Homecoming Dessert in the Land of St. Honore'

Return with me now to the Land of St. Honore’. It’s August and Amy is writing in her journal:

“Dear Diary,

I’m so excited I could spit! My brother came home from the war today. My sisters each made something for him. Mary made pot roast for dinner because he loved it as a boy. Annie made chocolate chip cookies because he loved them in his care packages. I didn’t know what to make, so I made a fancy dessert. I’d never made éclairs before, but they are actually pretty easy. The dough for the pastry is made in a pot at first and you do have to stir and stir, but then the mixer is used for adding the eggs. I piped out long sections of the choux paste…isn’t that a funny name?...on parchment paper lined pans, then put them in the freezer. When they were almost frozen I cut them into eclaire sized lengths. The hardest part was washing the pastry bag…that dough has a lot of buttah in it...heehee!

The pastry cream was sort of like making pudding. The hardest part was making the icing for the top. The recipe I used, from Pierre Herme’s, book, called for two things to be made for the sauce. It also made the kitchen a bit messy. Mary gave me a hard time about that, but I did clean everything up!

John really seemed to enjoy the éclairs. After dinner he asked me…ME…to take a walk with him! I guess it’s because I don’t talk too much. But he sure did a lot of talking after about the first block.

He said that the pot roast was good, but it reminded him of being a boy and he will never be a boy again. He said that the cookies were great, but they reminded him of his buddies still over there fighting, ‘cuz they always shared care packages. He misses them. He said that he is really, really glad to be home and that my éclairs were delicious, but also such a treat because they were a grown-up kind of dessert and something that you need to come home to enjoy…too delicate for shipping.

That made me feel really good. I told him I was so glad he was home and gave him a big hug! We walked back home and played Scrabble together for hours.” Amy

This wonderful dessert is brought to you as part of the monthly Daring Bakers challenge. Huge thanks go to Meeta of Whats for Lunch, Honey? and Tony of Olive Juice who chose this yummy recipe of Pierre Herme' s. There are literally hindreds of Daring Bakers who have posted their experience with the recipe and the results. Find them via the Daring Bakers blogroll.

My experience with this challenge wasn't the same as Amy's. I've been down with a summer cold, so there were a limited number made and the filling wasn't the recipe pastry cream. Still, a very yummy and elegant dessert. You can find the recipe below.

Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Éclairs
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé


(makes 20-24 Éclairs)
• Cream Puff Dough (see below for recipe), fresh and still warm
1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the oven into thirds by positioning the racks in the upper and lower half of the oven. Line two baking sheets with waxed or parchment paper.
2. Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 2/3 (2cm) plain tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough.

Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long, 4 to 41/2 inches (about 11 cm) chubby fingers.

Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff.

The dough should give you enough to pipe 20-24 éclairs.
3. Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes, slip the handle of a wooden spoon into the door to keep in ajar. When the éclairs have been in the oven for a total of 12 minutes, rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Continue baking for a further 8 minutes or until the éclairs are puffed, golden and firm. The total baking time should be approximately 20 minutes.
Notes:
1. The éclairs can be kept in a cool, dry place for several hours before filling.
Assembling the éclairs:
• Chocolate glaze (see below for recipe)
• Chocolate pastry cream (see below for recipe)
1. Slice the éclairs horizontally, using a serrated knife and a gently sawing motion. Set aside the bottoms and place the tops on a rack over a piece of parchment paper.
2. The glaze should be barely warm to the touch (between 95 – 104 degrees F or 35 – 40 degrees C, as measured on an instant read thermometer). Spread the glaze over the tops of the éclairs using a metal icing spatula. Allow the tops to set and in the meantime fill the bottoms with the pastry cream.
3. Pipe or spoon the pastry cream into the bottoms of the éclairs. Make sure you fill the bottoms with enough cream to mound above the pastry. Place the glazed tops onto the pastry cream and wriggle gently to settle them.
Notes:
1. If you have chilled your chocolate glaze, reheat by placing it in a bowl over simmering water, stirring it gently with a wooden spoon. Do not stir too vigorously as you do not want to create bubbles.
2. The éclairs should be served as soon as they have been filled.

Cream Puff Dough
(makes 20-24 Éclairs)
• ½ cup (125g) whole milk
• ½ cup (125g) water
• 1 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature

1. In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to the boil.
2. Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together very quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. You need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough will be very soft and smooth.
3. Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using your handmixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough.

You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again do not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again by the time you have added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.
4. The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs as directed above.
Notes:
1. Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately.
2. You can pipe the dough and the freeze it. Simply pipe the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets and slide the sheets into the freezer. Once the dough is completely frozen, transfer the piped shapes into freezer bags. They can be kept in the freezer for up to a month.

Chocolate Pastry Cream
• 2 cups (500g) whole milk
• 4 large egg yolks
• 6 tbsp (75g) sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted
• 7 oz (200g) bittersweet chocolate, preferably Valrhona Guanaja, melted
• 2½ tbsp (1¼ oz: 40g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1. In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy‐bottomed saucepan.
2. Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture.Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.
3. Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat).Stir in the melted chocolate and then remove the pan from the heat.
4. Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice‐water bath to stop the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it remains smooth.
5. Once the cream has reached a temperature of 140 F remove from the ice‐water bath and stir in the butter in three or four installments. Return the cream to the ice‐water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completely cooled. The cream is now ready to use or store in the fridge.

Notes:
1. The pastry cream can be made 2‐3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.
2. In order to avoid a skin forming on the pastry cream, cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the cream.
3. Tempering the eggs raises the temperature of the eggs slowly so that they do not scramble.

Chocolate Glaze
(makes 1 cup or 300g)
• 1/3 cup (80g) heavy cream
• 3½ oz (100g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 tsp (20 g) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature
• 7 tbsp (110 g) Chocolate Sauce (recipe below), warm or at room temperature
1. In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and slowly begin to add the chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.
2. Stirring gently, stir in the butter, piece by piece followed by the chocolate sauce.

Notes:
1. If the chocolate glaze is too cool (i.e. not liquid enough) you may heat it briefly in the microwave or over a double boiler. A double boiler is basically a bowl sitting over (not touching) simmering water.
2. It is best to glaze the eclairs after the glaze is made, but if you are pressed for time, you can make the glaze a couple days ahead of time, store it in the fridge and bring it up to the proper temperature (95 to 104 F) when ready to glaze.

Chocolate Sauce
(makes 1½ cups or 525 g)
• 4½ oz (130 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup (250 g) water
• ½ cup (125 g) crème fraîche, or heavy cream
• 1/3 cup (70 g) sugar

1. Place all the ingredients into a heavy‐bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure to stir constantly. Then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens.
2. It may take 10‐15 minutes for the sauce to thicken, but you will know when it is done when it coats the back of your spoon.
Notes:
1. You can make this sauce ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for two weeks. Reheat the sauce in a microwave oven or a double boiler before using.
2. This sauce is also great for cakes, ice-cream and tarts.

One of the huge plus points about being in such a group is that there are so many experienced bakers out there, who are kind enough to give us a tip or two. The Daring Bakers Forum was full of extremely useful tips and tricks for this challenge. So I thought I would share them with you too. I thank everyone for sharing all your ideas, tips and tricks for this challenge.

Éclairs 101: Tips & Tricks: (Scroll up for recipe)
• Instead of piping individual éclairs, pipe one long line of dough on your baking tray line with parchment. Then freeze until almost firm, cut the éclairs, using a sharp knife, in the desired size. Place them in the oven and bake.
• It is important to let the choux pastry dough cool down a bit before you add the eggs. If eggs are added to a warm dough it causes the eggs to coagulate and the dough will not rise as required. If you are making the dough by hand, place a piece of plastic wrap and cover the surface so that the plastic wrap is touching the surface of the dough. Poke a few holes in it to allow the steam to escape.
If using an kitchen machine, place the paddle attachment and turn on to medium speed. Allow the dough to turn for a minute or so, cooling it down faster. Add the first egg, turn up the speed to high. This will bring down the temperature so that you can add the remaining eggs.
• Your éclairs deflate after you take them out of the oven
You are not baking them long enough. The instructions for the recipe indicates a total baking time for the éclairs to be 20 minutes, however, the first time I made these they deflated after I took them out of the oven. The second time I made the éclairs I baked them for 15 minutes longer and they were fine.
• Freezing éclairs - the éclair shells can be frozen unfilled and unglazed. Take them out and place them in a preheated oven at about 150 degrees C for a minute or two.
• How well do they hold up? Although the éclairs taste and look best when they are served fresh, you can place them in an airtight container and keep them in the refrigerator overnight. My tip here would be not to glaze them. Glaze them on the day you plan to serve them. This is due to the fact the glaze will loose its shine and the condensation trapped in the glaze will cause it to look speckled.
• If you do not have a pastry bag or the right sized tips - simply use a freezer bag and cut a corner the appropriate size and pipe the dough!
• Once the éclairs have baked, turn the oven of and allow the éclairs to cool in the cooling oven. This will help the éclairs hold up their shapes and give a crispier texture.
• Once you take the shells out of the oven, make small slits in the sides to release steam. Steam once cooled turns to water, which is the main reason why éclairs might turn soggy.

Juicy

August might be a hot month in this area, but it is also the month when the harvest really starts to come in...corn, tomatoes, summer squash, pears, late blackberries, early apples, peppers, late strawberries and more. So many possible things to create with in the kitchen! Along with grilled zucchini, steamed corn on the cob, fruit salads, roasted peppers with onions and mushrooms (a great condiment with grilled sausages) and strawberries with yogurt and honey,

we have been having all manner of salads, but two stand out in recent days. Both are juicy!

The first is a fine plate of ripe, juicy, local tomatoes, lightly dressed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil and sprinkled with shreds of fresh basil. For those not allergic, it is the essence of summer.

The second was perfect for a warm summer evening. It's also great when you are busy (as I have been) because you put it together and marinate everything but the lettuce for a couple of days. What you get is a big bowl of cool shrimp, mixed with tangy red onions, juicy oranges, all of it flavored robustly with a zesty marinade that includes lemon, red wine vinegar, mustard seed, celery seed and the kick of some dried red pepper flakes. After I drained off the marinade, this wonderful mixture went into a bowl which I'd lined with the better part of a head of butter lettuce. This one should be served with plenty of napkins...messy but the best shrimp you'll ever taste. My thanks goes to my friend Pam, an excellent cook, who gave me the recipe.
Shrimp, Onion and Orange Salad can even go to a picnic if you make sure to keep the shrimp mixture good and cold.

Hands Down Best Shrimp Onion & Orange Salad
Based on a recipe from the New York Times Heritage Cookbook

1 large sweet red onion, halved, sliced thinly, and separated into half rings
1 ½ pounds shrimp – cooked, shelled and deveined (with tails left on)
4 oranges, peeled and sliced into wedges
1 ½ cup oil
2/3 cup lemon juice
1 cup wine vinegar
1/3 cup catsup
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon celery seeds
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Bed of lettuce leaves (optional)

Combine onion rings, shrimp and orange wedges in a large glass or ceramic bowl (or large resealable bag).

Mix together oil, lemon juice, vinegar, catsup, sugar, celery seeds, mustard seeds, red pepper flakes, garlic and parsley. Pour over shrimp mixture and marinate 24-48 hours (48 hours is better!) in the refrigerator.

At serving time, drain off the marinade and serve the shrimp, onions and orange wedges. Looks nice served on a bed of lettuce, but for close friends just pile on a platter. (Include a small dish to hold the discarded tails.) Provide plenty of napkins. Serves 4 - 6

Something New-ish

I was having lunch today with some women friends and one of them asked me how I manage to to so many things...blogging, working, watercolor, photography, P.E.O., constructions projects, cooking, baking, reading, gardening and my latest...golfing...which is the new-ish in the post title. I told her "Careful Scheduling". The truth is that I enjoy the hell out of so many things that I don't really have enough time to put into many of my pursuits...like watercolor...so I don't get really, really good at most of them. Still, life is too short, so I continue to pack in a lot of fun.

The golf came about because Sweetie wanted an activity we could do together that was fun and that required a little more exercise than plain walking (which I also do when I walk the dog 3-4 times a week). Due to my eye condition, I can't play sports where the ball is moving, so tennis, a favorite sport of Sweetie's, is out. Same for softball, baseball, basketball, handball, squash, badminton, and so on. Ever since Grandma L hurt herself so badly while cycling, he has been down on bicycle riding. He's not fond of water sports either. Guess we could still take up fencing or rock climbing :)

I find golf intriguing. Each swing is important. How you hold your body, how you move your wrist, the strength of the wind, the wetness of the grass...lots of things have a bearing on where and how the ball flies and where it lands and how many strokes lands it in the cup. In truth one is soon in competition with oneself, no matter who else you are playing with. I know that some people get frustrated, but (so far) I find it hilarious and true play in the best sense of the word. I played golf a long, long time ago, so that's why this isn't really new, just new-ish.

Another thing that is new-ish is happening at work. When we did the clinic on the same property, I helped to cook lunch three out of the six days. Now we are doing the clinic in the 'big city'. Last month I returned to work on Friday and made dinner from what was around in the kitchen so that the PT, doctor and PT assistant would have food fairly quickly. Friday is a late day. It was such a success that I'm making dinner for Thursday and Friday this month. Yesterday I agreed to make dinner for the doctor and a few of his friends each Tuesday. I'll get to take some of the food home for dinner with Sweetie and I'll blog about some of it, too. Sweet. On occasion work will be too busy to allow time to make dinner, but most weeks I'll get to play in that wonderful kitchen! And I'll get paid to do it. That's hard to beat.

Today's lunch was a pot luck. I offered to bring dessert. Looked through multiple cookbooks. Looked at bookmarked recipes. Just couldn't find the right thing to bring. And then I visited Laura Rebecca's Kitchen, always a fun place to visit, and saw the perfect dessert for a luncheon meant to be finger food...butter cookies dipped in dark chocolate. They are delicate and decadent and just right. I changed them a bit by making the cookies lemon flavored. The dark chocolate really brought out the lemon flavor. The dough is a bit sticky, so chilling the logs thoroughly is a must before slicing the cookies.

Meeta of What's for Lunch Honey is having one of her lovely mingles. For this one we are bringing dishes that included fruit and chocolate. If her guests enjoy these cookies as much as my lunch mates did, they will disappear fast.

Chocolate Dipped Lemon Butter Cookies adapted from a recipe from Laura Rebecca’s Kitchen which was
Adapted from a recipe originally published in Gourmet, Feb. 1999

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
zest of a lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon lemon extract

Sift flour, salt, and baking powder together in a medium bowl.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add egg, lemon zest, lemon extract and vanilla and beat until well combined. Gradually add flour mixture, beating just until mixture forms a dough.

Divide dough between 2 large sheets of parchment or wax paper and form each half into a 10- x 1 1/2-inch log, wrapping it in the paper, and sealing the wrapped logs in a zip top plastic bag. Chill until firm, at least 4 hours and up to 5 days. (Or, dough may be frozen up to 2 months.)

Let dough soften slightly before cutting (or, if frozen, thaw). Preheat oven to 375-degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Slice dough into 1/4-inch-thick slices and place about 1 inch apart on baking sheet.

Bake cookies in batches in middle of oven until golden around edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely before dipping in chocolate.

In a microwavable bowl, or in a double boiler top over simmering water, place 2-3 oz. finely chopped dark chocolate. If microwaving, do so a minute at a time at half (or less) power, stirring after each time, and only until chocolate has just melted. If there are tiny lumps left, let sit a minute, then stir…they should be gone. If using the double boiler, stir just until chocolate melts, then remove from heat.
Dip half of each cookie in the chocolate, then place on parchment paper until the chocolate hardens. You can use a spatula or knife to spread the chocolate a bit if you like. This amount of chocolate will do about half the batch. Use twice as much if you want all of the cookies dipped.

Store cookies in an airtight container at cool room temperature for up to 5 days.

Yields about 50 cookies.

Pear Season

Not only are the apples ripe early, but the pears are too. They are usually ready to be harvested (hard and green) in early September. If you let them turn golden on the tree you cut in to them and find that the inner part is browning and pasty in texture. Found that out the hard way our first year here. They do much better if you pick them green and let them ripen in a brown paper bag. Did that a week ago, so we now have a lot of ripe pears...the Bartlett variety.

Recently I found the site of the Pie Lady, Brittany. It's a great blog if you like to bake and she has some great recipes. Go check it out!! You'll be glad you did. Then come back and see what I did with her recipe.

One that caught my eye was for Buttermilk scones with fruit. This morning I decided that I'd make some Buttermilk Scones with Pears for dinner. I used her recipe to jump from, but made a lot of changes.

I like oatmeal a lot. Have it most mornings, cooked in the microwave. For the scones I decided to grind up some oatmeal to replace part of the flour. It adds a nutty taste and some good nutrients. Healthy eating and scones are not really partners, but there's nothing wrong with having some of the ingredients be nutritious. I replaced some of the white flour with whole wheat flour, too. The finished scones are darker that way, and sort of homey.

Sweetie loves molasses, so I decided to replace the sugar with molasses, except for a sprinkle on the tops for decoration. Having eaten the finished product, I think adding about 1/2 cup of sugar, plus the molasses, would have been better, so that's how I wrote up the recipe.

Pears go really well with almonds, so I included some almond extract. Buttermilk provides tang, butter and eggs do their thing well. Salt, baking powder and baking soda provide flavor and leavening. Pears and golden almonds provide the fruit.

The result is a light scone with great flavor, juicy bits of pear, chewy little raisins. If I were to do it again, I'd throw in some orange zest and/or finely chopped candied ginger for a little more pizazz. I might also put in a little more butter. These were more muffin like than scone like in texture. More fat might improve them and you can't beat the taste of real butter. i could have added it when I ate the scones, but I didn't. I did try some orange marmalade with them. It was a good combo.

Buttermilk Oat and Wheat Scones with Pears and Golden Raisins
Based loosely on Buttermilk Scones recipe by the Pie Lady, Brittany

1 egg (or ¼ cup egg substitute)
¼ cup molasses
½ teaspoon real vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
1 ½ cups buttermilk

½ cup rolled oats (not instant)
2 ½ cups bread flour
2 cups whole wheat bread flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 teaspoons baking powder
6 oz. unsalted butter, cold and cut into ½ inch cubes
1 cup fresh diced pears, peeled and cored first
1/3 cup golden raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a measuring pitcher, whisk together the egg, molasses, vanilla, almond extract, and buttermilk. Put in the fridge while making the dry mix.

In the bowl of a food processor, whirl the rolled oats until a fairly fine flour is formed. Add the two flours, the sugar, the salt, the baking soda and the baking powder. Pulse to blend. Add the cold butter and pulse briefly until the mixture is crumbly. (Elle’s note: the butter almost disappears…that’s OK).

Put the dry mixture into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center, pour in the liquid mixture and with your hands or a spoon, stir until about half way incorporated. Add the diced pears and the raisins and continue to mix, just until the dry mix is incorporated. Don’t over mix.

Turn the batter out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently pat into a long rectangle. Cut the rectangle into 8 squares. Then, cut each square diagonally so you have 16 scones. Place on a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet and sprinkle with some sugar if desired. I used crystal sugar. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 – 20 minutes, or until the scones are brown and firm to the touch. Remove to a rack to cool.
Serve warm or cold, split and spread with butter or lemon curd. Some orange marmalade goes well, too.

Jazz It Up: These scones would also be good with a few tablespoons finely diced crystallized ginger, and/or a tablespoons of orange zest.

Summer Morning with Fog

Summer hearabouts often means waking up to a gray day. It bothers some folks, but I love the fog. A foggy morning means the day won't get too hot, usually. It also means that I can bake something lovely for breakfast and the house will stay cool. Since ours is a solar home, with not central heat or airconditioning, we take that into consideration. A few days ago when the day broke with the sun heating things up right away, not only did I not bake, but we also shut the windows and kept what cool there was trapped in the downstairs. We have a concrete floor and that cools down overnight if we leave the windows open and the night cools down. We've been "green" that way for years, but it does take some getting used to and a little extra thought.

This morning seemed like the perfect time to make some fresh blueberry muffins. The blueberries were on sale at the store, I had bought buttermilk and my brother and a friend were visiting. It was likely that they would appreciate some home cooking since hotel food (and conference hotel food at that) had been their fare for days.

These muffins are so good and very simple. They go together quickly. Melt the butter first, so that it can cool a bit as you measure the dry ingredients and zest the lemon and prepare the blueberries. Blueberries do need to be picked over to remove any mushy ones and any little stems still attached, but even that is faster and easier than peeling and dicing peaches, which was my other choice.

Once baked, these muffins have a soft, tangy interior with juicy hot blueberries, a nice crust on the sides and top and just enough sweetness. Butter was on the table, but these didn't need any. Not a muffin was left by the time breakfast (which also included a fruit compote with lots of fresh melon, berries, and bannanas) was over. Having freshly made blueberry muffins is a great way to start the morning off. Now, where is that second cup of coffee?


Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins

1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ cup sugar
Zest of ½ a lemon
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 egg, at room temperature
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup blueberries, washed, drained, and picked over

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a 12 cup muffin tin. Set aside

On a piece of waxed paper, or in a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder.

Rub together the sugar and the lemon zest and add the mixture to the flour mixture and stir with a fork to combine.

In a mixing bowl, stir together the buttermilk, egg, and butter. Add to the bowl of dry ingredients and mix with a few swift strokes, just until combined. Don’t over mix. Fold in the blueberries and immediately scoop the muffin batter into the prepared pan, dividing evenly among the cups.

Bake in the preheated oven 20 – 25 minutes, until tops are golden brown and a gentle push on the top has the top springing back.

Let cool 2 – 5 minute, then put into a basket lined with a kitchen towel, folding the towel over the muffins to keep them warm. Serve warm.

Makes 12 muffins

The Start of Apple Season

Although the true days of fall are still far off, in this area we start apple season in August with the Gravenstein apple. It is an old variety and doesn't store at all. A few days, maybe a week, then they begin to turn to mush.

The good news is that they are tart, delicious, and make wonderful baked apple dished since they get nice and almost gooey when they are cooked. Apple pies made with them are wonderful. Apple sauce is superb. For a very quick treat, an apple crisp made with Gravensteins can't be beat.

Although you certainly can make this dish with peeled apples, I left on the peel for ease of preparation (my focus was on the trim in the dining room that I was giving a fresh coat of paint, so time was at a premium), and because it keeps a lot of the nutrients in the dish. The maple syrup added sweetness in a mellow way, and the crisp benefited from the old fashioned rolled oats that I used. That kind seem to get crisper when baked than the quick cooking kind of oatmeal. Butter, raw brown sugar, flour and some cinnamon and allspice are the easy ingredients that combine with the oats for the topping. Try it topped with some vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt. It's a late summer delight. Glad that apple season has begun.

Gravenstein Apple Crisp

serves 4-6

4 cups sliced apple - Gravensteins preferred, but any tart cooking apple will work

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 teaspoon cinnamon, divided

1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter, cold

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup raw brown sugar, or light brown sugar

1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats

1/8 teaspoon allspice

In a shallow cast iron skilled or shallow baking pan, mix the apples, syrup and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Spread the fruit out in the pan.

In a medium bowl, place the butter, cut into tablespoon sized pieces, the flour, brown sugar, and oats. Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon and the allspice over all. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut the butter into the remaining ingredients until well mixed. If you prefer, you can use you hands, although the results will be clumpier.

Distribute the crisp mixture over the fruit and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20-20 minutes or until the fruit is cooked and juices bubble and the topping is golden brown and crisp.

Serve warm or cold. This dish is great with the addition of a scoop of ice cream, or frozen yogurt.

Stuffed with Summer Berries

Sweetie and I enjoyed a meal a few days ago at a restaurant that was once in Santa Rosa and is now in a roadhouse on the highway on the way to Bodega Bay. It's called Saint Rose, it's small (although bigger than Cafe Saint Rose was in Santa Rosa), and the food is simple.

Of course the most difficult thing to do is to create something so simple that it is sublime. They do that with seasonal foods, some from their own garden. The white corn soup was the essence of summer. The heirloom tomato salad was enhanced with just the right amount of balsamic vinegar and fruity olive oil. The salmon was adorned with perfect roasted cherry tomatoes. The best dish however was the summer berry pudding.

I've read recipes for summer pudding over the years but never got around to making any. It's pretty simple...bread slices line a mold, the center is stuffed with berries and more bread and the mold is topped off with more bread. In some variations all of the berries are cooked with water and sugar, in some the berries are uncooked and a current jelly or apple jelly syrup holds them together. In some the bread is buttered and in some it's not.

After enjoying Saint Rose's version, I was inspired to try my hand at making a summer pudding. Since I only needed enough for three, I used a fairly narrow but deep bowl with straight sides as a mold. I lined it with the bread after removing the crusts, making sure to tightly fit the bread together across the bottom and up the sides.

In a pot I put a cup of fresh strawberries in 1/4 inch dice, and a cup of ripe blackberries fresh off the bushes down by the old garden. I added 1/4 cup water and 2 tablespoons sugar and let it simmer for 10 minutes and then cool a bit. If the berries weren't so ripe and sweet, I would have added more sugar. As I found out when we finally ate it, the Saint Rose version used more sugar. Both are good, so go for sugar to your taste.

Once the mixture had cooled a bit, I added another cup of sliced strawberries and another cup of blackberries, plus a cup of organic blueberries from a farm stand near Ross Station Road. They were plump and bursting with flavor. The Saint Rose version seemed to have used only blueberries and blackberries, both cooked a bit, but I wanted the flavors of all three. Having some of the berries uncooked gave it a sparkling flavor and a little more bite to the texture. Again, both were good, so you could easily cook all the berries, just keep the cooking time short.

Most of the berry mixture was spooned into the bread lined mold. I added another layer of bread about half way through, more of the berry mixture, then topped it off with a layer of bread.

The extra berry mixture went into a pint canning jar to be used for garnish.

The mold went into the 'fridge for a couple of hours, then I put a plate over the top and weighed it down with a large can of enchilada sauce (it was the largest can I had in the pantry) and put it back in the fridge overnight.

When it was time to serve, I slid a knife around the edge of the bowl, and turned the berry pudding out on a plate. There were a few places where the juices hadn't soaked all the way through. Those got a little dribble of the reserved extra berry mixture. Then I put some more berry mixture around the edge of the pudding to serve. It really was pretty with bread tinted a reddish purple and all the red and blue and purple colors of the berry mixture.

The pudding cut easily and held together pretty well. More of the sauce garnished the serving. A spoonful of whipped cream would have been the perfect addition if I'd had any.

It made a lovely dessert with the essence of summer berries. The bread had soaked up the juices and turned pudding like. The berries themselves were just sweet enough, but with a tang of tartness, perfect on a warm summer evening.

Stuffed with Berries Summer Pudding

about 1/2 loaf of fine textured bread, sliced, crusts removed

2 cups fresh, ripe strawberries, divided

2 cups fresh, ripe blackberries, divided

1 cup fresh, ripe blueberries

(Any combination of berries is fine - a larger amount would be needed if you are using a 9 or 10 inch spring form pan - probably 6 or 7 cups total)

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoon to 1/2 cup sugar...to taste

Whipped cream for garnish, if desired

Line the bottom and sides of a mold with tightly fitted pieces of the bread slices. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, stir together 1 cup strawberries, hulled and cut in 1/4 inch dice, and 1 cup blackberries, the water and the sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes to soften fruit and create a syrup. Remove from heat and allow to cool. (You could also simmer all of the fruit for the pudding if you prefer, let cool and then proceed to fill the mold.) Add the uncooked 1 cup strawberries, hulled and sliced, the uncooked 1 cup blackberries and the uncooked 1 cup blueberries. Stir to combine.

Spoon one half the berry mixture into the prepared mold. Add another layer of bread, fitted to cover the berries. Spoon enough of the rest of the berry mixture to fill the mold, leaving enough space at the top for the last layer of bread. Fit that last layer of bread to completely cover the berry mixture. Place the mold in the refrigerator for two hours. Reserve any extra berry mixture for when you serve the pudding.

After two hours, remove the mold from the refrigerator. Place a plate that fits the top of the mold over the bread layer and weight it down with a heavy canned good. Return to the refrigerator and leave overnight.

To serve, run a knife around the sides of the mold to loosen the pudding. Place a serving plate over the mold and invert. If there are any spots where the juices didn't soak through the bread, spoon a little of the syrup of the reserved berry mixture over the spots.

Garnish with the extra berry mixture and whipped cream. Serve cold.

Stars and Strawberries

Last time I was at the local store that carries a gazillion variations of Bundt cake pans, I saw one with a pattern that has lots of stars. Couldn't resist. See the stars?

This morning the scholarship group met about a grant application, so I had the perfect reason to bake a bundt cake in my new pan. After lots of fun looking in this cookbook and that, I came back to one of the first that caught my eye...the Brown Sugar Bundt Cake in Dorie Greenspan's perfect book called Baking: from my home to yours. It has lots of brown sugar which makes the crust shiny and delicious with a little crunch. The cake is moist and dense but delicate at the same time. Buttermilk gives it tang and the buttah...ah the buttah..there is plenty of buttah.

A local farmer has been selling the most wonderful ripe, sweet and juicy strawberries. Sweetie bought three pint baskets on Wednesday, ate one for lunch with cheese, served us both the best part of another for Thursday breakfast, but left me one to bake with. Strawberries sounded like the perfect thing to put with this cake...and it was delicious, but the brown sugar overpowered the strawberries (perhaps I should have used light brown sugar??) so next time I'll use plums or a really assertive apple. I added the flour mixture to help keep them from sinking to the bottom of the pan and that's why I saved some for near the top of the pan, too. It mostly worked. There were berries throughout, although there was a band from the top that sank a lot, so maybe that wasn't the way to go. The lemon was a great counterpoint to the sweetness of the berries and the brown sugar. Next time I'll go with zest of a full lemon...especially with plums.

This cake barely had time to cool, much less sit overnight as Dorie suggests. It was a big hit with the P.E.O. women, and Sweetie was taken with it, too.

Brown Sugar Cake with Strawberries
A variation of Dorie Greenspan’s Brown Sugar Bundt Cake in Baking: from my home to yours

2 ¾ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 0z.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups (packed) dark brown sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 ½ cups fresh, ripe strawberries, dice in ¼ inch dice
Zest of one half a lemon
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

Glaze;
Juice of one lemon
Confectioners sugar (about 1 cup)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 – 10 inch (12 cup) Bundt or tube pan and dust the inside with flour & tap out the excess. Baker’s Joy nonstick spray works the best with Nordicware Bundt pans and lets you not do the flour part. If you have a silicone Bundt pan, don’t butter or flour it. Be sure to put the pan right on the oven rack…no baking pan underneath.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large mixing bowl (preferably with a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment), beat the butter and sugar together at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Scrape the beater and bowl well.

Put the strawberries and lemon zest and 1/3 cup of the flour mixture in a small bowl and stir gently to combine. Set aside.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar/egg mixture alternately with the buttermilk, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Add the flour in three additions and the buttermilk in two. Mix only until the ingredients are incorporated, scraping the bowl and beater as needed. With a rubber spatula gently stir in half the berry mixture. Scrape about 2/3 of the batter into the pan, then spread the rest of the berry mixture over the batter in the pan and top with the remaining batter. Smooth the top with the spatula.

Bake in the preheated oven for 60 – 65 minutes, covering the top loosely with a foil tent if it looks like its browning too fast. Test for doneness by inserting a thin knife deep into the center of the cake..if it comes out clean it is done.

Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before unmolding, then cool to room temperature on the rack

When cool, transfer to a serving plate. Stir together the lemon juice and enough confectioners sugar to make a nice glaze…not too thick. Drizzle the glaze over the cake, allowing it to pool in the Bundt indentations. Makes 12 servings.

A Sea-worthy Darng Bakers Challenge in the Land of St. Honore'

“You’ve got to make something spectacular for dessert!’, the Captain said to the cook as the winds abated at sea in that corner of the Land of St Honore’. “The gale the last two days has kept the crew up day and night…we need to raise their morale. A little extra sugar might give them just enough of a boost to get us into port safely, too.”

Eric the Cook was thrilled. With the violent movements the storm had caused, he had barely been able to cook at all. Now the winds were calming. He could bake something grand. Ever since the time when he was a lad and worked in a bakery, he loved to make fancy cakes. Since he hadn't been battening and bailing, he had the energy to make the long and complicated recipe he had in mind. Good thing the sun was just coming up and he had time.

So he went to work softening butter, measuring flour, grinding nuts,

separating eggs and making a nut praline, although he almost burnt the sugar. Soon he was making the cake in the genoise method and setting it to cool. Once cooled he cut it into three layers.

The nut praline he ground into a powder and then he made a syrup with water, sugar, and chocolate liquor. This was going to be a gorgeous, rich, memorable cake.

Using every bit of counter space available, and even a few tricks like putting a cutting board over a pulled out drawer to make more space to set things on, he whipped up the buttercream, added the praline paste and put the layers together…cake, syrup, praline buttercream, whipped cream,

cake, syrup…whoops forgot the syrup!, praline buttercream, whipped cream, cake. Whoops again… a sudden swell slid the cutting board with the syrup bowl onto the floor. Mop time!

Before he set the whole edifice in the cooler to chill he laid a thin coat of the praline buttercream all over the sides and over a few places on top that had crumbs. Because he had no jam or jelly he decided not to do a jam coat. Because the ship was still not as steady as he would like, he also avoided cutting any part of the cake…he would just as likely cut his hand!

After he had prepared a hearty stew and a nice salad for the crew's dinner, he took the cake out of the cooler, whipped up a wicked ganache of semi-sweet chocolate and whipping cream and waited…and waited…and waited for it to cool enough. Finally it was the right consistency and he poured it over the top of the cake. As it dripped down the sides he decided to not frost the sides with ganache, just with the drips of ganache…it looked so delicious that way. Into the cooler again to firm up the ganache.

The final fun was to pipe buttercream decorations on top, add a few peanuts and some chopped peanuts as garnish and serve it up to the happy crew. It was gone in a flash as you might well imagine!

Why peanuts? Well, that’s what Eric the Cook found in the pantry. It made for a truly magnificent cake. The praline was peanut brittle or course. The cake was lighter and moister than some genoise (so the lack of syrup on one layer was OK and the ganache gave plenty of chocolate flavor). The butter cream and ganache were classic and lucky were the crew who got to lick the bowl. The peanut and chocolate combination was simply delicious…peanut butter cup flavors in a delectable cake. That tiny bit of crunch in the buttercream from the praline paste was the perfect counterpoint to the soft and creamy ganache and soft cake.

This month I baked the cake with my friend Hil. She is a fabulous baker and cook and we spent a lovely day baking together, laughing, wondering if we were doing things right and, sometimes even parting ways with the recipe…as with the jam. Couldn’t figure a jam that wouldn’t overpower the peanut-chocolate thing. I even goofed by forgetting the syrup for the second layer. Still and all, Sweetie said that this was the best Daring Baker creation he’s ever tasted…we did good Hil!.

It was tough giving half of it to the sweet librarians in town, but I’m glad we did. My pants still fit and they give me big smiles when I come into the library. Thank you Hil for all your hard work grinding peanuts and your light hand with the buttercream and whipped cream and sifting just the right amount of ground peanuts and for all the fun. We must do it again!

This month's Daring Baker challenge was chosen by Chris at Mele Cotte. THANK YOU Chris! This was such a great cake. To see what the many, many, many Daring Bakers have done this month go to the Blogroll here for links. You are sure to see some masterpieces and some truly funny posts.

Here is my variation on the Hazelnut Chocolate Gateau:

Peanut Gateau with Praline Buttercream
From Great Cakes by Carol Walter - with some variations

1 peanut Gateau
1 recipe sugar syrup, flavored with chocolate liquor
1 recipe Peanut Praline Buttercream
½ cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks
1 recipe Apricot Glaze
1 recipe Ganache Glaze, prepared just before using
3 tablespoons peanuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

Peanut Gateau
Because of the amount of nuts in the recipe, this preparation is different from a classic genoise.
1 ½ cups peanuts, toasted/skinned
2/3 cup cake flour, unsifted
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
7 large egg yolks
1 cup sugar, divided ¼ & ¾ cups
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. grated lemon rind (I omitted this)
5 lg. egg whites
¼ cup warm, clarified butter (100 – 110 degrees)

Position rack in the lower 3rd of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10” X 2” inch round cake pan.

Using a food processor, process nuts, cake flour, and cornstarch for about 30 seconds. Then, pulse the mixture about 10 times to get a fine, powdery mixture. You’ll know the nuts are ready when they begin to gather together around the sides of the bowl. While you want to make sure there aren’t any large pieces, don’t over-process. Set aside.

Put the yolks in the bowl of an electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, and beat until thick and light in color, about 3-4 minutes on med-high speed. Slowly, add ¾ cup of sugar. It is best to do so by adding a tablespoon at a time, taking about 3 minutes for this step. When finished, the mixture should be ribbony. Blend in the vanilla and grated lemon rind. Remove and set aside.

Place egg whites in a large, clean bowl of the electric mixer with the whisk attachment and beat on medium speed, until soft peaks. Increase to med-high speed and slowly add the remaining ¼ cup of sugar, over 15-20 seconds or so. Continue to beat for another ½ minute.
Add the yolk mixture to the whites and whisk for 1 minute.

Pour the warm butter in a liquid measure cup (or a spouted container). * It must be a deep bottom bowl and work must be fast.* Put the nut meal in a mesh strainer (or use your hand – working quickly) and sprinkle it in about 2 tablespoons at a time – folding it carefully for about 40 folds. Be sure to exclude any large chunks/pieces of nuts. Again, work quickly and carefully as to not deflate the mixture. When all but about 2 Tbsp. of nut meal remain, quickly and steadily pour the warm butter over the batter. Then, with the remaining nut meal, fold the batter to incorporate, about 13 or so folds.

With a rubber spatula, transfer the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the surface with the spatula or back of a spoon. **If collected butter remains at the bottom of the bowl, do not add it to the batter! It will impede the cake rising while baking.

Tap the pan on the counter to remove air bubbles and bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes. You’ll know the cake is done when it is springy to the touch and it separates itself from the side of the pan. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Invert onto a cake rack sprayed with nonstick coating, removing the pan. Cool the cake completely.

*If not using the cake right away, wrap thoroughly in plastic wrap, then in a plastic bag, then in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. If freezing, wrap in foil, then the bag and use within 2-3 months.

Sugar Syrup
Makes 1 cup, good for one 10-inch cake – split into 3 layers

1 cup water
¼ cup sugar
2 Tbsp. chocolate flavored liqueur

In a small, yet heavy saucepan, bring the water and sugar to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add the liqueur. Cool slightly before using on the cake. *Can be made in advance.

Praline Buttercream
1 recipe Swiss Buttercream
1/3 cup peanut praline paste
Blend ½ cup buttercream into the paste, then add to the remaining buttercream. Whip briefly on med-low speed to combine. Blend in rum.

Swiss Buttercream
4 lg. egg whites
¾ cup sugar
1 ½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly firm
1 ½ -2 Tbsp. chocolate liqueur of your choice
1 tsp. vanilla

Place the egg whites in a lg/ bowl of a elevtric mixer and beat with the whisk attachment until the whites are foamy and they begin to thicken (just before the soft peak stage). Set the bowl over a saucepan filled with about 2 inches of simmering water, making sure the bowl is not touching the water. Then, whisk in the sugar by adding 1-2 tablespoon of sugar at a time over a minutes time. Continue beating 2-3 minutes or until the whites are warm (about 120 degrees) and the sugar is dissolved. The mixture should look thick and like whipped marshmallows.
Remove from pan and with either the paddle or whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and sugar on med-high until its a thick, cool meringue – about 5-7 minutes. *Do not overbeat*. Set aside.

Place the butter in a separate clean mixing bowl and, using the paddle attachment, cream the butter at medium speed for 40-60 seconds, or until smooth and creamy. *Do not overbeat or the butter will become toooooo soft.*

On med-low speed, blend the meringue into the butter, about 1-2 Tbsp. at a time, over 1 minute. Add the liqueur and vanilla and mix for 30-45 seconds longer, until thick and creamy. Divide in half. Add praline paste to half. Use the rest to pipe decorations.

Refrigerate 10-15 minutes before using.

Wait! My buttercream won’t come together! Reheat the buttercream briefly over simmering water for about 5 seconds, stirring with a wooden spoon. Be careful and do not overbeat. The mixture will look broken with some liquid at the bottom of the bowl. Return the bowl to the mixer and whip on medium speed just until the cream comes back together.

Wait! My buttercream is too soft! Chill the buttercream in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes and rewhip. If that doesn’t work, cream an additional 2-4 Tbsp. of butter in a small bowl– making sure the butter is not as soft as the original amount, so make sure is cool and smooth. On low speed, quickly add the creamed butter to the buttercream, 1 Tbsp. at a time.

Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or can be frozen for up to 6 months. If freezing, store in 2 16-oz. plastic containers and thaw in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for several hours.

Praline Paste
1 ½ cups peanut brittle

Break the peanut brittle into pieces and place them in the food processor. Pulse into a medium-fine crunch or process until the brittle turns into a powder. To make paste, process for several minutes. Store in an airtight container and store in a cook dry place. Do not refrigerate.

Apricot Glaze (I omitted this step)
Good for one 10-inch cake

2/3 cup thick apricot preserves
1 Tbsp. water

In a small, yet heavy saucepan, bring the water and preserves to a slow boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes. If the mixture begins to stick to the bottom of the saucepan, add water as needed.

Remove from heat and, using a strainer, press the mixture through the mesh and discard any remnants. With a pastry brush, apply the glaze onto the cake while the cake is still warm. If the glaze is too thick, thin to a preferred consistency with drops of water.

Ganache Glaze
Makes about 1 cup, enough to cover the top and sides of a 9 or 10 inch layer or tube cake

**Ganache can take on many forms. While warm – great fudge sauce. While cool or lukewarm – semisweet glaze. Slightly chilled – can be whipped into a filling/frosting. Cold & solid – the base of candied chocolate truffles.

8 oz. (good) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, Scharfenberger is what I used
1 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. light corn syrup
¾ tsp. vanilla
½ - 1 tsp. hot water, if needed

Break the chocolate into 1-inch pieces and place in the basket of a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Transfer into a medium sized bowl and set aside.

Heat the cream and corn syrup in a saucepan, on low, until it reached a gentle boil. Once to the gently boil, immediately and carefully pour over the chocolate. Leave it alone for one minute, then slowly stir and mix the chocolate and cream together until the chocolate is melted and incorporated into the cream. Carefully blend in vanilla . If the surface seems oily, add ½ - 1 tsp hot water. The glaze will thicken, but should still be pourable. If it doesn’t thicken, refrigerate for about 5 minutes, but make sure it doesn’t get too cold!

Assembling Cake

Cut a cardboard disk slightly smaller than the cake. Divide the cake into 3 layers and place the first layer top-side down on the disk. Using a pastry brush, moisten the layer with 3-4 Tbsp. of warm sugar syrup. Measure out 1 cup of praline buttercream and set aside.

Spread the bottom layer with a ¼-inch thickness of the remaining buttercream. Cover with ½ of the whipped cream, leaving ¼-inch border around the edge of the cake. Place the middle layer over the first, brush with sugar syrup, spreading with buttercream. Cover with the remaining whipped cream.

Moisten the cut side of the third layer with additional sugar syrup and place cut side down on the cake. Gently, press the sides of the cake to align the layers. Refrigerate to chill for at least 30 minutes.

Lift the cake by sliding your palm under the cardboard. Holding a serrated or very sharp night with an 8-ich blade held parallel to the sides of the cake, trim the sides so that they are perfectly straight. Cut a slight bevel at the top to help the glaze drip over the edge. Brush the top and sides of the cake with warm apricot glaze, sealing the cut areas completely. Chill while you prepare the ganache. ( I omitted this step, but did a crumb coat with the praline buttercream instead)

Place a rack over a large shallow pan to catch the ganache drippings. Remove the gateau from the refrigerator and put it the rack. With a metal spatula in hand, and holding the saucepan about 10 inches above the cake, pour the ganache onto the cake’s center. Move the spatula over the top of the ganache about 4 times to get a smooth and mirror-like appearance. The ganache should cover the top and run down the sides of the cake. When the ganache has been poured and is coating the cake, lift one side of the rack and bang it once on the counter to help spread the ganache evenly and break any air bubbles. (Work fast before setting starts.) Patch any bare spots on the sides with a smaller spatula, but do not touch the top after the “bang”. Let the cake stand at least 15 minutes to set after glazing.

To garnish the cake, fit a 12 – 14-inch pastry bag with a #114 large leaf tip. Fill the bag with the reserved praline cream. Stating ½ inch from the outer edge of the cake, position the pastry tube at a 90 degree angle with the top almost touching the top of the cake. Apply pressure to the pastry bag, moving it slightly toward the center of the cake. As the buttercream flows on the cake, reverse the movement backward toward the edge of the cake and finish by pulling the bag again to the center. Stop applying pressure and press the bag downward, then quickly pull the tip up to break the flow of frosting. Repeat, making 12 leaves evenly spaced around the surface of the cake.

Make a second row of leaves on the top of the first row, moving the pastry bag about ¾ inch closer to the center. The leaves should overlap. Make a 3rd row, moving closer and closer to the center. Add a 4th row if you have the room. But, leave a 2-inch space in the center for a chopped filbert garnish. Refrigerate uncovered for 3-4 hours to allow the cake to set. Remove the cake from the refrigerator at least 3 hours before serving.

Leftover cake can be covered with foil and kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Loves Meatballs

It is always tragic when the world loses a vibrant, creative, caring, talented person when they are still young. If you are younger than 30, then Sherry Cermak might have seemed old, not young, but from where I'm sitting she was a spring chicken and should still be with us blogging at What Did You Eat and saving cats and rescuing wildlife and being an inspiration to many. She was such a good writer and often made one smile. Unfortunately, a sudden heart attack took her a week ago. As a tribute, some bloggers are cooking things from her blog in her honor and posting today.

In going through her blog, there were lots of good recipes to choose from, but she mentioned that she loves meatballs. Indeed, there were quite a few good meatball recipes, too. I chose a recent post of meatballs that evoke some of the flavors and fragrance of Thanksgiving. They are easy to make, cook quickly, and are fairly healthy, too.

Anyone who knows me well knows I love turkey. I could probably eat it every night for a month and not be tired of it. Since Sweetie doesn't share my super enthusiasm for anything turkey, we have it in one form or another about once a week. These meatballs let turkey shine by staying simple. The original recipe on Sherry's blog called for a sauce using fresh or frozen cranberries and she said her sauce looked like nail polish :) Seems that the frozen cranberries I though I had are not in the freezer, so I substituted some ripe plums, keeping the skins on to approximate the tart sweetness of cranberries. I also left all of the sugar out of the sauce, which helped keep it tart.

The onions and celery, fresh oregano and salt and pepper add just enough flavor since turkey can be bland. The egg and bread crumbs hold it all together. The savory goodness of the meatballs made a great counterpoint to the sweet-tart sauce which uses fresh orange juice along with the plums. I also cooked extra onions and kept a tablespoon of them to put in the sauce...sort of tied it all together.

Here's to you Sherry! You are missed.

Herbed Turkey Meatballs With Plum Sauce
A variation of a recipe from What Did You Eat

Williams-Sonoma

Ingredients:
2 Tbs. unsalted butter, divided
1 yellow onion, finely chopped, divided
1 small celery stalk, finely chopped
1 lb. ground turkey
1 cup fine fresh bread crumbs
1 egg
2 Tbs. chopped fresh oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
2/3 cup fresh orange juice
1 cup fresh diced plums, peels left on

Directions:
Make the meatballs

Preheat an oven to 425°F. Lightly oil a rimmed baking sheet.
In a large fry pan over medium-high heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter. Add the onion and sauté two minutes. Set aside 1-2 tablespoons of the onions. Add the celery to the pan and continue to sauté’ until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Spoon into a bowl and let cool. Set the pan aside.
Add the turkey, bread crumbs, egg, oregano, salt and pepper to the cooled onion mixture, and mix gently but thoroughly with your hands. Shape the mixture into 12 meatballs and arrange on the prepared baking sheet.

Cook the meatballs and make the sauce.

Bake the meatballs until opaque throughout, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in the fry pan and combine the orange juice, and plums in the fry pan and place over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring often, until the juice comes to a boil and the fruit is warmed through, 2 to 3 minutes.

Divide the meatballs among dinner plates, spoon the plum sauce over them and serve immediately. Serves 3- 4.

Not So Lovely

Sometimes the best tasting food is not the best looking. Some of my favorite salads look like a mish mash of ingredients, held together by a little lettuce. I love soft polenta with a meat sauce, but when mixed together to combine the flavors in each bite, it really doesn't look very pretty even while it tastes delicious.

Tonight's pasta dish is a bit like that. Sweetie had found some beautiful ahi tuna steaks at a good price and I volunteered to make a baked pasta dish to go with it. A while ago I made a recipe which combined linguine, asparagus, ricotta and Parmesan cheeses and it seemed like a good jumping off point.

In the freezer I found a box of frozen chopped spinach (I know, I know, fresh is so much healthier or more virtuous or something, but I worked a twelve hour day yesterday and went to a funeral this morning, so frozen it is) and some dried noodles in the pantry. The fridge yielded both ricotta and Parmesan cheeses and the cupboard held some garlic, so we were in business. While things were cooking I decided that mixing some bread crumbs into the grated Parmesan for the topping would be a good idea and remembered that I still had some pine nuts in the fridge, so they went on the top, too.

This dish goes together fairly quickly, is fairly healthy, and is really, really good. If you don't want to bake it (it IS summer after all), you can put the pasta mixture right into a heated serving bowl and sprinkle on the cheese (no breadcrumbs) and some toasted pine nuts (which can be toasted on top of the stove in a small cast iron skillet in no time...toasted tastes MUCH better than raw pine nuts). If you are really hungry this won't serve 4, either. It's not so lovely, but it is very tasty.

Not Lovely Pasta and Spinach with Ricotta & Parmesan & Pine Nuts

½ lb dried flat noodles (I used no yolk egg noodles)
water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 10 oz package frozen chopped spinach ( or one bunch cleaned, stems removed, steamed, drained and chopped), thawed and drained of excess water
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg or ¼ teaspoon already ground nutmeg
½ cup ricotta cheese (I used low fat variety)
Salt and pepper
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (best quality you can use), divided
¼ cup dried bread crumbs, unseasoned
Optional: 1-2 tablespoons raw pine nuts

Fill a large pot with about 6 quarts of water and bring to a boil. When the water is boiling, add the dried pasta (you could also use linguine or spaghetti), return to a boil and stir. Boil until pasta is al dente.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Butter an 8 inch square baking dish, or equivalent.

While the pasta water is heating, heat the olive oil and a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and saute’ for about a minute, just until the garlic begins to color. Remove from heat and set aside.

To the garlic and oil mixture, add the thawed and drained or cooked, drained and chopped spinach. Stir to combine. Add the nutmeg and stir to combine. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, place the ricotta cheese. Add ¼ cup of the pasta water once it is hot. Using a whisk, stir well to combine the cheese and hot water. Add salt and pepper to taste. Whisk in 1 tablespoon of the Parmesan cheese. Set aside.

When the pasta is cooked al dente, drain it in a colander, then put the hot pasta over the spinach mixture. Pour the cheese mixture on top of that and stir quickly to combine all ingredients. Turn this mixture into the prepared baking dish.

On a plate or piece of waxed paper, combine the rest of the grated Parmesan and the bread crumbs. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the pasta mixture in the baking dish. Optional: sprinkle 1 – 2 tablespoons of pine nuts over the breadcrumb/cheese topping.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes, until the edges of the pasta are browned and the pine nuts and cheese are golden. Serve at once.

Serves 4