my homework & tests November 17, 2009

My homework is never like the usual sort. For the first month or so, my homeowrk consisted of going to the supermarket and the baking supply shop to check prices. I would wander the aisles with my notebook, jotting down numbers and quantities as I went. It felt like a big joke.

The second month my homework consisted of breaking down recipes in accordance to cost. I would intentionally rifle through my cookbooks and pick the recipe with the longest ingredients list. Then all those price listings were out to work with the aid of a calculator. I would calculate precisely, down to the last eighth of a teaspoon how much the recipe would cost to make. Then it would be divided per cookie or slice. Only then would I then know how much ut would cost to the consumer at a considerable markup.

My first term in pastry was a lot of theory. This second term has been anything but! My exams have become actual recipes redone for a grade.

Yesterday we concluded our class on bread. After pounds of yeast and what has felt like tons of flour, we get to move on. It does not mean that I won’t still be perpetually covered in flour. We started a class on cakes today, in fact.

This is the recipe I did for my final. It was my favorite roll recipe that we made in the course. You can do it like the egg bread roll recipe I shared last week but I will try to simplify the process for the home baker.

Soft rolls
– 12 1/2 oz water
- 1/2 tablespoon yeast
- 1 1/2 pounds bread flour
-2 teaspoons salt
- 2oz sugar
- 1oz powdered milk
- 1oz shortening
- 1oz butter

1- Proof warm water with yeast with a few pinches of the sugar.

2- Place all ingredients in mixer with bread hook. Cut butter and shortening into smaller pieces and turn mixer onto low speed to blend.

3- Add water and allow to mix until dough forms into a ball on the hook and comes cleanly off the sides of the bowl. It should feel soft and look smooth and white.

4- set on floured baking sheet and cover loosely until has doubled in size. Approximately 1 1/2 hours.

5- Collect dough and give a knead to remove air bubbles. Portion into 2oz balls. Makes approximately 19- 20 balls.

6- allow rolls to rise again for at least 30min. Brush with an egg wash.

7- Bake at 400F for 20-25 min or until a rich golden color. Check bottoms of rolls to ensure that it has colored. Because of the eggwash, tops will brown faster and to a deeper shade.

Enjoy! <div class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 650px"

i think the look sort of like eggs

Happy Birthday to the bombshell aunt! November 11, 2009

Today has been so very busy for me.  I have been up and on the go since I woke up today at 9am.  It was a day off from school but it was not a day for rest.  In fact, I have been baking and getting things ready for today since yesterday evening when I made the chocolate ganache and Dorie’s Devil’s Food White-Out Cake… well, at least the cake portion of it.

This would be my blouse after all that chocolate.

Maybe I’m too used to having an apron on for class.

After making macaroni salad, sewing, making cupcakes, the frosting, assembling the cake and then going and making dinner, its understandable that I’m quite tired.  I hurt but it all came out beautifully!  

 

Devil's Food White-Out Cake w/ Chocolate Ganache & Cupcakes

Certain anatomically correct cakes notwithstanding, I like to think I can make some very lovely cakes.  I made 2-  8in layers and iced the inner layer and around the sides.  I made the edges a little raised so I have a little well to place the pool of chocolate ganache.  It was SO yummy.  There are no words to describe the yumminess!

 

A yummy slice with ice cream

 

 I just loved how the ganache would ooze down when the cake was sliced.

I used the leftover Icing from the cake but used my own vanilla cupcake recipe.  Since I love how light and fluffy the cake comes out, I will share the recipe with y’all!  

Yellow Cupcakes

(makes approximately 2 dozen cupcakes)

- 11 1/2 tablespoons butter

- 1 1/4 cup sugar

- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

- 4 egg yolks

- 1 1/4 cup flour

- 1/2 + 1/8 teaspoon baking powder

- 3/4 cup milk

- 4 egg whites

- pinch of salt

1. Cream butter with sugar.
2. Separate eggs and whip whites with the pinch of salt until they form soft peaks.
3. Add yolks to the butter, blend in with vanilla.
4. Alternate additions of milk with the flour.
5. Fold in egg whites to the mixture. 
6. Fill cupcake molds to just 2/3 full.
7. Bake at 350 F for 20-25 min until tops are golden and the centers spring back to touch. 

Enjoy!

a day in the life of this pastry student November 9, 2009

My days start at 6am. I wake up after having hit the snooze button at least 2 or 3 times. I get dressed and wear my chef uniform. No need for makeup and all I do is twist my hair up into a low bun we are out the door no later than 6:40am or whatever time I have finished packing the lunch bag for myself and my mother.

We then arrive to school sometime around 7:30am or whatever time we have finished getting the 20oz cup of café mocha from Walgreens (don’t judge, but the closest Starbucks is 2 hours away). I then make some instant oatmeal in the microwave at my mother’s office. The secret is to nuke it in increments of 60, 25, 20, 15 & 10sec. After that, believe me when I tell you that I take my time slowly eating my oatmeal. I am often late to class even though all I have to do is go down a flight of stairs to reach my classroom. But at least I make it there in time to slip on my skill cap and tie on my bistro length apron before the real work starts.

Over the span of 5 hours we plow through theoretical material as well as get our hands dirty. Today, for example, we made bread by hand and decided to make crepes. I was not very impressed with the latter so I won’t share the recipe but the stack of crepes we made will be shown below. They tasted yummy, by the way, when we ate them with whipped cream.

Meanwhile, this bread dough was just amazing! The rolls came out so light and soft. I recommend everyone make these! The average yield of this recipe is about 17-2ounce rolls.

So let’s see if I can summarize the whole bread making process for you. Maybe in the next day or two I might write out a lesson in the basic steps in bread making, so that no matter what bread recipe you come across, you will always know how to form the perfect dough.

Egg bread rolls
– 9 1/2 oz water
- 3/4 oz Yeast
- 1lb 5oz bread flour
- 2t salt
-2 oz sugar
- 1oz milk
- 1oz butter
- 1oz shortening
- 1 large egg

1- proof yeast in water with a few pinches of the sugar.

2- make a well of the dry ingredients and cream the days with the sugar with the palm of your hand. Blend all wet ingredients in center.

3- slowly incorporate flower by working fingers around the well until the consistency thickens and you can incorporate flour. You can take your time with this step as it helps for the flour to become hydratef before kneading.

4- knead the dough for 5-10min until it comes together in a smooth ball.

5- place on a floured baking sheet, flour too and loosely place plastic wrap over. Allow to rise until double in size, approximately 1hr.

6- punch down and round the dough, place back on floured baking sheet, with loose covering of plastic wrap and allow to rise again for approximately 30min.

7- divide into 2oz portions or approximately 16 balls. Fold each portion until smooth then round by making counter clockwise circles under cupped palm of hand.

8- allow balls to rise again for 20-30min or until double in size.

9- brush with an eggwash and sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds as desired.

10- Bake at 400 F for 20min or until bottoms are a golden brown.

Enjoy!

the perfect cornbread November 5, 2009

For the longest time I have been hunting for the perfect recipe for cornbread. I had tried quite a few and was never satisfied with the end product. To me, the perfect cornbread was one that was sweet, light and fluffy. I don’t like it to be dense or filled with chunks of real corn. I suppose I wanted a cornbread recipe not from a box that was almost like a fluffy delicious cake.

But no matter what recipe I tried, the result was either grainy or too dense. I still had one recipe as my go-to even though it didn’t produce the airy light product I wanted.

Then suddenly, about 2 weeks ago I decided to make the recipe with a sudden adjustment. After having taken a class on bread development and gluten and the perfect bread crumb, I felt there was something instinctual. This time it would be perfect.

Want to know what the secret ingredient was?

Butter!

Yes, butter.

The secret to life is always butter.

Just a single ounce more of butter made all the difference. Who knew?

The reason I believe is that the layers of the fat from the butter better coat the proteins in the flour. When the cornbread mix is baked, the fat melts and air is released to fluff it up.

I also discovered how just one tablespoon more of sugar to this recipe makes for a very crunchy crust. The sugar caramelizes on the crust and adds a nice crisp. I prefer it without that crunch but my mother prefers it with.

So I urge everyone to try this recipe and let me know how it goes.

To have the perfect cornbread, I baked it in my trusty cast iron skillet.

Ivy’s Prefect Cornbread @ 400 F

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 oz (6 tblspn) butter
1 cup milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten

1- In a large bowl, place all dry ingredients and whisk together until it looks evenly distributed. Leave a small well in center.
2- Slice butter and place in skillet. Place over med-low heat and allow to melt. Swirl bitter around in the skillet to cost the surface and sides.
3- Pour milk, eggs and butter into the well of the dry ingredients.
4- Whisk together, starting in small circles in center and making larger circles until incorporated. Once fully blended, mixture will look thick and butter will have been absorbed.
5- Pour mixture into skillet and bake immediately at 400 F for 20-25min or until top is golden and middle springs back to touch.
6- Scrape edges with a spatula, working it under the cornbread to loosen it from the pan after 5min. Turn out on to a plate or serve straight from skillet. Best when eaten nice and warm!

A girl toting a tool box November 3, 2009

So this is me and that is my tool box. I kid you not, I got the thing over at Home Depot. Notice that it is far more stylish than regular tool boxes. When I went to get it, my mother and I scoured the entire store for the nicest one. Sure, we came across those bulky ugly black and grey boxes. Even if those had been the last ones in existence, I would not have taken them. Its bad enough that I have to wear nondescript black shoes, grey work pants and a plain white chefcoat (I will spare you the rant on the ugly hat they make me wear, the fact I can’t wear makeup or that I can only wear my hair up in a bun). I drew the line at having to carry an ugly bag.

So, why a toolbox? Because I have to carry a lot of them. I need to have everything from kitchen towels to knives to spatulas and scrapers. While the kitchen lab area has some of these things, they aren’t set aside especially for pastry and sweets. To avoid cross contamination, I then carry all I need with me. I am still missing things, but if anyone is interested in knowing all the tools and utensils a professional baker is meant to have, just ask me and I will be all to happy to list it all out.

Now I am sure, a few people are troubled about whether they should start dividing up their things to keep certain things separate from that which is used for meats and vegetables. I would say that its a good idea. Label everything and keep them apart. Kept together the way I have them, its useful anytime I need to make something at home. I know that all I have to do is reach into bag of tricks and have what I need. No going through shelves and worrying about misplaced items. And anything that saves time when baking is a very good thing, if you ask me.

Flan! for the win! July 9, 2009

You can never go wrong with flan.  Some people, like Tania (@lovebig) mentioned that they have loved it and never made it.  Now this I consider quite a crime.  Anything that translates to caramel custard is OK by my books.  So, to help entice her to add it to her extensive baking list, I’m including two flan recipes.  They are both for flan de queso, but one is with condensed milk (which she has an abundance of) and the other is with evaporated milk (which is the one we usually make).  A difference between the recipes is the end consistency.  The one with evaporated milk is a lighter sort of custard in texture and the one with condensed milk has a weightier feel to it.  (That likely made no sense, but if you went and made both, you’d TOTALLY see what I’m trying to convey) In fact, I can usually tell when a recipe was made with either one.  I did this to my gay hubby’s amusement one weekend when he brought some flan back after his weekend in Adjuntas and a little was saved for me to try.  I pegged it after a spoonful or two the difference the recipe I usually have because his mother uses sweetened condensed milk.  

(I was supposed to post this up last night after work but I was trying to dig through my random picture archive to see if I had a picture of flan somewhere. My search came up empty.  I did try though!)

So I urge you to give either one a try, you won’t be sorry!

Both recipes use a 9″ X 2″ round pan and you will use the bath-Marie method when baking.  So save yourself the trouble beforehand and be sure you have tested out which pan fits which and will allow you to pour some water to reach 2/3 up on the mold without making a steamy mess when the time comes!  This way you can premeasure the water (by pouring some water into your baking mold then pouring enough on the outside to desired height, then remove the mold set for the flan) and have it ready.  Also, I’m writing the recipe with the 1cup sugar to be used to caramelize into the pan but you can skip this step by just pouring a sort of thick caramel (like dulce de leche) to coat the bottom.  You just place the pan over the burner on low and let it just ooze over to coat. 

The recipes can be halved with much success but I recommend baking them in smaller ramakins if you need smaller portions most.  You won’t be sorry that you have so much flan!  You can NEVER have too much flan, if you ask me.

 

Flan de Queso con leche condensada

1cup sugar- for mold

8oz Cream Cheese

1 1/4cup water

1/4 tsp. salt

1tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2tsp. fresh lemon/lime zest

5 large eggs

1/2 milk

1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk

- To caramalize mold: Place mold onto low burner and place sugar in a mound in center of the mold.  Allow the sugar to heat and turn slowly to caramel.  Once proper golden consistency, spin mold to coat bottom.  CAUTION: caramel is EXTREMELY hot.  Do not touch and while you may use a spoon to help coat the bottom, by NO means try to lick the spoon.  If the caramel gets on anything, soak in water immediately.

- Preheat oven to 325F and place the container for the bath-Marie with the amount of water you have tested beforehand that will reach 2/3 up your baking mold on the outside. 

- Cut cream cheese into 6 pieces and place into blender container.  Add the water, salt, vanilla and lemon zest.  Blend on low for 1/2 minute.

- Add eggs and blend again for 1/2 minute.

- Add the condensed mil and regular milk, blending again for 1/2 minute. 

- Pour contents into the prepared caramel baking mold.  Place into bath-Marie (if you are nervous about the water, you can leave the pouring of boiling water until after you’ve placed the pans in the oven) and bake for 45minutes.

- Raise temp to 350F and bake for about 10-15min more or until it passes the clean toothpick test.  

- Allow to rest two hours before placing in fridge to chill.  This is an important step!  This is the step that allows the caramel to release from the mold.

- Chill in fridge until ready to serve.  Turn over onto a plate when ready to serve.  Enjoy!

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Flan de Queso con leche evaporada 

1cup sugar- for mold

4oz cream cheese

1cup sugar- for flan

1/4tsp. salt

5 eggs, lightly beaten

1 can (13oz) evaporated milk

1/2cup water

1tsp. fresh lemon/lime zest

1 tsp. vanilla extract

- To caramalize mold: Place mold onto low burner and place sugar in a mound in center of the mold.  Allow the sugar to heat and turn slowly to caramel.  Once proper golden consistency, spin mold to coat bottom.  CAUTION: caramel is EXTREMELY hot.  Do not touch and while you may use a spoon to help coat the bottom, by NO means try to lick the spoon.  If the caramel gets on anything, soak in water immediately.

- Preheat oven to 350F and place the container for the bath-Marie with the amount of water you have tested beforehand that will reach 2/3 up your baking mold on the outside.

- Cream the sugar and cream cheese and salt in a mixer until soft and smooth.

- Lightly beat eggs and mix with the milks and water.  Mix well and strain over cheese and sugar mixture.

- Add vanilla and lemon zest.  Blend together and pour into mold.  

- Bake in bath-Marie at 350F for 1 1/2 hours or until toothpick test comes clean.  After first 45minutes of baking, place an aluminum foil tent over it to avoid forming an upper crust, bake for the rest of time covered.

- Allow to rest two hours before placing in fridge to chill.  This is an important step!  This is the step that allows the caramel to release from the mold.

- Chill in fridge until ready to serve.  Turn over onto a plate (it MUST be turned over to allow caramel to be poured over the custard) when ready to serve.  

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can never go wrong with flan.  Some people, like Tania (@lovebig) mentioned that they have loved it and never made it.  Now this I consider quite a 

crime.  Anything that translates to caramel custard is OK by my books.  So, to help entice her to add it to her extensive baking list, I’m including two flan 

recipes.  They are both for flan de queso, but one is with condensed milk (which she has an abundance of) and the other is with evaporated milk (which is the 

one we usually make).  A difference between the recipes is the end consistency.  The one with evaporated milk is a lighter sort of custard in texture and the 

one with condensed milk has a weightier feel to it.  (That likely made no sense, but if you went and made both, you’d TOTALLY see what I’m trying to convey)  

In fact, I can usually tell when a recipe was made with either one.  I did this to my gay hubby’s amusement one weekend when he brought some flan back after 

his weekend in Adjuntas and a little was saved for me to try.  I pegged it after a spoonful or two the difference the recipe I usually have because his 

mother uses sweetened condensed milk.  

(I was supposed to post this up last night after work but I was trying to dig through my random picture archive to see if I had a picture of flan somewhere.  

My search came up empty.  I did try though!)

So I urge you to give either one a try, you won’t be sorry!

Both recipes use a 9″ X 2″ round pan and you will use the bath-Marie method when baking.  So save yourself the trouble beforehand and be sure you have tested 

out which pan fits which and will allow you to pour some water to reach 2/3 up on the mold without making a steamy mess when the time comes!  This way you 

can premeasure the water (by pouring some water into your baking mold then pouring enough on the outside to desired height, then remove the mold set for the 

flan) and have it ready.  Also, I’m writing the recipe with the 1cup sugar to be used to caramelize into the pan but you can skip this step by just pouring a 

sort of thick caramel (like dulce de leche) to coat the bottom.  You just place the pan over the burner on low and let it just ooze over to coat.  

The recipes can be halved with much success but I reccommend baking them in smaller ramakins if you need smaller portions most.  You won’t be sorry that you 

have so much flan!  You can NEVER have too much flan, if you ask me.

Flan de Queso con leche condensada

1cup sugar- for mold

8oz Cream Cheese

1 1/4cup water

1/4 tsp. salt

1tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2tsp. fresh lemon/lime zest

5 large eggs

1/2 milk

1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk

- To caramalize mold: Place mold onto low burner and place sugar in a mound in center of the mold.  Allow the sugar to heat and turn slowly to caramel.  Once 

proper golden consistency, spin mold to coat bottom.  CAUTION: caramel is EXTREMELY hot.  Do not touch and while you may use a spoon to help coat the bottom, 

by NO means try to lick the spoon.  If the caramel gets on anything, soak in water immediately.

- Preheat oven to 325F and place the container for the bath-Marie with the amount of water you have tested beforehand that will reach 2/3 up your baking mold 

on the outside. 

- Cut cream cheese into 6 pieces and place into blender container.  Add the water, salt, vanilla and lemon zest.  Blend on low for 1/2 minute.

- Add eggs and blend again for 1/2 minute.

- Add the condensed mil and regular milk, blending again for 1/2 minute. 

- Pour contents into the prepared caramel baking mold.  Place into bath-Marie (if you are nervous about the water, you can leave the pouring of boiling water 

until after you’ve placed the pans in the oven) and bake for 45minutes.

- Raise temp to 350F and bake for about 10-15min more or until it passes the clean toothpick test.  

- Allow to rest two hours before placing in fridge to chill.  This is an important step!  This is the step that allows the caramel to release from the mold.

- Chill in fridge until ready to serve.  Turn over onto a plate when ready to serve.  Enjoy!

Flan de Queso con leche evaporada 

1cup sugar- for mold

4oz cream cheese

1cup sugar- for flan

1/4tsp. salt

5 eggs, lightly beaten

1 can (13oz) evaporated milk

1/2cup water

1tsp. fresh lemon/lime zest

1 tsp. vanilla extract

- To caramalize mold: Place mold onto low burner and place sugar in a mound in center of the mold.  Allow the sugar to heat and turn slowly to caramel.  Once 

proper golden consistency, spin mold to coat bottom.  CAUTION: caramel is EXTREMELY hot.  Do not touch and while you may use a spoon to help coat the bottom, 

by NO means try to lick the spoon.  If the caramel gets on anything, soak in water immediately.

- Preheat oven to 350F and place the container for the bath-Marie with the amount of water you have tested beforehand that will reach 2/3 up your baking mold 

on the outside.

- Cream the sugar and cream cheese and salt in a mixer until soft and smooth.

- Lightly beat eggs and mix with the milks and water.  Mix well and strain over cheese and sugar mixture.

- Add vanilla and lemon zest.  Blend together and pour into mold.  

- Bake in bath-Marie at 350F for 1 1/2 hours or until toothpick test comes clean.  After first 45minutes of baking, place an aluminum foil tent over it to 

avoid forming an upper crust, bake for the rest of time covered.

- Allow to rest two hours before placing in fridge to chill.  This is an important step!  This is the step that allows the caramel to release from the mold.

- Chill in fridge until ready to serve.  Turn over onto a plate (it MUST be turned over to allow caramel to be poured over the custard) when ready to serve.  

Enjoy!

  

You can never go wrong with flan.  Some people, like Tania (@lovebig) mentioned that they have loved it and never made it.  Now this I consider quite a 

crime.  Anything that translates to caramel custard is OK by my books.  So, to help entice her to add it to her extensive baking list, I’m including two flan 

recipes.  They are both for flan de queso, but one is with condensed milk (which she has an abundance of) and the other is with evaporated milk (which is the 

one we usually make).  A difference between the recipes is the end consistency.  The one with evaporated milk is a lighter sort of custard in texture and the 

one with condensed milk has a weightier feel to it.  (That likely made no sense, but if you went and made both, you’d TOTALLY see what I’m trying to convey)  

In fact, I can usually tell when a recipe was made with either one.  I did this to my gay hubby’s amusement one weekend when he brought some flan back after 

his weekend in Adjuntas and a little was saved for me to try.  I pegged it after a spoonful or two the difference the recipe I usually have because his 

mother uses sweetened condensed milk.  

(I was supposed to post this up last night after work but I was trying to dig through my random picture archive to see if I had a picture of flan somewhere.  

My search came up empty.  I did try though!)

So I urge you to give either one a try, you won’t be sorry!

Both recipes use a 9″ X 2″ round pan and you will use the bath-Marie method when baking.  So save yourself the trouble beforehand and be sure you have tested 

out which pan fits which and will allow you to pour some water to reach 2/3 up on the mold without making a steamy mess when the time comes!  This way you 

can premeasure the water (by pouring some water into your baking mold then pouring enough on the outside to desired height, then remove the mold set for the 

flan) and have it ready.  Also, I’m writing the recipe with the 1cup sugar to be used to caramelize into the pan but you can skip this step by just pouring a 

sort of thick caramel (like dulce de leche) to coat the bottom.  You just place the pan over the burner on low and let it just ooze over to coat.  

The recipes can be halved with much success but I reccommend baking them in smaller ramakins if you need smaller portions most.  You won’t be sorry that you 

have so much flan!  You can NEVER have too much flan, if you ask me.

Flan de Queso con leche condensada

1cup sugar- for mold

8oz Cream Cheese

1 1/4cup water

1/4 tsp. salt

1tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2tsp. fresh lemon/lime zest

5 large eggs

1/2 milk

1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk

- To caramalize mold: Place mold onto low burner and place sugar in a mound in center of the mold.  Allow the sugar to heat and turn slowly to caramel.  Once 

proper golden consistency, spin mold to coat bottom.  CAUTION: caramel is EXTREMELY hot.  Do not touch and while you may use a spoon to help coat the bottom, 

by NO means try to lick the spoon.  If the caramel gets on anything, soak in water immediately.

- Preheat oven to 325F and place the container for the bath-Marie with the amount of water you have tested beforehand that will reach 2/3 up your baking mold 

on the outside. 

- Cut cream cheese into 6 pieces and place into blender container.  Add the water, salt, vanilla and lemon zest.  Blend on low for 1/2 minute.

- Add eggs and blend again for 1/2 minute.

- Add the condensed mil and regular milk, blending again for 1/2 minute. 

- Pour contents into the prepared caramel baking mold.  Place into bath-Marie (if you are nervous about the water, you can leave the pouring of boiling water 

until after you’ve placed the pans in the oven) and bake for 45minutes.

- Raise temp to 350F and bake for about 10-15min more or until it passes the clean toothpick test.  

- Allow to rest two hours before placing in fridge to chill.  This is an important step!  This is the step that allows the caramel to release from the mold.

- Chill in fridge until ready to serve.  Turn over onto a plate when ready to serve.  Enjoy!

Flan de Queso con leche evaporada 

1cup sugar- for mold

4oz cream cheese

1cup sugar- for flan

1/4tsp. salt

5 eggs, lightly beaten

1 can (13oz) evaporated milk

1/2cup water

1tsp. fresh lemon/lime zest

1 tsp. vanilla extract

- To caramalize mold: Place mold onto low burner and place sugar in a mound in center of the mold.  Allow the sugar to heat and turn slowly to caramel.  Once 

proper golden consistency, spin mold to coat bottom.  CAUTION: caramel is EXTREMELY hot.  Do not touch and while you may use a spoon to help coat the bottom, 

by NO means try to lick the spoon.  If the caramel gets on anything, soak in water immediately.

- Preheat oven to 350F and place the container for the bath-Marie with the amount of water you have tested beforehand that will reach 2/3 up your baking mold 

on the outside.

- Cream the sugar and cream cheese and salt in a mixer until soft and smooth.

- Lightly beat eggs and mix with the milks and water.  Mix well and strain over cheese and sugar mixture.

- Add vanilla and lemon zest.  Blend together and pour into mold.  

- Bake in bath-Marie at 350F for 1 1/2 hours or until toothpick test comes clean.  After first 45minutes of baking, place an aluminum foil tent over it to 

avoid forming an upper crust, bake for the rest of time covered.

- Allow to rest two hours before placing in fridge to chill.  This is an important step!  This is the step that allows the caramel to release from the mold.

- Chill in fridge until ready to serve.  Turn over onto a plate (it MUST be turned over to allow caramel to be poured over the custard) when ready to serve.  

Enjoy!

  You can never go wrong with flan.  Some people, like Tania (@lovebig) mentioned that they have loved it and never made it.  Now this I consider quite a 

crime.  Anything that translates to caramel custard is OK by my books.  So, to help entice her to add it to her extensive baking list, I’m including two flan 

recipes.  They are both for flan de queso, but one is with condensed milk (which she has an abundance of) and the other is with evaporated milk (which is the 

one we usually make).  A difference between the recipes is the end consistency.  The one with evaporated milk is a lighter sort of custard in texture and the 

one with condensed milk has a weightier feel to it.  (That likely made no sense, but if you went and made both, you’d TOTALLY see what I’m trying to convey)  

In fact, I can usually tell when a recipe was made with either one.  I did this to my gay hubby’s amusement one weekend when he brought some flan back after 

his weekend in Adjuntas and a little was saved for me to try.  I pegged it after a spoonful or two the difference the recipe I usually have because his 

mother uses sweetened condensed milk.  

(I was supposed to post this up last night after work but I was trying to dig through my random picture archive to see if I had a picture of flan somewhere.  

My search came up empty.  I did try though!)

So I urge you to give either one a try, you won’t be sorry!

Both recipes use a 9″ X 2″ round pan and you will use the bath-Marie method when baking.  So save yourself the trouble beforehand and be sure you have tested 

out which pan fits which and will allow you to pour some water to reach 2/3 up on the mold without making a steamy mess when the time comes!  This way you 

can premeasure the water (by pouring some water into your baking mold then pouring enough on the outside to desired height, then remove the mold set for the 

flan) and have it ready.  Also, I’m writing the recipe with the 1cup sugar to be used to caramelize into the pan but you can skip this step by just pouring a 

sort of thick caramel (like dulce de leche) to coat the bottom.  You just place the pan over the burner on low and let it just ooze over to coat.  

The recipes can be halved with much success but I reccommend baking them in smaller ramakins if you need smaller portions most.  You won’t be sorry that you 

have so much flan!  You can NEVER have too much flan, if you ask me.

Flan de Queso con leche condensada

1cup sugar- for mold

8oz Cream Cheese

1 1/4cup water

1/4 tsp. salt

1tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2tsp. fresh lemon/lime zest

5 large eggs

1/2 milk

1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk

- To caramalize mold: Place mold onto low burner and place sugar in a mound in center of the mold.  Allow the sugar to heat and turn slowly to caramel.  Once 

proper golden consistency, spin mold to coat bottom.  CAUTION: caramel is EXTREMELY hot.  Do not touch and while you may use a spoon to help coat the bottom, 

by NO means try to lick the spoon.  If the caramel gets on anything, soak in water immediately.

- Preheat oven to 325F and place the container for the bath-Marie with the amount of water you have tested beforehand that will reach 2/3 up your baking mold 

on the outside. 

- Cut cream cheese into 6 pieces and place into blender container.  Add the water, salt, vanilla and lemon zest.  Blend on low for 1/2 minute.

- Add eggs and blend again for 1/2 minute.

- Add the condensed mil and regular milk, blending again for 1/2 minute. 

- Pour contents into the prepared caramel baking mold.  Place into bath-Marie (if you are nervous about the water, you can leave the pouring of boiling water 

until after you’ve placed the pans in the oven) and bake for 45minutes.

- Raise temp to 350F and bake for about 10-15min more or until it passes the clean toothpick test.  

- Allow to rest two hours before placing in fridge to chill.  This is an important step!  This is the step that allows the caramel to release from the mold.

- Chill in fridge until ready to serve.  Turn over onto a plate when ready to serve.  Enjoy!

Flan de Queso con leche evaporada 

1cup sugar- for mold

4oz cream cheese

1cup sugar- for flan

1/4tsp. salt

5 eggs, lightly beaten

1 can (13oz) evaporated milk

1/2cup water

1tsp. fresh lemon/lime zest

1 tsp. vanilla extract

- To caramalize mold: Place mold onto low burner and place sugar in a mound in center of the mold.  Allow the sugar to heat and turn slowly to caramel.  Once 

proper golden consistency, spin mold to coat bottom.  CAUTION: caramel is EXTREMELY hot.  Do not touch and while you may use a spoon to help coat the bottom, 

by NO means try to lick the spoon.  If the caramel gets on anything, soak in water immediately.

- Preheat oven to 350F and place the container for the bath-Marie with the amount of water you have tested beforehand that will reach 2/3 up your baking mold 

on the outside.

- Cream the sugar and cream cheese and salt in a mixer until soft and smooth.

- Lightly beat eggs and mix with the milks and water.  Mix well and strain over cheese and sugar mixture.

- Add vanilla and lemon zest.  Blend together and pour into mold.  

- Bake in bath-Marie at 350F for 1 1/2 hours or until toothpick test comes clean.  After first 45minutes of baking, place an aluminum foil tent over it to 

avoid forming an upper crust, bake for the rest of time covered.

- Allow to rest two hours before placing in fridge to chill.  This is an important step!  This is the step that allows the caramel to release from the mold.

- Chill in fridge until ready to serve.  Turn over onto a plate (it MUST be turned over to allow caramel to be poured over the custard) when ready to serve.  

Enjoy!

  

How TW saved my cupcakes May 11, 2008

Alright, so maybe she didn’t SAVE them. I sort of saved them myself… but that doesn’t make for a very good title.

As it so happens, for Mother’s day I decided to make red velvet cupcakes. Out of all the cakes I make, I think red velvet is probably the favorite. So I try and make a lot of them. This time I think I may have overdone it.

The thing with my recipe of red velvet is that it doesn’t use cocoa powder (many may argue then that it isn’t really red velvet, but I don’t care! My gradmama can’t have chocolate because of bad kidneys) and I use vegetable oil and a couple teaspoons of vinegar. The latter making quite a lot of bubble when it acts with the baking soda. So when baking, you want to get your batter into the oven as soon as possible or it won’t lift up as it should. And let me tell you that this batter really does rise. I swear, it doubles in volume when baking. And because of the oil, you DEFINITELY do not want it sitting in a cupcake liner… getting it all oily and not looking so great.

So how did TW save my cupcakes? Well.. she gave me cupcake pans which I remembered to bring with me to my hometown, which were sorely needed as this recipe made me churn out a whopping amount of batter for an equivalent of 54 cupcakes!! With these extra pans I was able to bake them all up and not worry about deflate or greasy papers. Thank heavens for that. I’d been making bread for what felt like most of the weekend and just didn’t have the energy to be all too creative when it came to my cakes.

(I have admitted to being a VERY messy baker)

Oh, and the round tin was to use the rest of the batter

since I could only make 48 with the tins

and I still had enough batter for 6 more cupcakes.

I did CB proud, no batter gets left behind!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

• 3 3/4 cups self rising flour
• 2 tsps. baking soda
• 2 tsps. vanilla
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 1/4 oil
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 2 tsps. vinegar
• 2 bottles red food dye

1. Mix milk with cream of tartar and set aside.
2. Beat sugar and oil until fluffy. Add eggs and continue to beat to maintain fluffiness to mixture.
3. Add vanilla and baking soda. Blend together.
4. Alternate milk and flour additions.
5. Mix in food dye.
6. Blend in vinegar.
7. Divide into cupcake pans, not filling them more than halfway.
8. Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 8oz. package cream cheese
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 lb. confectioner’s sugar
• 2 tsps. meringue powder
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Mix softened cream cheese and butter until fluffy and creamy.
2. Add vanilla extract.
3. Slowly beat in half of the sugar. Then add the merengue powder. Beat in the rest of the sugar.
4. Cover lightly and chill for at least 2 hours.
5. Frost cupcakes liberally.

Final Review: I accidentally spilled about half a bottle of vanilla extract into my cupcakes. I’d confused the new box of vanilla with the box that had the bottle of red dye. When I realized what was coming out of the bottle was the wrong color, I’d already tipped in about half of the damn bottle. Still, it seems that the cake came out delicious because my family was secretly wolfing down the cupcakes long before they were supposed to be served.

I also admit that I seem to really suck at frosting cupcakes. It’s so shameful to admit since I seem to post and be around so many amazing cupcake frosters! But, I tried!

My mom like them. She thought they looked like flowers.

I got tired and gave up piping frosting about a dozen in (hey! I was frosting cupcakes at 6am after NO sleep). So I switched using the straight icing spatula just to show CB that I could do that funny little swirl she was sobbing mentioning that she couldn’t do.

I’m rotten, arent I?

A weekend of french breads May 10, 2008

As most have you seen time and time again, I mastered the making of french bread with the DB February challenge.  Since then I have to honor my family’s request for it every weekend I go home.  This weekend was no different.  So I spent Friday evening churning out a double recipe for nice petit pains, half plain and half with poppy seeds.  I think I can now do them with my eyes closed and it’s actually almost relaxing.  Who knew I’d be saying that? 

Empowered by one french bread success, and knowing that those little rolls would go well with the Mother’s Day dinner my aunt was making, I needed to come up with something else for Mother’s Day breakfast.  So, at first I went through Dorie’s Baking: From My Home to Yours  looking for the lemon poppy seed muffins.  I was almost sure that those little darling were what I was going to make.  Yet something kept niggling at the back of my mind that it just didn’t feel right.  I already knew I was going to be making a spinah frittata and the muffins just didn’t seem right.  Perhaps if this year I’d decided that fruit salad and soft boiled eggs were to be on the menu, but that wasn’t to be the case. 

Instead I turned to page 48 and opted for this:

Golden Brioche Loaves

2 packets active dry yeast
1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch water
1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch whole milk
3 3/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature but still slightly firm

For The Glaze
1 large egg
1 tablespoon water

To Make The Brioche: Put the yeast, water and milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and, using a wooden spoon, stir until the yeast is dissolved. Add the flour and salt, and fit into the mixer with the dough hook, if you have one. Toss a kitchen towel over the mixer, covering the bowl as completely as you can– this will help keep you, the counter and your kitchen floor from being showered in flour. Turn the mixer on and off a few short pulses, just to dampen the flour (yes, you can peek to see how you’re doing), then remove the towel, increase the mixer speed to medium-low and mix for a minute or two, just until the flour is moistened. At this point, you’ll have a fairly dry, shaggy mess.
Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula, set the mixer to low and add the eggs, followed by the sugar. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes, until the dough forms a ball. Reduce the speed to low and add the butter in 2-tablespoon-size chunks, beating until each piece is almost incorporated before adding the next. You’ll have a dough that is very soft, almost like batter. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 10 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a clean bowl (or wash out the mixer bowl and use it), cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, 40 to 60 minutes, depending upon the warmth of your room.
Deflate the dough by lifting it up around the edges and letting it fall with a slap to the bowl. Cover the bowl with the plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. Slap the dough down in the bowl every 30 minutes until it stops rising, about 2 hours, then leave the uncovered dough in the refrigerator to chill overnight.
The next day, butter and flour two 8 1/2-x-4 1/2-inch pans.
Pull the dough from the fridge and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Cut each piece of the dough into 4 equal pieces and roll each piece into a log about 3 1/2 inches long. Arrange 4 logs crosswise in the bottom of each pan. Put the pans on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat, cover the pans lightly with wax paper and leave the loaves at room temperature until the dough almost fills the pans, 1 to 2 hours. (Again, rising time with depend on how warm the room is.)

Getting Ready To Bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

To Make the Glaze: Beat the egg with the water. Using a pastry brush, gently brush the tops of the loaves with the glaze.
Bake the loaves until they are well risen and deeply golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer the pans to racks to cool for 15 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the pans and turn the loaves out onto the racks. Invert again and cool for at least 1 hour.

Final Review: I actually had a lot of fun with this recipe.  I even went as far as actually buying unsalted butter to use instead of just substituting it for I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter (which is a heck of a lot cheaper and what I ALWAYS use when baking).  At first I thought I was doing it all wrong, my mixer never seemed to let the bough pull away from the pan.  Each rise seemed to be on time and I watched in wonder as the bough stopped being battery in the fridge, a progress made inward as it cooled.  Since I didn’t sleep overnight I just let the dough chill for about 6 hours.  Then I did the log rolling and the last bit of rising. 

  I was almost afraid they wouldn’t rise to fill the pan while I waited.  I sort of think, though Dorie never mentioned it, that one should work the dough a little bit before rolling it into logs to warm it up some.  I didn’t and my rising took nearly 4 hours and that’s something considering the early hours of a PR morning are no longer cool.  Still, they eventually did rise, much to my relief, and I got to baking them. 

I probably should have taken them out at 25min and not 30

In the end, they sliced up really nicely.  The crumb was just wonderful but I wasn’t too fond of the taste.  They are meant to be very buttery, but I almost fel like they were too satly.  I don’t know precisely what it was.  Still, I enjoyed the process of making them and I look forward to trying them again and maybe making them into pecan rolls or something. 

 

DB- Dorie’s Perfect Party cake March 30, 2008

 

I will have to be completely honest when I say that I was not impressed nor enthusiastic when I saw that Morven had picked the perfect party cake recipe from Dorie’s cookbook (I did, however, laugh maniacally since in my post last month I asked why they couldn’t have picked  light frothy cake for me to make on the first challenge.  Well, here it was).  I mean… after all the hard work and near psychological trauma that was learning how to make bread, this challenge didn’t seem challenging at all!  So, I just set it aside and plotted to make this cake for Easter.  Then I got the cookbook for my birthday and I sort of picked up a little steam.  But then I leafed through the book and my thought was this:

“Of all the beautiful, beautiful recipes in this book, they picked that one?!”

I could see where the puptart had said long ago when she did her first TWD recipe and she felt it was all froufrou for not much at all.  I probably should have taken my blah attitude and copped out of making the silly cake.  Instead, I endeavored to just get through it.

The recipe for the actual cake can be found in my CH-marshmallow entry.  You see, what I did was this: I only had a 10in x 3in cake pan, not the 9in x 2in pan that the recipe prescribed.  So, I figured to make the batter twice.  I’d bake one cake with about 2/3 of the batter and the use the rest for the cupcakes.  Because I only had one cake pan, I really had no choice but to do it this way. 

  

Um…. they came out kinda flat.

I suspected that it was because of the flour.  I realized it was self-rising cake flour and not just regular cake flour as the true recipe suggests it should be.  I really didn’t have the time to redo the recipe, so my cake pancakes would just have to work.  I was planning on going on with the recipe no matter what. 

I used nearly half a cup of preserves between each layer and one batch of buttercream worked but it would have been better had I had more to work with.  I was supposed to finish off the cake with coconut or fresh berries.  However, there was no shredded coconut to be found anywhere and the fresh fruit was just too expensive for me to get.  So, I improvised on the decorating.  I had to finish it in 15 minutes because I was leaving to head to my apartment.  I wanted to pipe something pretty, but I seriously didn’t have the time. 

I used cookie cutters and stenciled on shapes with colored sugar.  It so happened that we had a bunny cutter.  So it worked in a pinch. 

For the Buttercream
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

To Make the Buttercream
Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes.
The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.
Remove the bowl from the heat.
Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.
Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.
Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.
During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.
On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla.
You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

Final Review: I think that the only thing I liked was the buttercream recipe, and even then I’m using the term loosely.  I’d never made a swiss buttercream and the process was interesting.  My frosting didn’t come out quite white, but I think it’s because I might not have beat my egg whites as much as I had to in the beginning over the heat.  Aside from that, I’m not a big fan of frosting and I wasn’t a fan of this one.  I think the lemons I used were just too tart.  As for the cake itself, I didn’t get to have any of it.  I left it with my family as I raced out the door to cross the island.  I finally got to try one the cupcakes which I has left them all in the freezer until the time that I could make the marshmallow frosting for them.  I did not enjoy the citrus flavor of the cake and in fact I felt the cake was too sweet.  The cake itself was light though it did not rise.  It was interesting, I may wish to repeat this recipe the right way and hope my cake will eventually look even part as pretty as the image in the book. 

 

I look forward to next month.

 

 

The most amazing sandwich ever to be created! March 20, 2008

Since learning how to make bread, it seems that every weekend I got home it’s expected of me to make some bread.  I’d been watching too much tv this week to get anything done really.  Saturday I wasn’t feeling up to it.  Sunday I was doing laundry.  Monday I didn’t want my bread making to interfere with being online to post for the April Cupcake Hero peanut butter dulce de leche giveaway.  (I had to crash over at my grandmother’s house to use my aunt’s internet and I was able to be one of the first few to post a reply in participation)  Tuesday was my birthday. 

I finally decided to get to baking yesterday after my shopping expedition.  It also happened that my brother (who is stationed in Monterey, CA) sent a package which contained a container of poppy seeds.  I was so ecstatic!  We can’t get poppy seeds here and I LOVE them.  No better bagel than a poppy seed one.  So, with the seeds in hand, I had a perfect reason to get to making petit pains with the seeds on top.  The sesame seed ones were a huge hit already, so I did not doubt that poppy seeds would be well received in my family.  So I made one batch of petit pains plain, one with sesame seeds and the third with poppy seed.  I also made one large round loaf (yay!  I’m also getting SO much better in keeping it round in transferring it!).

Now, the reason I made the large loaf was because my mother and I remembered this pressed sandwich Martha Stewart once made.  The bread here isn’t made in the right shape, so it took me learning to make bread for us to find a loaf of crusty bread of the right proportions for our task.  Here is what I did…

First I sliced open the bread and pulled out some of the innards so I could make space for the filling.  Onto the bread I rubbed in Italian dressing and balsamic vinagreatte (I used the salad dressing spritzer bottle).  I let this absorb as I sliced up roasted red pepper very finely, as well as a small yellow onion, and proceeded to let each one marinate in italian dressing.  I set these aside and returned to my bread. 

Each level on the bottom half (working upwards):

• Dijon mustard
• Sliced ham
• Provolone
• onions
• Salami
• Swiss
• pickles
• saurkraut
• ham
• provolone
• mustard
• red pepper
• salami
• swiss

* all the cold cuts were finely sliced and only stocked a single layer at a time

Piled into the top half:

• red pepper
• onions
• saurkraut

The sides get placed together and the entire sandwich is firmly wrapped in a double layer of plastic wrap.  I placed the sandwich into a large pie plate, covered with a larger pie plate and then pressed it down with my cast iron skillet and a pot on top.  (the pie plates can be substituted for cookie/baking sheets) 

Let rest overnight on a nice cool spot on the counter. 

I toasted the sandwich on an open sandwich gridle.  It took about 20minutes on each side, but it was well worth it.  It serves 4 very hungry people. 

 

 

 

Final Review:  I wanted to weep over how good this sandwich is.  Seriously, I just chewed in reverent silence and tried to come up with what sort of nirvana inspired name I could come up with for this creation.  For once my mother, who had trusted me with the sandwich construction due to the fact that the loaf of bread wasn’t ready to use until after midnight, found no words.  Good.  Amazing.  Divine.  They all fall short over how good it is.  I recommend everyone go out and get themselves a loaf of crusty bread this instant and pile together a sandwich like this.  It doesn’t matter what cold cuts you use.  The important thing is to let the flavors blend and press together.  You won’t regret it.  I guarantee it!