In bloom

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux. Such thoughtful hosts they are... aim to please all; providing optional tuile recipes for savoury lovers and alternative bakers.

My reaction when I found out that we were doing tuiles I must admit, was tepid... a bit boring I thought. Only until I churned my little brain for ideas that I got rather excited. Concocted many lofty plans in my little head, all seem very sound and foolproof. Days, weeks passed until Monday I let out a little shriek realising that posting date was looming... lofty plans got canned (don't think they are executable anyway). Luckily we were only to attempt 1 of the recipes *pheew* but one condition was that we were to serve tuiles with a light accompaniment. Finally started the batter on Wednesday, left it in the fridge overnight and baked for hours (yes, hours!) on Thursday night. It was great fun though I couldn't help but yelp ever so often as I twisted and turned the hot tuiles.


Thankfully they turned out as nice as they are rather pretty, but I'm a bit bias. Of course.

Tuiles
Makes: 20 small or 6 large
Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes, baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch

65 grams softened butter (not melted but soft)
60 grams sifted icing / confectioner’s sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract)
2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)
65 grams sifted all purpose flour
1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice, optional
Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not overmix.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).



Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template, press the stencil on the baking sheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. Mix a small part of the batter with the cocoa and a few drops of warm water until evenly colored. Use this colored batter in a paper piping bag and proceed to pipe decorations if you wish.

Bake tuiles in a preheated oven (180C/350F) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from baking sheet and proceed to shape/bend them in the desired shape. These tuiles have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again. Or: place a baking sheet toward the front of the warm oven, leaving the door half open. The warmth will keep the cookies malleable.



Note :
1. So pressed for time... I didn't manage to make the lime mousse I had previsioned (in my head I imagined roses with mini quenelles of barely green lime mousse), so crème pâtissière would have to do.
2. It took me hours to bake these because I could only shape 4 'petals' at the most before they start to harden. Had I made them all into roses, I would have ended a grouchy sleep deprived girl (with blistered fingers), so I turned the rest into giant tuiles aux amandes. Miam!

Feelin' hot hot hot

Decidedly, me and Fig are not liking the crazy heatwave of the past few days! In fact in my household only Nino II enjoys balmy weather. Nino II by the way is my pet cockroach. More about him later.

Hence, except for the one crazy evening when I stubbornly decided to bake the pecan and olive buttermilk bread, I haven't turned on the oven for days. Today I made these Vietnamese spring rolls for lunch, absolutely yummisimo!! No heating necessary.



Goi Cuon (Fresh Spring Rolls)
serves 4

3 ounces rice vermicelli
8 large rounds dried rice paper (banh trang)
1 cup shredded iceberg lettuce
1/4 cup fresh bean sprouts
1/4 cup peanuts, coarsely chopped
Leaves from a bunch of mint (vietnamese of course)
Leaves from a bunch of coriander
16 small prawns, cooked and peeled
16 flat garlic chives
serve with nuoc cham

Pour boiling water over noodles in a bowl and leave for 6-7 minutes. Drain, then transfer to a saucepan of boiling water and cook for 1 more minute. Rinse in cold water and drain again.

Dunk each rice paper round in warm water for a few seconds until soft. Spread out to drain on serving plates.

On each paper, put some shredded lettuce, noodles, bean sprouts, peanuts, mint and coriander, and fold the rice paper toward the centre to form a firm roll. Tuck in 2 prawns, fold in ends of rice paper, and put 2 garlic chives in the crease so they protrude by about 1 inch. Roll into a neat sausage shape. The rice paper will stick to itself and hold the shape. Serve with nuoc cham for dipping.

Nuoc Cham (Vietnamese Dipping Sauce)
2 red chillies, sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
3 tbsp fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc mam)
juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp white rice vinegar
1 tbsp water
1 tsp sugar

Pound or blend chillies with garlic. Add fish sauce, lime juice, vinegar, water, and sugar.


Leftover that put a smile to my face. Recipes taken from Noodle by Terry Durack, a book I had coveted for awhile, a Christmas present I bought for myself.

Note:
1. So yes I did switch on the stove to boil some water.
2. The nuoc cham was lip smackingly good! and not as sweet as ones I normally get in Vietnamese eateries here in Sydney.
3. I used rather large prawns not small ones. Figgy ate like a royal on big juicy prawns this afternoon, having endured hardship living in my sweltering little joint these past few days. (and a girl *blush* ate like a piglet).

Now back to Nino II. Ok... so of course he not a cockroach! Nino II is the successor to Nino I my sourdough starter that I had to discard before I left for Christmas holidays. (Before, I used to forget and ignored his feeding time, but then I came across Pim's blog about Bob. I thought that was a nice idea so I gave mine a name too. Nino after Nino Quincampoix. Ever since he had a name I fed him more regularly and didn't leave him to starve too often.)

ps: because now it seems that I'm very behind on my NY resolution, I'm rather desperate and have changed the T&Cs that even cooking now would count. So this is my first of 50. Yay!!

Bonjour!

I thought it's about time I got serious and bake something on my resolutions list. I don't need a time line to see that I am a bit behind schedule.



I have had better than these, of course. But I can't help feeling proud for even attempting Mr Hermé's recipe. Mmmm... my third attempt actually (which should have made me even more proud to have had the courage to reattempt the recipe, what with mediocre results the last 2 times).

I braced myself with the thought that if other bloggers could do it, I can too. Astrid is partial towards Pierre Hermé's recipe... and she has attempted 4 times with various degree of success, read her trials and tribulations at La cerise. The following are some links to other blogs I will read in my spare time for inspiration and tips on croissant making La mia cucina Culinary concoctions by Peabody Jumbo empanadas Boastful baker Gorgeous and delicious Cafe Fernando Brown eyed baker La tartine gourmande Lovescool And then I do the dishes Sticky goey creamy chewy Joe Pastry Louis La Vache Sarah cooks Sarah Meyer Walsh Veronica's test kitchen Delicious days All things edible Cream puffs in Venice Tartelette



FYI I am no croissants connoisseur... but I'm a bit of a snob, I'd prefer not to eat them if they are not made with 100% butter. I like to eat it plain, or maybe with a bit of jam and a cup of tea. Pains au chocolat are reserved only for occasions when I feel like I could do with a little love.

Pâte à croissants
Preparation 20 minutes
Rest time 5.5 hours minimum
Makes 500 gr

15 gr butter
5 gr yeast
80 - 85 ml water
210 gr flour T45 (see note)
4 gr (1 small tsp) salt
30 gr sugar
5 gr (1 tsp) full cream milk powder
125 gr butter (at temperature ambiant)
1 egg yolk (for egg wash)

In a little saucepan, melt the 15 gr butter. In another bowl, mix yeast and water. In a bigger bowl, sieve in flour then add salt, sugar and milk powder. Eventually add the melted butter and yeast. Knead until dough is 'homogene', if it's too firm add a little bit more water.

Cover with cling wrap and leave to proof until it doubles in size for 1-1.5 hours in a warm place. Punch dough lightly with your knuckle to release carbon gas produced by fermentation. Recover with cling wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for 1 hour until it doubles in size again. Punch it the second time and this time rest the dough in the freezer for half an hour.



Soften the 125 gr of butter with spatula. Use a rolling pin to roll out dough into a 3:1 rectangle with straight angles. Use your fingers to 'spread' half of the butter on 2/3 of the rectangle lengthwise, and do a 'tour simple', then another tour simple WITHOUT butter.

Put in the freezer for 30 minutes then 1 hour in the fridge and repeat the same with the rest of the butter. One tour simple with butter than one more without butter. Half an hour in the freezer and 1 hour in the fridge.

Shaping the croissants now. Roll out the dough until it is about 6 mm thin, and cut out into triangles of 14cm x 16 cm. Roll each triangle inwards from the base towards the 'summit'. Place on a baking pan lined with baking paper, and brush with egg wash (egg yolk thinned with a bit of water). Leave to rest until they double in size (1 hour it says in the book but mine took much much longer than that!)

Preheat oven to 220°C. Brush them again with eggwash the second time and bake for 5 minutes at 220°C, then another 10 minutes at 190°C.



Note :
1. Flour type 45 apparently is approximately equal to pastry flour rather than bread flour.
2. Butter should be malleable but not too soft that it melts in your hand.
3. I try to make the recipe seems to sound as simple as possible, but actually it is not something for the faint hearted. Attempt at your own risk of deceptions and sleep deprivation. It is however, fantastic fun! The most exciting recipe I have attempted for many months, so be kind to yourself and give it a go!!




ps. Lovely homemade apricot jam is Christmas present from Puce. Also, notice that Figgy wasn't very impressed with my croissants as some were a tad too brown!
pps. Hummmm... in case you're wondering, yes cat hairs have been found floating around stuff I give out to people. *blush*

The one that ticks all the boxes

I'm happy to say that in recent years I've found the one I'm settling down with for the rest of my life. Monsieur Hermé's recipe for crème caramel, mais oui! Not too eggy, nor too firm, and very vanilla-y. Tick tick BIG tick.

My first bake of the year... thought I'd start gently with something nice and simple. Part of my répertoire. Definitely doesn't count towards achieving my resolution.

Crème caramel
pour 4 personnes

1 litre full cream milk
4 eggs
3 egg yolks
3 vanilla beans
350 gr sugar
60 gr water



The night before, scrape the inside of vanilla bean into a pot, add milk and bring to boil. Leave to infuse overnight in the fridge. The next day, take out the beans and reboil milk.

In another bowl, whisk eggs with 200 gr of the sugar for about 30 seconds and pour in the hot milk whilst whisking non stop. Sieve into a clean bowl and leave to rest for 15 minutes. Remove the bubbles that may appear on top and set aside.

Cook the rest of the sugar with the water until you obtain caramel of a beautiful shade of dark amber and at once stop cooking, remove from heat and immerse the pot in a bowl filled with ice water. Pour into ramekins whilst caramel are still liquid, and move it all around the ramekin to line the sides. Pour in the milk.

Cook in a 150°C oven for 2 hours over a wired rack on a bain marie. Afterwards leave to cool then store in the fridge covered overnight.

To remove from the mould, use a knife gently along the sides of ramekin and tap the bottom gently. Serve very cold.

Note : I'm a recipe rebel, sorry Pierre... but I made several minor adjustments.
1. I halve the recipe and normally use 6 x 125ml ramekins. Everything in moderation... it's a new year after all.
2. 2 hours??? Pierre you must be joking! That's way too long. 45 minutes top for me, otherwise they'd be too firm.
3. I really like the consistency of the caramel syrup from the caramel cake I made for November's daring bakers. I used that recipe (halved) for my last batch and the result was very pleasing.
4. Otherwise, for 1/2 litre of milk I use 75 gr of sugar.


Gone in 360 seconds. (Cos I ain't no pig)

Dishwasher required

No monetary remuneration. Apply within.

Inspired by the likes of the Julie/Julia Project, and Sarah Discovers How to Eat... I am to commit myself to a personal baking challenge this year, on top of the monthly Daring Bakers challenges. By the way, regretfully I couldn't carry out December's because.... (don't laugh!) I don't have a freezer :(.
(I would have loved to make une Bûche de Noël. What a bummer! *sigh* See amazing results here, here and here or click on db's logo for a complete list of daring bakers.)

So! Here are my baking resolutions for 2009 :
1. 50 recipes in 365 days, sweet or savoury... old tested recipes don't count, crap results certainly don't count.
2. 3 versions of pàte à croissant... Pierre Hermé, Michel Roux, and Lenôtre.
3. Pluck up my courage and reattempt macarons making.
4. Bake better sourdough breads like this.

That's it! Nothing too crazy... Me and little kitchenette will give it a red hot go.

Stay tuned.

xo

ps. Figgy, you're fired!

Woof woof !

Oh dear! It's Sunday night and I forgot to blog! I could've just blog any other time except that I wouldn't want to break my new years resolution so soon.... (that is to post something every Sunday night).

I haven't had time to bake as work has been demanding these days and the thought of having to wash the mixing bowls and pans leaves me cold.

Therefore let me introduce you formally to Brandy and Brownie, my parents dogs. The third one is of course little Molly.

Brandy used to sleep in my room when I went home to my parents, though these past few years she had became very attached to mum and follows her around when she's home and would wait near the front door for her when she goes out. If mum goes on a trip, she sometimes wouldn't eat for a couple of days! Her other activities: lounging around keeping dad company when he reads newspapers, and mouse hunting.



Beautiful... isn't she ? A relatively newbie to our home is Brownie, in fact last Christmas was the first time that I met her... and yet she must have heard stuff about me because she snuggled up to me straight away! She's such a darling, rather shy and sits with her front legs crossed... adorable.



Little Molly Monster is crazy about me! She couldn't help but get quite ecstatic when she sees me and with her sharp baby claws jump around my legs. A little baby she still is, every so often she would collapse without warning and power nap.



Note : Figgy, should you read this, let it be a reminder that I may replace you one day for a poodle if you give me too much attitude!