generous cup chopped or broken pecans

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cream the butter with the sugars and salt.
  2. Add eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition.
  3. Stir in vanilla, Bourbon, flour, cream and pecans and mix well.
  4. Pour the filling into the prepared pie shell. I like to place my pie plate on a baking pan covered with a Silpat to keep it from sliding around and to catch any drips.
  5. Bake for about 50 minutes. Start checking it after 45 minutes since ovens vary. The pie should just jiggle slightly. It will continue to set as it cools. Don’t worry if the top cracks. Turn off the oven and open the door but leave the pie in the oven for 8 more minutes.
  6. Allow to cool before cutting.

chess pie

Cook’s Illustrated Foolproof Pie Crust by Kenji Lopez-Alt

This makes enough crust for a top and bottom crust or 2 single crusts. Just halve the recipe for a single crust. Vodka is essential to the texture of the crust and imparts no flavor — do not substitute. This dough will be moister and more supple than most standard pie doughs and will require more flour to roll out (up to 1/4 cup). I didn’t find it needed quite that much, but you’ll see for yourself.

  • 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon table salt
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (11/2 sticks), cut into 1/4-inch slices
  • 1/2 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
  • 1/4 cup vodka, cold
  • 1/4 cup cold water.
Directions
  1. Process 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, and sugar in food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses.
  2. Add butter and shortening and process until homogeneous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 15 seconds (dough will resemble cottage-cheese curds, and there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade.
  3. Add remaining cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl.
  4.  Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together.
  5. Divide dough into two even balls and flatten each into 4-inch disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.
  6. If you can, refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes before filling and baking. Otherwise there will be some shrinkage.

Pot de Crème

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 2 Comments

Some years ago, Matt and I participated in “Tasting on the Wine Road” where over 100 wineries in the Healdsburg region (in Northern Sonoma, California) offered tastes of their wines paired with something to munch on.  Offerings ranged from very rich cheese fondues paired with bold reds, and salmon teriyaki paired with crisp white wines.  We collected our free cook books that documented all the wines we had the option to taste and all the foods that had been paired, and after a solid day of eating and tasting, concluded that this was one of favorite places to vacation.

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A little later while leafing through the book, we came across this recipe for Pot de Crème from a winery that we were members at, but had not stopped at for the Wine Road day.  But given how much we liked Truett Hurst Winery (both for their wines and the beautifully rustic property where we’ve whiled away a day in the sun), we knew the recipe must be delicious, and so it was!  It’s turned into my favorite company dessert since it can be made ahead, and looks beautiful in presentation with a raspberry or two on top and a little bit of whipped cream or “schlag” as we love to call it.  The flavors for this are incredibly dense and delicious.

Ingredients

1 cup Zinfandel (they recommend their Red Rooster Zinfandel)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
pinch of nutmeg
1/8 tsp clove
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp brown sugar
8 oz semisweet or dark chocolate chips
4 egg yolks
2 tsp smoked Maldon sea salt (optional)

raspberries and whipped cream (optional for garnish)

Directions

Place the Zinfandel and the spices in a small saucepan and reduce by half.  Whisk in the cream, bring to a simmer, cover and turn off the heat.

In a small double boiler, melt the chocolate with the brown sugar, stirring to combine.  Whisk in the warm cream mixture.

Beat the egg yolks in a small bowl, and add in 4 tbsp of the chocolate mixture, 1 tbsp at a time, whisking throughout each addition.  Whisk the tempered yolks into the chocolate on the double boiler and continue to cook, whisking, for 5 more minutes over low heat.

Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a small pitcher.

Pour into 1/2 cup ramekins (should be enough for 8).  Allow to cool for 10 minutes.  Sprinkle 1/2 tsp of salt (optional) and allow to cool for 4-6 hours until set (better if overnight).

Serve with whipped cream and raspberries (optional).

From Tasting Along the Wine Road Cookbook, volume 15, recipe from Chef Peter Brown, Jimtown Store