Fast forward

Tuesday 13th, which was over a month ago (already!) I went for tea at Ladurée on Rue Royale even though I'd never been crazy about macaron (I however am secretly still obsessing about making thousands of them to sell, and get rich). I chose cassis violette, caramel au beurre salé and pistache... I asked the lady waitress to choose the last one for me, she got me a framboise. They were indeed nice but, what I was blown away with was the vanilla tea. It was beautiful and delicate! That day too I think I had a little pain aux noix from Moisan which was rather good.



The part where I think I'd fast forward is my excursion to Amsterdam. No offense but I thought I should be back into blogging about my baking asap. Anyway, here are some photos I took...





I was back in Paris on Saturday night, and rather sadly I dragged my suitcase to Gare du Nord and took the RER to Roissy and left France on the following Thursday. Here's a little recap of those last few days.

Sunday 18th October - to celebrate my return to Paris, I had a lovely lunch at Ladurée. After some nourishment, I wandered to the Jardin des Tuileries and to the Musée de l'Orangerie.

Les Nymphéas is absolutely b r e a t h t a k i n g.


I love this photo with the boy in orange shirt... after I took this photo I sort of followed him around, hoping to have another shot of him observing other paintings, but after awhile I thought it might alarm his parents.

Monday 19th October - I went to Delmontel on Rue Martyr (9th) and had the best croissant and pain aux chocolat (so far) and a yummy ficelle aux fromage. It's a pretty shop but I nearly missed it. I wanted to go Clotilde's favourite lunch place Rose Bakery just across from Delmontel but it was closed. I also tried to find L'Etoile d'Or but it was also closed.



So I walked towards Les Halles and decided to look for Stohrer on rue Montorgueil, and had the best croissant I had ever eaten. That day I ended up strolling around the 6th / 7th again. I found Pierre Hermé, there was a queue and I couldn't possibly eat another pastry so I only went in and had a look, then walked off to look for Poîlane. I bought a pain aux noix and a chaussons aux pommes. The pain aux noix I could eat whole in one sitting, bloody good! I stopped at half and a bit. The chaussons I had the following morning was also good! would've been better had I had it the day before but still!



As I didn't have much time left, I went nuts and ate so much pastry but I hoped I walked every calories off. Everyday I must have walked equivalent of a demi marathon, surely that's enough exercise.

Tuesday - 20 October. I wanted to go to Delmontel again but Argh! closed on Tuesdays so I crossed the road and bought a quiche from Rose Bakery. I followed the same route as the day before and this time L'Etoile d'Or was open and in I went. Mme Acabo was as charming as everybody says, and yes she had the pigtail hair and tartan skirt. She was having a little tub of chocolate mousse... weight watchers she said, pour ne pas faire grossir... try and she handed me a spoonful. I sort of promised her to send in the articles and photos of her I had seen in my magazines but I hadn't had the time... she has in a cabinet all the various publications featuring her shop that people sent her from all over the world. I bought a couple of chocolates to have with tea and a bag of Henry Le Roux caramel. I didn't buy much but I walked off feeling like I was a precious clientele, Mme Acabo she's lovely. I had both chocolates with tea at cafétier épicier Chez Jean on rue Lafayette, where I bought their eco bag of a bespectacled dog with a newspaper. Feeling refreshed I continued on to look for G.Detou on rue Tiquetonne that intersects with the delightful rue Montorgueil where La Maison Stohrer is, so I went in and bought a pain au chocolat. Mmmm Mmmm...

At G.Detou I bought a tin of pistachio paste (very exciting because I had wanted this for this pistachio ice cream recipe I have) and some poudre de caramel d'Isigny because this caramel au beurre salé thing had become my flavour of the month (my all time favourite is vanilla, bien sûr). I also found another Kayser nearby. (Honestly I hadn't been impressed much by Kayser but was willing to give it another chance) I bought their bread of the month, a loaf of pain aux pistaches-abricots. It was ok, again I wasn't very impressed. That's why even though I saw his book I wasn't particularly interested.



Wednesday 21 October - was my last day :( I had the left over Kayser, then took the metro to Trocadero. I thought people would say I'm crazy if I didn't seek out the Eiffel Tower.



It was drizzling, I took one shot and it was perfect so I left and walked towards the bridges because I wanted to go to the 6th and 7th again. I stumbled across a market on avenue President Wilson, and saw a particularly beautiful and unusual products on a stall where it read Joël Thiébault, I was sure I had heard of him before.. (after I returned I researched a bit and of course from Chocolate and Zucchini).



I found Stéphane Secco on rue Jean Nicot and bought a chaussons aux pommes (which I wolved down in record speed, it was very good, the apple compote had a bit of cinnamon in it, and I was rather hungry) after I finished it I really was going to walk back and get something else from the shop, but then I found another charming looking bakery on rue de Saint Dominique. I crossed the road to have a better look at the sign, and it was the Moulin de la Vierge, so I went in and got a little pain aux tomates/mozzarella and their calico eco bag. The bread was Yummo! I could smell and taste the tomatoes and from time to time got bits of mozzarella. I need to research on tomato/cheese bread recipe because I really liked it.

I was on my way to Le Bon Marché when suddenly as I looked to left and right before I crossed I spotted a Dalloyau. So I went in to get a little croissant. Of course it was good what do you expect? I got another little croissant again later on at la grande epicerie... which was less good. On the same street rue de Sevres, I found Malo and got a chaussons aux pommes, for later.



Then I went to Fnac, and browsed for ages, bought a book 'Cuisine Facile' which turned out to be based on materials from ACP publishing of Australia. Grrrrr I knew I should've bought that Conticini dessert book instead. My last destination that day was supposed to be Pierre Hermé but guess what... I lost track of time in Fnac and arrived at 19.15 and they've closed. At 19.00. Ah well, next time I thought rather somberly... I walked towards St Germain and saw that rue Buci was very lively and strolled along. Carton was still open and I said to myself, last one. I walked out with a little parcel of chaussons au citron.



I had both chaussons the following morning... the one from Malo, good! should've eaten it on the day, would've been better. And do you see what I mean when I mentioned that the croissant from Carton didn't look flash ? Why their chaussons didn't look fancy either, but man! it was so good! even on the following day.

The first few days after I came back, I hadn't the time to bake and I had weetbix for breakfast, Y U C K. But then I started baking again and things have gotten a bit better. Then one day I was feeling melancholic and missed France, I went to Bourke St Bakery and got a croissant for breakfast... was a consolation but, was not great. Said to self, I must must try to make my own. The End.

Come to think of it

I think I got the days mixed up hummm... On Sunday, I did go to Cojean at Bon Marché but I had the poached egg salad, then I was heading towards Musée Rodin and came across la Pâtisserie des Rêves on Rue du Bac (7th). I recognised the name because I was reading about it in the latest Elle à Table, in I went and left with a brioche feuilletée sort of thing, called la folie. Nice! By the way this Phillipe Conticini just published a new baking book called Sensations (if I remember correctly), it is 45 euro, and weighs approximately 2kgs, filled with recipes that I might never practice... still I'm filled with regret not having bought it. That evening I think I bought a baguette from Phillipe Gosselin, somewhere on Rue Rivoli? I think? apparently winner of best baguette in Paris in what 2002 or something. Good! Very Good!

Monday 12 October - I lined up at Opera Garnier, wanting to buy a ticket for Giselle, but after nearing waiting for ages and finally got so close... did I realise that it was a queue for the tour of the Opera. There was a much shorter faster moving pace queue for the performances. (I saw the ballet in the evening, was beautiful. I paid 10 euro for a sit so high up with partly obstructed view. I had to lean to the left crouching then extend my neck, but it was worth it.)

One hour wasted, and I hadn't had any breakfast. So afterwards, I went to Lafayette Gourmand. I didn't actually have much because the hunger was already gone by then. I got a mini croissant from Kayser, but didn't think it was great. Then I walked all the way to St Germain again... and went to Mulot and had the quiche and the tart (see previous entry) au Bon Marché, went next door to la Grande Epicerie de Paris then walked back to the hotel to change and then to the said ballet.



... to be continued.

I'm back

Pink window of Stéphane Secco on Rue Jean Nicot (6th)

hummm... left Paris exactly 2 weeks ago :( and I miss it. I loved wandering around in such a lovely city, with bakeries everywhere... really, so good! I hadn't been to Paris for 5.5 years and I had never spent so many days there that this time I was sad to leave at the end! I hope I could go again soon. Dear Singapore Airlines, please do another great sale asap! I love flying with you and even enjoyed the long flight, and didn't mind the 5 hour transit.

Maybe you had seen this list before somewhere on the big world wide web but here is Le Figaro's list of the best croissant in Paris. (Kind of my itinerary - I ate several pastries a day, everyday, convinced that all the walking would counteract all the calories.)

1 - Pierre Hermé
2 - Triomphe
3 - L. Duchêne
4 - Mulot
5 - Lenôtre
6 - Boul. de Monge
6 - Vandermeersch
8 - Julien
8 - Delmontel
8 - Grande Épicerie
8 - A. Poilâne
8 - M. de la Vierge
8 - Secco
8 - Nicolle
15 - Kayser
16 - Angelina
17 - L'Autre Boulange
17 - Blé Sucré
17 - Fauchon
17 - Martin
21 - Cléret
21 - La Fournée d'Augustine
21 - Maître Pain
24 - La Croissanterie
24 - Carton
24 - Paul
24 - Ladurée
24 - Gana
24 - Dalloyau
30 - Moisan
31 - Stohrer
31 - Malo

So that I could re-read and reminisce, some notes on what I ate and liked... in chronological order.

Day 1 - Saturday 9/10. I arrived in the morning and stayed in the Bastille, that afternoon I found this little place that Clotilde mentioned Le Bar à Soupes. So I had lunch there, it was quite nice... I had a bowl of carrot soup and a slice of homemade citrus tart.... near Place des Vosges I came across a Lenotre but I didn't go in because I was still full. After hours of walking around though, I came across Carton on Rue Buci (6th) so I had my first croissant. Honestly it didn't look too flash, but surprise surprise! it was very good.
Day 2 - Sunday 10/10. I went to the organic market on Boulevard Raspail, then as I wondered around Boulevard St Germain I found a pink delivery car that says Gerard Mulot, 76 Rue de Seine. Ha! Just around the corner so there I went. The window is so lovely, really exquisite I think. I bought a slice of quiche, and a sugar plum tart.


The quiche was yummo... I decided to hold on to the tart until I find somewhere to have tea. So lucky because I was there around the time sale started, not that I cared much about the sale, but then Le Bon Marché was open exceptionally on that Sunday. I was excited first and foremost because I was dying to go to toilet actually. Relieved I then went on browsing around the book section, next to the cook book section I found a Cojean.
So I ate my tart there with a cup of tea. It was really nice but not as lovely as I thought it'd be... the plum on top though were beautiful. Really.

... to be continued

Thriller

As I write this, I am looking nervously at my oven. Inside it, is a trayful of what is to be some vanilla macarons. In a few minutes I will find out whether they have feet or not. I'm not an expert in this, in fact I can refer you to a specialist: Duncan from Syrup&Tang.

ARGHHH !! it's only been 8 minutes as I glanced into the oven, the macarons have feet allright! but, they have taken in too much colour!! Boohoo! Kuidaore is right... One has to watch the oven like a hawk :(

The thrill doesn't last very long. No Way I'm going to take a photo, in fact I'm going to get rid of the offending biscuits soon with a cup of tea.

Right, so perhaps I should just show you my new dining table and this chicken dish I like to make from time to time. A Jamie Oliver's recipe, very quick, easy and delish and the several times I made it, I used whatever herbs I had in the fridge.



Chicken with tomatoes, capsicums and couscous
Serves 4 (delicious magazine, aug06, p.37)
4 chicken breast fillets, cut into 2 cm chunks
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 long red chilli, seeds removed, cut into thin strips
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups (300gr) couscous
2 good handfuls mixed coloured teardrop or cherry tomatoes, halved
270gr jar roasted red capsicums, drained, cut into fat strips
Few basil leaves, finely shredded.

Combine chicken with most of the lemon zest and chilli, the lemon juice, cumin, garlic and 2 tbs oil. Season and set aside to marinate. Combine couscous and 350ml boiling water in a bowl. Cover and set aside for a few minutes

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large frying pan over high heat. When hot, cook chicken and marinade, stirring, for 3 minutes or until golden brown and cooked. Add tomato, capsicum and basil, and cook for 1 minute until tomato softens.

Stir remaining oil into couscous with a fork, fluffing up grains then season. Sprinkle chicken with reserved zest and chilli and add a spoonful of thick Greek yoghurt if you like. Serve with couscous.

Note:
1. Whence I had none, I substituted basil for some rosemary, flat leaf parsley, curly parsley, coriander and/or mint... all of them worked quite well.
2. Of course I've had it with couscous, but also with pasta, and cold with rocket in a a crusty bread. So good!
3. Here is a pic of the afore mentioned dining table. I know that I'm gloating a little bit (and that it's not a very nice characteristic!) but I do love this table, the tempered glass colour is my kind of colour, it seats 6 but extends to seat 10... just in case.

Dud

Every now and then, no matter how much care I put into making something, the result turned out to be a dud. Now I know that I can easily blame the recipe but this time, seeing that it comes from the mighty Mr Hermé, one of ses coups de coeur no less, I think I must have done something wrong. Recipe attempted : passionfruit crème brulée.

Crème brulée aux fruits de la passion
(Larousse des desserts p.443)
7 egg yolks
125 gr caster sugar
8 passionfruits
380ml crème fraîche liquide

Preheat oven to 90°C.
Whisk egg yolks with the sugar, incorporate the passionfruit pulp and add the cream.
Divide into individual ramekins, and bake for 1 hour. (the recipe didn't specify for a bain marie so I just baked them like that)

I've made this once and liked it though I made a mental note that it was too runny, and thus must either add another yolk or use less cream. But I was hesitant to muck around with the recipe and decided to give this recipe another go as is, fatal mistake. After an hour, the top wobbled all right... I crossed my fingers hoping that they would set overnight in the fridge. Long story short, they didn't and A said it was like soup. No offense taken.

Crafty little me, made some other milky passionfruity concoction last night and mixed it with the remainder of the duddy PCB and churned the bloody thing in the ice cream maker. Dud transformed into a quite a delight.



Note:
1. I added 3 more passionfruits, about cup and a half of milk, juice of 1 and a half of lemon plus sugar to taste.

Delivery

Finally! YAY!

But GOSH! The armchair was already a tight fit but the sofa was a struggle to get in through the entry door, lift, another door and finally my door. There was only one guy delivering and so, I had to act as the second delivery man. I still have sore biceps from all the manoeuvering and lifting.

Anyway... took this picture yesterday. Figgy already claimed the sofa as his. Please come by visit me and Figaro, now that you wouldn't have to stand around... waiting for me to offer you water. Sorry T and C! Next time, there might be a treat.

So exciting that now I have a fridge with a freezer! I made some ice cream last week. It lasted a week. Well the magazine did say the texture might deteriorate and it's best to be consumed within one week of being made.

Vanilla bean ice-cream
makes 1 litre
(Delicious magazine, Nov'03 p.134)

Step 1
6 egg yolks
125 gr caster sugar
400 ml milk
1 vanilla bean, split
300 ml thick cream (48% fat content)

Step 2
Place the egg yolks and sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat with electric hand beater until thick and pale. Place the milk in a saucepan, scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add to the milk with the pod, then heat over medium heat until scalding point. Remove from heat and set aside to infuse for 10 minutes. Discard pod and reheat milk to scalding point, then strain over the egg mixture and beat until just combined. Return the mixture to a clean saucepan and place over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon - don't allow it to boil (this can take up to 20 minutes).

Step 3
Pour the custard into a bowl and sit over a bowl of ice, stirring until cool. Cover the surface of the custard with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming and place in the fridge to chill completely. Whisk the cream into the cold custard until well combined, then pour into a shallow plastic container, cover and freeze until frozen at the edges (this can take up to 1 1/2 - 2 hours).

Step 4
Remove the ice-cream from the freezer, beat with an electric hand beater until smooth, then return to the freezer. Repeat this step 2 or 3 more times (beating the ice-cream prevents the formation of ice crystals). Alternatively, churn the mixture in an ice-cream machine to manufacturer's instructions.

Note :
1. I added a packet of oreo biscuits (sans the white cream filling) towards the end of the churning.
2. I must say that I felt mighty fat the following week.
3. Have sneaked a peek at this month's daring bakers challenge, and it's a good one, I'm in!

¡Hola!

A big hello to my 3 followers! How are you all doin'? As for me, it's been great but busy several weeks. I've finally moved! I can't believe, that I've been in my new place for 3 weeks. Without furniture! Except my bed, my pink table and a pair of chairs. It's minimalist to the extreme, but I'm completely in love with it... even empty. Best impulsive purchase I ever made. Apart from Figaro.



Figgy too is very happy with the place although he was a little scared at first, the first night when I got home, I couldn't find him... turned out he was hiding under my bed and only got out when he saw me... his tail tucked in, the poor thing. He followed me everywhere, his meows were timid meows and even after a week, when the P's came to visit... he hid upstairs. Well now, he acts as if he owns the place.

I must say, compared to my old little kitchenette in Lilyfield, my kitchen now is fantastico. But I somehow miss the mini oven... one of the last few things I bake in it were these little gougères.


(Quite yummy little things they are)

I have more than one recipes, and honestly I can't recall which one I tried, it's that many weeks ago! I think it might have been the one from a book I received as a present last Christmas, Pastry by Michel Roux.

Gougères
1 quantity freshly made choux paste, still warm
120 gr Emmenthal or Comté, grated
tiny pinch of cayenne pepper
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
eggwash (1 egg yoik mixed with 1 tbsp milk)

Choux paste
makes 40-50 little choux buns
125 ml milk
125 ml water
100 gr butter, diced
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp caster sugar
150 gr plain flour
4 eggs

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper. Combine the milk, water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan and set over a low heat. Bring to the boil and immediately take the pan off the heat. Shower in the flour and mix with a wooden spoon until completely smooth.

Return the pan to a medium heat and stir continuously for about 1 minute to dry out the paste, then tip it into a bowl.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating with the wooden spoon. Once the eggs are all incorporated, the paste should be smooth and shiny with a thick ribbon consistency.

Add the 3/4 of the grated cheese, the cayenne and the nutmeg to the warm choux paste and mix to combine, without over working.

Place the gougère mixture in a piping bag fitted with a 1cm plain nozzle and pipe small mounds in staggered rows onto the prepared baking sheet. Brush with eggwash and lightly mark the tops with the back of a fork, then sprinkle over the rest of the cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes until dry and crisp on the outside and base, but still soft inside.

Note:
1. I missed the Daring Bakers challenge again... I think it's the third consecutive month so I think I might be getting shown the exit door. Ouch.

OMG! Puddle Woman!

Julie is in the grand final of Masterchef Australia! She's my personal favourite because of her cooking love philosophy, but towards the end I was running for Justine. She's amazingly talented I thought, I teared up when she got booted out of the top 4. But Julie, man! who would have thought that she'd made it to the grand final. I am so loving this show, sad that it's ending on Sunday! By the way it's my colleague M who labeled her Puddle Woman after her passionfruit (puddle) pie disaster.

I've been so lazy this days. Haven't been exactly the most productive, I'd have to pull a valiant effort (either George or Matt who used that word valiant effort after everybody managed to pull that last toothache inducing cake of a pressure cooker test, good word I like it) to conquer (I think that's another word used by Matt) my 2009 resolution

ps. I skipped DB challenge last month, and I'm not inspired to do this month's. I need to make sure I attempt next month's lest I get kicked out *frown*.

Edible Alphabet Series

I have a thing for lists. Be it the list of winners of the Man Booker prize, or 1000 places to see before you die, someone's grocery list, to worst dressed celebrities. Naturally I love food related lists the most, and these days I visit the Observer Food Monthly and the lifestyle section of the Times regularly for their food related lists... from 5 ways with rice to 10 of London best secret supper clubs. One I particularly like is the 50 best recipes EVER compiled by OFM, by which Jill Dupleix had been tickled to make a similar list for SMH.

Another one I like I came across recently in the Guardian (republished in Mighty Foods) by Nigel Slater: Eating through the alphabet. A simple concept but I like it, so I am obviously going to steal it and declare a resolution to bake through the alphabet. That'd be (26 recipes to make up the 50 I need to successfully complete my goal this year, HA!

By the way I'm stooping low, because it's mid July and I don't think I'm close to trying 25 new recipes. So whatever you might think, for my galette des rois, I'm giving my self 3 points, 1 for the pâte feuilletée, 1 for the crème frangipane and 1 for the galette des rois itself plus the 1 point for this recipe of rhubarb compote, and another for the tarte fine aux pommes. That makes 5. Cool cool.



Rhubarb Compote
(taken from Soho cooking by Alistair Little, p.239)
500 gr rhubarb
1 vanilla pod, split
200 gr caster sugar

Top and tail the rhubarb and cut into 2-3 cm lengths. Place in a large ovenproof dish; add the vanilla and scatter with the sugar. Leave to macerate for a minimum of 3 hours, but preferably overnight.

Preheat your oven to 180°C, and loosely cover the rhubarb with greaseproof paper. Bake for 10 minutes then turn the oven down to 150°C, and continue cooking for a further 30 minutes. Different types of rhubarb will require different cooking times: the 30 minutes at 150°C suggested here is probably a bare minimum. Check the fruit after this time has elapsed and continue if necessary. In addition, some types of rhubarb stay intact as they cook whilst others collapse; so don't worry too much if you end up with a 'fool-like' result, rather than beautifully intact pieces.

Now to the next recipe,



Tarte fine aux pommes.
(taken from Exceptional Cakes by Dan Lepard & Richard Whittington, p.120)
Makes 4 individual tarts
400 gr butter puff pastry
4 tbsp pastry cream
4 Granny Smith apples
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp apricot jam
flour for dusting
Glaze:
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp milk
To finish:
icing sugar for dusting



Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a baking tray with a non-stick baking parchment or a silicone mat. Divide the pastry into four and roll out each portion on a lightly floured surface into a thin round, about 15cm diameter. Place on the baking tray. Scrape the pastry cream over the pastry with a palette knife to coat thinly.

Cut the apples into quarters and remove the cores, but leave the skins on. Slice the quarters into paper-thin slices and fan these out on the pastry discs, with each new slice slightly overlapping the last. Leave a 1cm rim of pastry uncovered. For the glaze, lightly beat the egg yolk with the milk, then brush over the pastry rim.
Sprinkle the apples with the sugar.



Bake for 15 minutes, then lower the oven setting to 150°C, and bake for a further 5 minutes. The apples will have taken on a golden glaze while the pastry will have puffed up around the rim.

Warm the jam in a small pan until melted. Press it through a sieve to remove any large pieces of fruit, then brush over the warm tarts.
Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Note:
1. I still owe you the recipe for la crème patissiere... (thought I might type it up for you when I blog some petits choux or something)
2. Until I can come up with a better one, R is for Rhubarb Compote.

Since last week

I'm another year older *sigh*
though I did receive cool presents *grin*
one of which is a bread baking bible courtesy of A *wheeee*
It's true that I do love baking bread more than most things (started when I was young(er) you see...)

Anyways, I didn't make the list. What list you ask? Ummmm, the London Times 50 of the world's best food blog, I didn't make it... but do check out the list, it's quite cool. Cream Puffs in Venice of the daring kitchen made it, that's cool... otherwise a few favourites of mine such as Chocolate and Zucchini made it of course! and the Chubby Hubby...

Weather is beautiful, I'm going to the market just behind my place and walk to Balmain and catch a ferry to the city... ta ta!

ps. be back soon.

*pink cheeks*

Oh la la! Lovely compliments I get from the little galette des rois I made yesterday.



I made pâte feuilletée again and the second time around it felt easier. I hadn’t had the guts to try it for my whole life! If only everything else in life turned out to be as simple. Now now, that sounds a bit cocky … so ok, it wasn’t the easiest thing but puff pastry is simply time consuming to make and do not let that deter you.

Long post alert! Though I thought a detailed raconte of the steps is essential for this recipe.

Galette des rois à la frangipane
(from Larousse des desserts p.129)
pour 4-6 personnes
600 gr pâte feuilletée
300 gr crème frangipane
1 egg

Prepare the pâte feuilletée
Prepare the crème frangipane
Divide the pâte in two and roll out until it is about 2.5mm thick.
Beat the egg and brush the outer edge of one of the disks. Spread the crème frangipane, and pose the other disk on top making sure they seal properly all around.
With a little knife, trace parallel rayures (mmmhhh, now what does this translate in English) in one direction, and then the other. (Oh please, don't worry if you are confused because me too I was terribly confused. Please google images then you'll get the idea)
Leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes whilst the oven preheats to 250°C.
Glide the galettes in the oven, reduce the temperature to 200°C and bake for 40 minutes.

Now, for the components...

Butter puff pastry
(from Baker & Spice Exceptional Cakes by D Lepard & R Whittington)
Butter paste
340 gr unsalted butter, softened
150 gr French T550 flour or plain flour

Assembly
560 gr French T550 flour or 280 gr plain flour and 280 gr strong bread flour + extra for sprinkling
4 egg yolks
180 ml bottled spring water
2 tsp Maldon salt, ground fine

First prepare the butter paste : put the butter and flour in the bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with the paddle. Mix on the slowest speed until combined. Transfer the butter paste to a sheet of cling film and shape into a rectangle about 6mm thick. Wrap in the cling film and keep in cool place (but not in the refrigerator) while you make the dough.

Put the flour, egg yolks, water and salt in a bowl and mix to a dough. If necessary, add another teaspoonful or two of water, but be careful – the dough will soften on resting. What you want is a smooth but fairly tight dough. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes or until the dough is very smooth and elastic. Shape into a ball, wrap in cling film and leave to rest for 1 hour or, ideally, overnight.

Lightly flour the work surface and roll out the dought into a rough square about 8mm thick. Place the rectangle of butter paste in the centre and fold the corners of the dough over the top to cover the paste completely. Wrap in cling film and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out, rolling away from you, into a long rectangle about 65-70 x 35-40 cm and 1 cm thick.

Fold one end in by a sixth and then the other end in by a sixth. Fold both ends over again by a sixth so that they meet in the centre. Now fold the two together, as if you are closing a book.

Next turn the dough so the fold is to one side. Roll it out gently away from you again into a long rectangle about the same length as before. Fold one end of the dough in by one-third, then the other end in by a third, over the top of the first third. This is a single turn.

Spread a sheet of cling film over a tray, place the dough on top and cover tightly with cling film. Leave in the refrigerator or cool place for 1 hour.

Set the dough on a floured work surface so the fold is to one side. Roll out into a rectangle again and give it a single turn, followed immediately by another single turn. Wrap in cling film and leave in the refrigerator overnight before using.



Crème frangipane
(from Larousse des desserts p.54)
100 gr butter in room temperature
100 gr icing sugar
100 gr almond meal
1 tsp corn flour
2 eggs
1 drop of bitter almond essence
125 gr crème pâtissière
Cut the butter into little pieces and place in a bowl. Soften with a spatula then switch to an electric mixer at low speed, add successively the icing sugar, almond meal, corn flour, the almond essence (which I substituted with a tiny dash of orange blossom water) and eggs. Lastly, incorporate the crème pâtissière and mix well.
Cover with cling wrap if not used immediately.

Note:
1. I'm tired of typing, will type up the recipe for crème pâtissière in le prochain blog.
2. Bon courage et bon appétit!

Happy Birthday Her Majesty

It's public holiday today here in Sydney, the weather was rather nice... my ma and pa have returned home, leaving me and Fig in a weirdly quiet studio. Fig by the way, had been a good boy all the time my parents were here but as soon as they've left he's back to his old self, meowing persistently as early as 5:14 am this morning.

I just finished watching Masterchef and OH! How I want to make some choux à la crème right now! It was an excellent episode by the way... Poh, Chris, Tom and my favourite Julie battled it out having performed the worst in Sunday's invention test. Today in the pressure cooker test, they had to make a croquembouche in 2.25hrs and it was a gripping episode let me tell you. I spare you the details but despite her rather disastrous croquembouche not coming out of the cone all in one piece, Julie's still in it!!

So, anyways ... the daring bakers challenge of last month. Here's another photo of my strudel again.



I was very late and only made the strudel sometime last week, the result could've been better I thought... doesn't it look rather rustic? I didn't read the recipe properly and rather than pulling the pastry, I rolled it out and chickened out thinking that it might rip and so it wasn't thin enough to envelope the filling more than twice. I nearly fell off my chair when I saw other people's pastry rolled out thinner than paper and bigger than a table. Never mind the stodgy look, I had a piece shortly after it came out of the oven with mum, it was rather lovely.

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

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.


(heart printed on my strudel yes!)

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 polyster;
- 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 could'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 standmixer 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;

I must dash off

I'm late... very late! but I finally attempted last month's daring bakers challenge this morning and here's a little photo of my strudel.



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.

I'll be back with some details shortly ladies and gents.

No time for banter

Oh my gosh!! I haven't done my daring bakers challenge as yet! I completely mixed the date up with the daring cook challenge! Aargh!! I'll try to do it tonight but OHHH I'm so annoyed at myself now! Should've spent my time more productively than tumblring which is my newest internet discovery.

So due to the long recipe, allow me to cut my gib even shorter this time by omitting the recipe for the pâte feuilletée. That by the way is one of my proudest baking moment this year. It unfolded rather perfectly and each layer was nice and flaky. I made some chaussons aux pommes and some cheese sticks, and here is a photo and the recipe for the cap...



Chaussons aux pommes
(from larousse des desserts)

500 gr puff pastry

5 apples (reinettes)
1 lemon
150 gr sugar
20 gr crème fraîche
30 gr butter
1 egg

Juice the lemon, peel the apples and cut into little cubes and mix straight away into the lemon juice so that it doesn't brown. Strain and mix well with sugar and the crème fraiche. Cut the butter into little pieces.

Preheat the oven to 250°C.

Prepare the puff pastry, roll out to 3mm thickness and cut into 10-12 circles of 12cm diameter. Whisk the egg lightly. Place enough apples and a bit of butter on one side of the disks and brush the sides with egg. Fold to close and brush top with egg. Leave to dry a little and score with knife tip careful as to not pierce the pastry.

Bake for 10 minutes at 250°C then lower to 200°C for 25-25 minutes. Serve warm.



Pas mal, hein?

Masterchef

I am not averse to reality TV, and lately my favourite is the Australian version of Masterchef. Last week, to avoid elimination... 3 of the finalist who performed the worst in the rabbit challenge, had the last opportunity to redeem themselves by preparing a tarte tatin. So obviously last week I was itching to bake one myself, but I haven't been feeling 100% fit so let's just say that I've been lazy.

In the end, the girl with a slight penchant for molecular gastronomy got eliminated, sparing Aaron another molecular gastronomy fan the cut. The last of the 3, is perhaps one of my favourite in the show... not that I think she will win it, but Julie is an IT consultant, working mum of 3 who cooks out of love. She said that cooking is for her a way to show and share her love with other people, and how she would like the opportunity to share it with even more people outside her friends and family, that's endearing I think... and definitely resonates with my fondness for food preparation. Because beside the thrill that I get when I test out a new recipe, more often than anything I am a domestic kitchen slave out of love. And nowadays more and more I prefer to eat food that I know had been prepared with some care too. I'm sure the people at Smiths chips are very caring people...

note :
1. I finally rolled up my sleeves yesterday and made some chaussons aux pommes out of the pâte feuilletée I made the other day. To my delight, they were rather wonderful. Blog to follow.
2. My mum is here for a visit! my dad to come a bit later! plus I'm moving hopefully before my birthday. Excuse my untimely blogs between now till end of june.

Lady of leisure

I didn't bake anything new all week, nor cook anything to blog about. May so far has been dud. Plus I'm sort of planning to do a mini detox what with my birthday coming up, am trying to preserve the last ounce of youthful appearance left in me *sigh*. Refined sugar apparently is a no no, so perhaps in the weeks to come either I'll go awol or I'll strive to bake delicious wholesome stuff like those I found in this bakery I went to on Saturday.



I had an apple and berry turnover which was nice, and they offered to heat it up for me, with a cup of coffee. Very decent. I wish this bakery is in my neighbourhood.



Organic Republic Bakery
98 Glenayr Avenue
Bondi, 2026
ph. (02) 9300 0985

Note :
1. I have a work in progress sitting in the fridge so haven't been exactly twiddling my thumbs. I am attempting to make puff pastry, wish me luck.
2. Figaro now has a secret private diary.

Woot!

Everytime I see this word I wonder what it means. I'm not hip (read: young) enough to have used it in my correspondence / conversation the past. Not that I am going looking forward to be actively woot wooting people but out of curiousity I consulted the urban dictionary for some enlightenment.

1. Woot originated as a hacker term for root (or administrative) access to a computer. However, with the term as coincides with the gamer term, "w00t". "w00t" was originally an trunicated expression common among players of Dungeons and Dragons tabletop role-playing game for "Wow, loot!" Thus the term passed into the net-culture where it thrived in video game communities and lost its original meaning and is used simply as a term of excitement.
Example : "I defeated the dark sorcerer! Woot!"

2. a) An interjection similar to "YAY!" or "Woohoo!" used to express joy or excitement, usually about some kind of accomplishment. Primarily used by gamers, spreading rapidly to anyone who chats online. Gaming origins: We Owned the Other Team or Wonderful Loot (Everquest gaming slang)
Example : woot! I got an A on this test.
b) To express agreement.
Robyn: Eric is such a tool. Let's put packing peanuts in his desk.
Stefanie: woot!
c) As an acronym, can mean Waste of Our Time or Way Out of Topic (online forums) Less common.


A gave me 3 tablettes of chocolate. Woot!


Note :
1. The weather is fair this weekend so I haven't the urge to stay in to bake. I was planning to make some raviolis but I have a feeling that it will be postponed.
2. I took a peek at May's Daring Bakers challenge. It's very exciting!! I'm pumped! Woot!
3. (I didn't overkill the usage, did I?)

Metric measurements and kitchen arithmetic

1 ounce is equal to 28.35 grams.
The recipe requires 24 ounces of cream cheese.
Golly!
*shriek*



So I halved the base and tiered the cream cheese layer. Geeky chick like me actually do enjoy division and multiplication you see... anyway I am not big on cheesecakes and I had only baked one, once before in my life. Honestly, I'm not even sure characteristics of a good cheesecake, so whilst other daring bakers ran amok improvising the recipe with wild and wonderful flavours, I stuck to what I could see the simplest option; lime. No drama. One third of the recipes makes 5 baby cheesecakes in individual ramekins.



The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge. Thank you Jenny and Abbey for sharing the recipe.

Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake
crust:
2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

cheesecake:
3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)
1 tbsp liqueur, optional, but choose what will work well with your cheesecake



DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.
2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too - baker's choice. Set crust aside.
3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.
4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.
5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.



Some variations from JennyBakes:
**Key lime - add zest from one lime to sugar before mixing with cream cheese. Substitute lemon juice, alcohol, and vanilla with key lime juice.
**Cheesecakelets - put in muffin tins, ramekins, or custard cups. Try baking 20-35 minutes, or until still a little jiggly, and cool as before.

Pan note: The creator of this recipe used to use a springform pan, but no matter how well she wrapped the thing in tin foil, water would always seep in and make the crust soggy. Now she uses one of those 1-use foil "casserole" shaped pans from the grocery store. They're 8 or 9 inches wide and really deep, and best of all, water-tight. When it comes time to serve, just cut the foil away.
Prep notes: While the actual making of this cheesecake is a minimal time commitment, it does need to bake for almost an hour, cool in the oven for an hour, and chill overnight before it is served. Please plan accordingly!

ps: passionfruit pulp also makes a nice match... though too bad I didn't take any photos. xoxm

Excerpts from a cat's diary

"Day 183 of My Captivity
My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while I am forced to eat dry cereal. The only thing that keeps me going is the hope of escape, and the mild satisfaction I get from ruining the occasional piece of furniture. Tomorrow I may eat another houseplant.
Today my attempt to kill my captors by weaving around their feet while they were walking almost succeeded, must try this at the top of the stairs. In an attempt to disgust and repulse these vile oppressors, I once again induced myself to vomit on their favorite chair, must try this on their bed.
Decapitated a mouse and brought them the headless body, in attempt to make them aware of what I am capable of, and to try to strike fear into their hearts. They only cooed and condescended about what a good little cat I was. Hmmm, not working according to plan."

I thought I might share this with fellow cat captors. As soon as I finish The Book Thief, I'm going to read the whole diary.

In my household I think Fig is the ruler and I'm the slave. It is rather pathetic how I succumb to his charm and good looks not to mention his meowing protests at his breakfast/lunch/dinner, whilst in fact the only creature who can be outraged with my forgetting to feed him would be Nino II. But then motherly instinct (read: guilt) kicks in and I shower him with a lot of attention. He's a good kid.



Lately I've been liking my cheese bread a lot, they are rather nice. I use my basic bread recipe that you can find in my introduction to Nino II.



Add liberal amount of cheese (normally a mix of grated sharp mature cheddar and parmesan), snippets of rosemary when I have some and a dash of mustard powder because honestly I desperately want to use it before it expires.



et voilà, another lazy blog by me a power blogger. Thanks for dropping by.