Caramel apple (or pear) streusel cakes

Isn’t it great when you come across a recipe to which you add your own touches, make many times over and never seem to tire of? This is one of those.

This recipe is my take on an apple sour cream cake from Genius Kitchen, a recipe I came across a couple of years ago. It’s not unlike a blueberry muffin recipe I used to make in days of yore. I’ve made it as the apple version a number of times and it’s always a pleaser but then I thought - hey, how about pear?? Why sure!

Heat the oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9x13 pan OR line muffin tins with papers OR have ready small silicone molds of choice. As some of you know, I’m a huge fan of smaller portions so the latter two options appeal to me.

For the base recipe, prep 2 cups apples or ripe pears (about 2 large) by peeling, coring and chopping them. I often have Fujis around for general eating so I’ll use those but I also like Jonamacs, Jonagolds, Galas or Golden Delicious for this type of baking. Bosc is my go to pear.

In a separate medium bowl blend 260 g/2 cups all purpose flour (you can replace 20-25% of that with whole wheat pastry flour or spelt) with one teaspoon baking soda, one teaspoon baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt. You can add cinnamon or spices as well, although I usually save my spice for the streusel.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, cream 113 g/4 ounces unsalted, room temperature butter with 175 g sugar (I like a mix of 75 g dark brown sugar and 100 g granulated cane sugar or ground raw sugar) for 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and add 1 teaspoon vanilla, 2 teaspoons boiled cider (optional) and 2 large eggs. Blend and beat well to lighten the mixture.

Add the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with one cup sour cream (or crème fraiche or full fat yogurt), beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing just until combined. Stir in the chopped apples or pears.

You have the option for a streusel topping by mixing 1/2 cup toasted and chopped nuts of choice (pecans, walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts are all good in my book!) with a teaspoon of cinnamon or spice mix of choice, 1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar and 2 teaspoons melted unsalted butter - once blended, sprinkle it over the cakes.

Portion the batter into your chosen pan or mold. I made two different sizes in my flexis.

Bake about 20-25 minutes (for small cakes) or 35-40 minutes if making a 9x13 size.

Give them a 5-10 minute cool before gently removing them from the molds, then set them on a wire grid to cool. I often drizzle some caramel on top once out of the oven.

You can leave off the streusel if you plan to garnish the small cakes with your favorite Swiss meringue buttercream like caramel apple cider or a simple whipped caramel mascarpone cream. Yum. Truth be told, I’ve combined a streusel and buttercream garnish and love the combo of the light creamy SMBC with the bit of crunch in the streusel. Yup.

Happy baking. Stay safe, stay healthy and be at peace.

Giving thanks for daily bread: Semolina rye 2 ways

This one was fun to work on. I adapted a King Arthur Baking Company direct dough recipe, created a poolish version and tried it a couple of different ways - boules and standard sandwich loaves. Don’t you just love dough? And bread? And pastries? And . . . . . . . ! It’s all fantastic!!

I’ve written about poolish most recently in my baguette post. It’s in the category of pre-ferments or dough starters and is made up of equal weights flour and water. Fermented for some hours before being added to the final dough, it kick starts the fermentation process, adding more structure, flavor and a longer shelf life to the end result. All great reasons to do it! It just takes a bit of planning ahead.

I turned to Rose Levy Beranbaum’s book “The Bread Bible” for guidelines to convert a direct dough recipe to a poolish method. Generally you’ll weigh 1/3 to 1/2 the amount of the total water in the recipe (in my case 540 g x 0.33 = 180) and 22-33% the amount of the total flour (826 g x 0.22 = 180 give or take a gram) to create your poolish. Mix 180 g cool water, 180 g bread flour plus a pinch of instant yeast, cover and let sit overnight.

Note: as you can see, RLB gives a range within which you can work to create the poolish . I chose the lower ends of the spectrum.

Here’s the result after an overnight room temperature ferment.

Here’s my full recipe. I love writing recipes out by hand - something I got used to during my stage in Paris in 2007. It’s a great way to place the mixing steps along side of the ingredients which for me makes it more user friendly. Notes can easily be added in the margins as well.

I’m a big fan of King Arthur’s all purpose and bread flours, and I turn to Bob’s Red Mill for other specialty flours, in this case semolina and dark rye.

When ready to mix the final dough, weigh out the remaining dough ingredients. Add the warm water to the poolish and mix to loosen. Place the bread, rye and semolina flours and the instant yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, then add the poolish/water to it. At this point I give it an initial blend with a spatula to get things started. Then let the mixer do the work!

Mix on low speed and add the sugar, olive oil and salt. Once the majority of the flour has been blended in, increase speed to 2-4 and knead for 7-8 minutes to a smooth, slightly sticky dough.

Since the dough is a bit sticky, lightly wet your hands and bowl scraper to help you form a ball. Cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rise 60 minutes.

After the first rise

My first round with the full recipe was to make boules. Many months ago I had snagged a great deal on a 2 1/4 quart Le Creuset lidded enameled cast iron saucepan at Sur La Table (now sadly closed here in Grand Rapids), and I wanted to make a cast iron pot loaf as well as a couple of on-the-baking-stone boules.

Divide the dough into three ~479 g portions and shape three boules. Place one on a piece of floured parchment cut as seen below to allow for easy lifting and placing into the pot. Cover lightly with oiled plastic wrap and let rise one hour.

Now’s the perfect time to heat the oven to 450ºF with the empty covered pot inside. You want the pot nice and hot! I also keep my baking stone on the bottom rack so that heats up for the next two loaves too.

All risen!

Set the other two on a parchment lined overturned sheet pan, cover and let rise one hour.

Note: Since I planned to bake in two batches, I popped these two into the fridge at the end of the rise so as to avoid over proofing while my pot bread was baking.

Risen!

When ready to bake the first loaf, very carefully remove the heated pot from the oven, lift the boule by the parchment and lower it into the hot pot. Don’t burn yourself!!

I opted to snip the top with scissors rather than score it - my pattern came out somewhat catty-wompus - hmmmmm, what exactly was I going for here? Looks like a strange Halloween pumpkin. I realized after the fact that I forgot to snip across each slash like an X to create little ears that would open up during baking. Oh distraction!! At least it didn’t negatively affect the end result!

Brush it with egg wash or a little milk and bake covered for about 20 minutes . . . . .

then uncovered for an additional 10-15 minutes until nicely browned.

Voilà

Lift it out and let cool on a rack. Don’t you think the scissors snips actually lend it a certain carefree character?

For the other two boules, turn the oven down to 400ºF, egg wash, score and slide them, with the parchment, off the sheet pan onto the baking stone which has been heating up all along. I squirt 3-4 ounces of hot water into the metal pan in the bottom of my oven to give a burst of steam, then close the door and let the baking begin.

Give them 10 minutes at 400ºF then turn down to 375ºF for another 20 minutes or so until nicely browned. Cool on a rack (keep your pot bread company!).

My second session with the full recipe was geared to making standard sandwich loaves. Steve and I love having good bread around for toast or sandwiches and this one fits the bill. The primary difference here is dividing the first risen dough into two portions about 715 g each, shaping loaves and tucking them into oiled medium loaf pans.

Cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rise about an hour until the dough is nicely mounding above the rims. Meanwhile heat the oven to 375ºF.

Score . . . .

and bake 30- 40 minutes until nicely browned and a digital thermometer in the center reads 190ºF.

While scoring isn’t strictly necessary here, it allows for a more uniform oven rise to the bread.

Remove from the pans and let cool on a rack.

I am so happy with this bread! Both the boules and the loaves have a nice chew to the crust, a tight crumb and the texture holds up well to a hearty sandwich. And let’s not forget morning toast with a fried egg on top or your favorite nut butter and jam. Yes.

Here’s a big cheer for dough and bread making - Hip hip hooray!

Let’s give thanks for safety and health as we look forward to next year and new beginnings. Meanwhile, think about a bit of holiday spirit, cut some local greens and twigs and tuck them into pots. You’ll be happy you did.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Crème fraiche pound cake à la Melissa Clark

Rum crème fraiche version

After my last post on baguette this one was a piece of cake. Hah! Get it?

Here’s another great contribution to the baking world from NYT food writer Melissa Clark. This one caught my eye partly because of the rum (which I’m starting to appreciate more and more) and crème fraiche (which I’m finally making myself!) in the ingredient list, but also because I’ve made my share of tasty pound cakes over the years and am always up for a new one. If you love pound cake, you MUST try this one.

Pound cake is typically butter, sugar, egg and flour in fairly equal weights, sometimes with cream cheese or sour cream added in. As Melissa notes, pound cake recipes don’t often contain any leavening like baking powder, but it’s the creaming of the butter and sugar to aerate and the eggs to add substance and binding to create the signature texture of these traditional cakes.

I made this recipe twice, the second time swapping the rum for a smooth Kentucky peach bourbon that we recently received from cousin Harve. Just had to try it don’t ya know. I added some orange zest to the batter and used a bourbon butter variant of the crème fraiche glaze, topping it with chopped toasted pecans. Mmmm good.

Bourbon glazed orange pecan version

I’ve become very attached to my mom’s old Mirro brand loaf pan that is a bit longer and narrower than a standard loaf. I love the way the cake comes out in a sleek and less stodgy sort of way. Prep the pan, including the edges, by buttering and sugaring it.

Bake at 350ºF for about an hour until golden and a tester comes out clean.

Mmmmm . . . . doesn’t that look delicious!

The main take home point that Melissa makes is the fact that if you vary the amount of baking powder you add to the batter, you’ll achieve either a lighter (more baking powder) or more dense and creamy texture (less baking powder).

For my first go I used the higher amount of baking powder (1 teaspoon) as well as the rum, crème fraiche (she gives sour cream as an option) and vanilla called for in the recipe. Check out the sliced image - looks like a lovely pound cake to these eyes! And it was deeeeeelicious! Light yet dense if that makes any sense at all. I also loved the slight crunch in the crème fraiche rum glaze - and our neighbors enjoyed it too.

For my second go I used the lower amount of baking powder (1/2 teaspoon) and swapped Kentucky peach bourbon for the rum. I zipped some orange zest into the batter while I was at it. Another lovely crumb experience to be sure.

For the bourbon butter glaze: heat 60 ml/1/4 cup bourbon and 49 g/3.5 tablespoons unsalted butter to melt the butter, then add in 100 g/1/2 cup granulated sugar, stir to dissolve and boil one minute. When the cake comes out of the oven, poke holes in the top with a toothpick, brush on about 1/4 of the glaze, wait 5 minutes then brush on another 1/4 of the glaze. Reserve the remaining glaze.

Once the cake has cooled, run a small offset spatula around the edges and pop it out of the pan. Blend the reserved bourbon butter glaze with 50 g/1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar and two tablespoons crème fraiche and pour it over the top and sides of the cake. In my case I added the pecans as the pièce de resistance but you can leave them off if you prefer.

Both of these cakes are buttery, luscious and dense as pound cake should be. Could I tell a lot of difference between the two? Not really, but both were superb in flavor and texture. Go either way with the baking powder and you’ll be happy no matter which one you choose. Thanks Melissa!

Remain calm and stay safe. We’re already deep into the first week of November and even though many of the leaves are now off the trees, here’s a mini photo album of what I’ve been enjoying during my walks this past month. I love autumn.

Baguette

NOTE: I did a quick update of this post on 06/14/24 to include a link to the recipe PDF for King Arthur baguettes. You can also find the link on the recipe page under BREADS AND BUNS.

This is a long one folks - sometimes it’s just how I roll!!

Well it’s about time. Do you know I’ve never made baguette at home just for the two of us? The closest I’ve come was ficelle which is essentially a skinny baguette, and that was tasty indeed! Even though I’ve made many versions while attending various bread classes over the years and have also taught my own bread class to folks, I don’t know what took me so long to make this classic French bread for our own larder. Perhaps it’s the fact that I finally bought a baking stone some months back and felt it was time to put it to the baguette test.

What makes a good baguette you might ask? They say it should have a creamy, open crumb with a crust that crackles as it comes out of the oven. Yes indeed!

It’s taken me awhile to get this post together. I started the project back in April early in the pandemic with nothin’ but time on my hands. I chose three different recipes: King Arthur Flour, Le Cordon Bleu Paris and another from Paris boulanger/chef Benjamin Turquier of 134 RDT on rue de Turenne in the 3rd arr.

I had made both the KAF (now King Arthur Baking Company) and LCB versions in classes I attended at those establishments in recent years and since then to classes I’ve taught to others. The RDT recipe came from a France Magazine article that I saved from several years ago and has been sitting on my to-do pile ever since.

During my stage at Pâtisserie Pascal Pinaud in Paris, I can’t help but remember the early attempts at shaping baguette - not a pretty picture. It takes a while to develop a feel for the dough, rolling with just the right amount of pressure to elongate and keep it even with tapered ends.

And the scoring? Oh my - that’s something I’m still learning! Just the right touch and don’t over think it - efficient, purposeful, a light hand, don’t drag and NO hesitation - those are the keys in my book. (Psssst . . . the texture of the dough makes a big difference - softer means more difficult to score, firmer means easier.) You may be able to tell the difference in the next two photos - the first shows a softer, more wrinkly dough and in the second the dough looks more firm and smooth.

KAF dough: hmmmm . . . not so good with too much drag and hesitation on the top loaf

LCB dough: much better - less drag, more purpose!

On to the process!

This isn’t intended to be an in depth bread primer, but I hope it gives you a decent look at how baguettes are created. We’ll look at the steps and I’ll make a few comparisons amongst the three recipes. Spoiler alert - they’re ALL delicious!

When comparing recipes, especially for breads, it helps to sketch out the timelines for proper planning. Don’t get hung up on the nitty gritty details below, but you can see that the process can vary anywhere from 1 to 3 days. That made it much easier for me to accomplish the baking in a staggered fashion. Nice. I like that.

Here’s a quick summary of the typical basic steps of bread making: Weigh ingredients. Mix. Knead. First proof. Pre-shape. Rest. Shape. Second proof. Score (sometimes). Bake. Cool. Enjoy!

Bear with me here - technical stuff coming up.

Now remember, a basic lean bread dough consists of flour, water, yeast and salt. I’m sure a number of you are familiar with baker’s percentages which uses the weight of flour in a recipe as the 100% ingredient. A typical straight bread dough made by the direct method (no preferments or long fermentations) will contain about 60% of the flour weight as water, 3% as fresh yeast (~1.5% dry yeast) and 1.5-2% as salt. Example: 500 g flour/300g water/7-8 g instant yeast/8-10 g salt.

So basically you can take any weight of flour you’d like and figure out the quantities of the other ingredients - pretty cool, eh?

Adjust the hydration factor upward and you’ll experience the different feel and ways of handling a wetter dough. The KAF recipe uses 72% hydration and thus is the wettest and stickiest of all three. It can be a challenge the first time you work with it so it bears repeating a few times to get the feel. With higher hydration dough you’ll often see the “stretch and fold” technique used to develop the dough’s structure. A tip: when working with wet dough, rather than dusting with flour, oil or wet your hands to reduce sticking. I’ve played around with hydrations of 68% and 70% too.

The LCB dough hydration is 64% and the one I found the easiest to handle while the RDT comes in at 70% and is less sticky than KAF.

Both KAF and LCB involve making a poolish which combines equal weights water and flour with a small amount of yeast and allowed to ferment at room temperature (or fridge) for a period of time. The amount of yeast added depends on how long you wish your poolish to ferment - shorter time/more yeast, longer ferment/less yeast.

The RDT recipe doesn’t use the poolish approach but utilizes a step referred to as autolyse - flour and water are mixed then allowed to sit for 30 minutes or so to hydrate the flour. Then add yeast, knead, add salt, knead and rest 20-30 minutes before refrigeration of 10-48 hours. Longer fridge, more flavor development.

As is usual in the culinary and pastry worlds, there are so many sources out there explaining the nuances that it can become overwhelming. If you’re starting to deep dive into bread making, I highly recommend a couple of good bread tomes like Jeffrey Hamelman’s “Bread”, Rose Levy Beranbaum’s “The Bread Bible” and any of Peter Reinhart’s books. The list goes on and on and on . . . . . So much to learn.

Let’s focus more in depth on the recipe from Le Cordon Bleu which is a 3 day process and we’ll look at the basic steps too. Sound good?

When starting with a poolish and planning a long fermentation, as with this LCB recipe, you’ll see the very small percentage of yeast used. The total flour in the full recipe is 1500 g yet the total instant yeast used is only about 5 g total which comes in at a paltry 0.3%. Buuuuuutttt . . . . . it’s the longer time that this dough ferments that makes all the difference. Give the yeast enough time to work and it WILL perform.

For this project I made half of the above LCB recipe since many home mixers are too small for the full quantity (the flour alone is about 11 cups total and the water almost a liter!). Note: my Kitchenaid 6 quart mixer managed the half recipe just fine.

In addition my oven (and home ovens in general) isn’t structured to bake 7 or 8 baguettes at one time on a stone. My baking stone is about 14” x 16” with 20” on the diagonal, and I use a piece of parchment on an overturned half sheet pan (12”x18”) as my peel. That limits the length I can make my baguette - best not to go longer than 16” - as well as the number of loaves I can fit on the peel and stone.

Even though this is a three day deal, the hands-on time is minimal compared to the resting and fermentation that occurs, so it’s easy to carve out a small niche in your schedule to get the process started.

For the half recipe: on day one make the poolish by mixing 250 g bread flour with 250 g cold water and a pinch of instant yeast. Whisk it 1-2 minutes, cover and refrigerate for 24 hours. Below is a good example of a developed poolish - poofy, bubbly and fragrant.

On day 2 mise out 500 g bread flour, 232 g water, 14 g salt and 2 g (just a tad over 1/2 teaspoon) instant yeast then, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine these ingredients with the poolish. Knead on low speed for 10 minutes. Cover and rest 30 minutes then do a complete fold set (stretch and pull the dough up over itself from top, then bottom, then left, then right) then turn over, ball up, cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Day 3 - here’s the dough ready to divide and shape.

I opted for 3 baguettes, each weighing about 408 g, knowing that I could make them an appropriate length for my oven/baking stone. In French boulangeries a baguette may be anywhere from 26 to 39 inches long - whoa - and the diameter is typically about 2.5 inches/6 cm. My baguettes turned out pretty chubby so next time I’ll do four loaves instead of three to achieve a slimmer result.

First shape the divided dough into rough boules and let them rest , covered, for 20 minutes.

Then one by one, flatten into a rectangle and shape a preliminary torpedo (lots of online resources on how to do that!). Give them a 10 minute rest then, starting with the first one you pre-shaped, place your palms in the center and gently but with steady pressure, roll as you move your hands outward to elongate and taper the ends. One down, two to go.

Place the shaped baguettes on a floured tea towel or linen couche with a few inches between each, then pull the fabric up between the loaves to support them and avoid them sticking to each other.

Cover with another tea towel and let them proof 30-45 minutes. Meanwhile, heat your oven/baking stone to 480ºF (250ºC).

Now for a little bit of a tricky part. You have to gently roll your proofed baguettes onto a narrow wooden board (one by one) and then roll them back onto a floured or cornmeal dusted peel (I use a parchment topped overturned half sheet pan as my peel). Then score them and from there you slide them onto the baking stone (parchment and all if using my method). Whew! A bit unnerving at first but, just like scoring, be purposeful and without hesitation in your movements.

I happen to have a handcrafted wooden cheese board made by an acquaintance of ours - it’s about 15 inches long and was just the ticket for helping me perform this maneuver. I’ve also heard of folks cutting a piece of sturdy cardboard and covering it with some cheese cloth in lieu of a board. Sounds like a great idea!

Snug the board up along side a baguette, lift the towel gently from underneath and roll the baguette onto the board. (NOTE: the next two images are actually the KAF version - I use them here simply to show the board steps.)

Once on the board, simply roll it off onto your peel or sheet pan. Be mindful of the space available to you!

Man oh man - maybe one day I’ll get into the whole video aspect of this stuff!!

Ready to roll off the board

Now score . . . . . . . . .

and slide the baguettes with parchment off the sheet pan and onto the stone with a decisive move. Bake with steam about 25 minutes.

NOTE: If you don’t have a baking stone, transferring board or peel, simply heat your oven with an empty half sheet pan on the lower rack to serve as your “stone”. Place your shaped baguette on a separate parchment lined sheet pan (no couche needed) to proof, covered lightly with a flour sack type towel (be sure there’s enough room between the loaves), then score and pop the sheet pan directly onto the heated pan in the oven. Voilà - no transferring necessary.

NOTE #2: I have a tray that slides onto the lower rack of my oven into which I can pour or squirt water as soon as I’ve placed the loaves onto the stone. That gives me my burst of steam which helps to create a crackling crust. You can also put an oven safe metal tray of some sort on the floor of your oven and pour a cup or so of hot water in it just as you place your baguettes in the oven. Close the door immediately to give that burst of steam.

Pull the loaves out onto a cooling grid and listen for the signature crackle - yes, it’s there. Hooray!!

As you can easily see my loaves baked a bit differently with the top one looking like a humpback whale. A sign of the need to be more purposeful with shaping to tighten the dough up.

My scoring was certainly variable, the middle loaf looking the best.

Once cooled, either tear off a piece or slice it up and enjoy with your favorite cheese or jam or whatever floats your boat.

I jotted notes on each recipe. LCB: “great crackle; dough easiest to work with and most springy and elastic of all; nice crust and chew although perhaps a bit more doughy than the other two; wonderful flavor; next time shape more narrow and longer - would do four 312 g loaves rather than three 408 g.

Here’s the KAF final result. Check out the difference in scoring between the top and bottom loaves.

My notes on KAF: highest hydration and stickiest dough thus hardest to work with (this one takes practice folks!); wonderful crackle and crust; deliciously creamy with open spaces.

Here’s RDT’s result. Pretty good scoring, eh? You can see the top one is shorter - another instance of not putting the proper pressure on when elongating. Still tasted great!

My notes on RDT: 70% hydration; less sticky; scored easily; less crust crackle and not as crusty; delicious flavor, good chew and nicely creamy.

My overall favorite is the LCB recipe primarily for its ease of preparation/handling, plenty of fermentation and flavor development time in the fridge and its wonderful crust and flavor. The half recipe makes about 1250 g of dough from which I made three 408 g baguettes. OPT: four 312 g for a slimmer end result.

In second place is KAF’s recipe which mixes a poolish of 150 g all purpose flour, 150 g cool water and a pinch of instant yeast, then is covered and ferments for 15 hours at room temperature. When ready, the poolish is combined with 311 g all purpose flour, 180 g cool water, 5 g instant yeast and 7 g salt and mixed into a shaggy mass. This is the one that takes some practice working with a sticky dough. The base recipe makes about 803 g of dough from which I made two 400 g baguettes. OPT: three 268 g for a slimmer result.

The RDT half recipe makes about 862 g of dough from which I made three 284 g loaves. Since I’ve come to prefer the poolish approach for this kind of bread, I won’t go any further with this one. Now it’s off the to-do pile.

On one final note, I did another batch of the KAF recipe a month or so ago - upped it to 1.5x the recipe (which, BTW, brings it very close to the LCB half recipe aside from the hydration difference), made two 400 g baguettes and eight 50 g crusty rolls. Boy oh boy they were good! I’m still fine tuning the handling of the sticky dough, but next time may drop the hydration down a couple of percentage points just to see how it goes. Why not, eh?

Bottom line on size - going forward I’ll aim for 280-310 g per baguette. That just seems right to me. Why not play around with dough weights for minis or rolls too. Sure thing.

Thanks for reading and slogging through all of this. It barely even begins to scratch the surface of the world of baguette. I’m sure I’ve forgotten to include some important tidbits and please don’t hesitate to raise any questions or make any comments about your own experiences with this classic French bread.

Meanwhile stay safe, bake some bread and enjoy the last colors of autumn.

Adieu Sur La Table Grand Rapids

A chapter has come to an end, not only for me but for many who enjoyed what this place had to offer.

Sur La Table Breton South here in Grand Rapids MI has closed permanently. Once the virus hit, Sur La Table stores across the country were closed for a solid three+ months. Some went under the axe, although Breton South survived the first cut and opened for retail in early July. But Chapter 11 bankruptcy and sale of the company led to more closures including Breton. Classes never resumed and now the space is available for the next business that might want to set up shop. Who knows, eh?

It was a great place to teach pastry classes. The kitchen well appointed, sunny and light with plenty of room to do what needed to be done. I met lots of interesting people (both co-workers and students), learned a lot myself and enjoyed being busy with prepping, setting up and instructing all types of folks with all levels of interest and experience. Good stuff.

Morning buns

Macarons

Rustic Dutch oven bread

New York style bagels

Thanks for the memories.

On to the next chapter, whatever that may be. Meanwhile my new mantra is “I walk, I bake, I blog, I dream”.

Enjoy autumn and may you find your own new adventures.

Black and blue almond butter buckle

Many years ago (14!) when I was in the middle of my year of pastry school, I discovered a recipe in Bon Appétit for an almond-plum buckle, named for the finely ground almonds that are part of the batter as well as the plum slices pressed on top before baking. I made it a couple of times back then, once with plums/blueberries/strawberries and once with cherries/blueberries. They were a big hit for the folks who were the fortunate recipients, including Steve and myself of course.

I’ve since made it periodically over the years but it’s been awhile for sure. Every now and then it comes back into my memory banks, and I must bake it again, particularly when we’re still in the throes of summer fruits season yet moving into autumn as well.

A buckle is basically a single layer cake in which the batter is topped with fruit and often a streusel topping and then baked. The fruit sinks somewhat and the batter rises around it thus referring to the buckling of the cake under the fruit.

There’s a lot written about this group of baked fruit desserts including crisps, slumps (or grunts), buckles, brown bettys and cobblers, but I’m not here today to describe how they compare in their preparation. I simply wish to share my own tweaked recipe based on the 14 year old one from BA. (Yay! I found it online so I could link you to it.)

As always, I did some basic cake recipe comparisons and made my changes based on a couple of other tasty cakes I’ve made over recent months. There’s a lot of similarity from recipe to recipe, often involving 2 sticks butter, 1 cup sugar, 2-4 eggs, vanilla, 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, perhaps a spice of choice or some citrus zest, some dairy like sour cream/yogurt/crème fraiche/whole milk/buttermilk, maybe some fruit involved and you’re good to go.

Here’s my recipe outlined below as well as this downloadable PDF.

Ingredients:
70 g/3/4 cup almond flour
195 g/1.5 cup all purpose flour (option to sub in whole wheat pastry flour for about a fourth of the all purpose)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
OPT 1/2-1 teaspoon cinnamon or spice mix of choice
100 g/7 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
70 g/1/3 cup almond butter
175 g/1 cup minus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup crème fraiche, room temperature
1.5 cups total of mixed blueberries and blackberries (this is mainly an eyeball it decision - you want fruit sprinkled just so over the cake so that there are spots for the cake to rise up around the fruit).

The steps:
1. Heat the oven to 350ºF. Butter a 9” springform pan and place a round of parchment in the bottom.
2. In a medium bowl whisk together almond flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices if using.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle cream the butter and almond butter to blend.
4. Add granulated sugar and cream on medium high until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes.
5. Add 2 eggs, one at a time, blending well after each. Blend in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/4 teaspoon almond extract.
6. Blend in flour mixture alternating with the crème fraiche just until combined.
7. Spread batter in prepared pan, smoothing the top with an offset spatula. Sprinkle fruit evenly over the top. Sprinkle with raw sugar if desired.
8. Bake about 50 minutes until a tester in center comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes, remove from pan and finish cooling.

Ready for the oven!

The primary differences from the BA recipe are using blanched almond flour instead of finely grinding natural almonds; a reduction of butter from 227 g/8 ounces to a total of 170 g/6 ounces of unsalted butter (100 g) and almond butter (70 g) combined plus the addition of 1/2 cup crème fraiche; reduction of sugar by 2 tablespoons (~30 g). That’s pretty much it in a nutshell.

I used frozen berries for this one - if you do that, be sure to allow for 5-10 minutes more baking time to allow the center to be fully baked (nothing worse than a gooey center) and be careful not to overload the cake with fruit. I sprinkled both vanilla sugar and raw sugar on top before baking, but cinnamon sugar is an option too.

If you’d prefer a streusel topping, the easiest approach is equal weights flour, sugar, cold cubed butter sanded together to coarse crumbs to top the fruit. For this size cake 60 g of each is plenty. Remember - you can double, triple or quadruple the amounts and have a good freezer unbaked streusel stash on hand to top your favorite crisp, financier/tea cake or baked fruit tart.

The buckle served as a dessert for a Labor Day cookout at cousin Jen’s, topped with whipped cream and a few fresh berries.

Simple and delicious is always good.

Stay well, remain calm and keep baking. It helps.

The flowering crab I photographed last spring + some wild grapes

Afternoon tea at The Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island

Last week Steve and I were fortunate to be able to take our first real get-outta-town outing since mid-March and the beginning of social restrictions. It felt good to hit the road, making a stop in the small farming community of McBain (just east of Cadillac) for a visit with cousin Harv and his wife Ev. Always a treat.

Heading north to Mackinac City it felt good to clear our minds, admire the early autumn colors popping up, the sparkling lake waters and simply cruise. Our ultimate destination - Mackinac Island, a well known landmark here in the Midwest, sitting in the Straits of Mackinac between Lakes Michigan and Huron.

To get there one must take a boat from either Mackinac City or St. Ignace (across the bridge in the Upper Peninsula). We departed Mackinac City on the Starline, the trip providing a great view of the Mackinac Bridge . . . .

as well as the island with the Grand Hotel clearly visible.

Not only is the island home to the well known hotel but also a number of inns/B&Bs, grand homes on the bluffs and its famous fudge shops, horse drawn carriages/taxis, LOTS of bicycles and best of all - NO CARS!

Main Street looking west from our lodging at Harbour View Inn

There is also a stunning natural beauty to the place - along the lake shore and throughout the forested island. Flowers are in abundance fronting many homes/lodgings/walkways, and the clip-clop of horse hooves provides a certain sense of calm. You should go sometime if you can.

Looking through Arch Rock - gorgeous hues, rocky shores and clear water!

Walking through the woods (most of the island is state park)

I knew as we were planning this mini-vacation that going to afternoon tea at The Grand Hotel would be on my to-do list. It’s been over 25 years since Steve and I were last on the island, and I had fond memories of the tea experience back then. Little did I know all these years later that I would have attended pastry school in Italy and France and developed my own interest in afternoon tea to boot!

Tea is served in the large open sitting room just inside the grand porch. The decor is as we remembered - still striking with reds, greens and a clear geranium theme (the Grand’s signature flower). The hotel has been there since 1887 and, even though I don’t know what the original decor was like, I have to wonder how often they have to re-carpet and re-upholster everything. Whew - what a job!

As is true of any establishment we entered while on this little adventure, masks are required. Once seated we removed them to enjoy our food and drink. There were quite a number of folks both inside and out on the porch, all properly distanced from those not in their own party.

We ordered one tiered tea tray (for me) and both of us opted for a glass of sparkling wine. What made this especially lovely was the harpist who played beautifully for the entire hour and a half, providing a true feeling of serenity (something that’s been difficult to grasp for many over the last 6 months).

The offerings were classic, and I appreciated the small portions - finger sandwiches on white bread (ham/cheese, cucumber, prosciutto), mini lemon scones with clotted cream and an assortment of French style pastries (eclair, fruit tart, macaron) plus mini cheesecake, chocolate dipped strawberry and some sort of cake ball??

The flavors were fair to decent, some of the textures lacking (dense scone, soggy tart shell), and we couldn’t help but reminisce about the tea experiences we had a year ago in the UK. Buuuuutttt . . . . . we took the time to sit back, relax, listen to melodious harp music and remove ourselves from the cares of the world for just a short while. Special indeed.

Butter pecan ice cream

Happy Labor Day weekend to all of you!

I recently made a batch of butter pecan ice cream and thought I’d say a quick hello and share it with you. So good!

But before I do I’d like to share this link with you. I recently received an email from Heather Langford of Gold Coast Ice Cream in San Diego USA. She writes about ALL things ice cream. I’m talking ingredients, ice cream makers, utensils, recipes - and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. If you love making and eating ice cream (and who doesn’t), you should check it out.

Heather has also written a guide to ice cream making that’s straight forward and easy to understand.

For this butter pecan treat I use my standard base recipe with these changes: browning 70 g/5 tablespoons of unsalted butter starts the process; use dark brown sugar (same amount 150 g) instead of granulated; a cup of lightly buttered and toasted pecans are mixed in at the end of ice cream processing.

Here’s a quick review of the steps and the recipe PDF:

Have your egg yolks ready in a medium bowl and place one cup of cream in another bowl over an ice bath with a strainer at the ready.

Start by browning the 70 g butter in a medium saucepan, the same one you’ll cook the custard base in.

Once the butter is browned, blend in the brown sugar and a pinch of salt on medium heat to get the sugar melting.

Add the cup each of cream and whole milk and continue to heat to completely dissolve the sugar.

Temper the warm dairy into the yolks, return all to the heat and cook to the anglaise stage, stirring all the while.

Strain into the cold cream over the ice bath, blend in a teaspoon vanilla extract, let cool then refrigerate for up to three days before processing.

You’ll have plenty of time to prep the buttered pecans. Heat the oven to 350ºF. Blend one cup pecans with one tablespoon melted butter and a pinch of salt, spread out on a parchment lined sheet pan and toast about 10 minutes. Cool. Roughly chop and blend into your churned ice cream base. Hold in your freezer until it’s time to enjoy! Yay!

A delicious treat, as ice cream always is.

Take care of yourselves.

Brioche feuilletée revisited - chocolate hazelnut braid

I would never have imagined that the most viewed post on this blog would be Brioche feuilletée, written back in November, 2016. I launched that project by tweaking the brioche recipe from a Le Notre Paris class I attended in September of that year. Reducing the butter in the base dough, adding a butter block and putting it through three 3-folds yielded a lovely laminated result.

Since then, as is my wont, I’ve reviewed a number of additional brioche recipes and techniques from the likes of Dorie Greenspan and Jeffrey Hamelman (of King Arthur Flour fame) and developed a new version of the base dough in November, 2018. The dough can be used for any brioche option you wish - Nanterre, brioche à tête, coffee cake, cinnamon buns or brioche rolls topped with pastry cream/jam/fruit. Lots of choices.

In this recipe PDF I go into more details about brioche, adjusting the recipe to yield either a leaner or an even richer dough plus some options for laminating the dough. So many possibilities.

It helps me to assess a brioche recipe by looking at the butter to flour ratio. A medium brioche dough typically contains butter that is about 50% the weight of the flour. Brioche can run from lean (where the butter may be as low as 25% of the flour) or rich where the butter can be all the way up to 100% of the flour.

The full batch of the base brioche dough (before adding any butter block/laminations) yields about 1300 g (2.8 lbs) of dough. So you can make the full batch and then separate out the 600 g for this braided two loaf project. Wrap and freeze the remaining dough for later or use it for other projects you might have up your sleeve.

Using Hamelman’s guidelines for these braided delights, I laminated 600 g of the base dough with an additional 120 g/4.25 ounces of butter which, by my calculations gave the final result a butter to flour ratio of 1:1. Now THAT’S a rich brioche! Remember - this makes TWO braids.

Let’s do a quick review on laminating the dough - it never hurts, since the more you do it, the more it becomes second nature.

Roll the dough out to a 6”x12” rectangle. Have a 6” butter block ready - it should be cool and malleable.

Place the butter on half of the dough . . . . . .

then fold the dough over the butter, pinching the edges closed to fully envelope the dough. This is the beurrage.

If your kitchen is pretty warm or your dough and butter seem warm and starting to squish, wrap it up and refrigerate for 30 minutes before proceeding. Now roll the dough out to about 18” long and 6” wide, always with the short side parallel to the work surface and rolling to and from yourself (not sideways) to achieve the length. Do a 4-fold (book fold) by bringing each short end into the middle with edges meeting . . . . . .

then fold it on itself.

Wrap and chill the dough for 30 minutes to allow it to relax then proceed with a 3-fold (business letter fold). Before rolling remember to turn the dough 90 degrees so the “spine” or fold is on your left then roll out to approximately 18”x6” again, rolling to/from yourself. Don’t get hung up on exact measurements - you’re going for about three times length to width.

Visualizing the dough in thirds, fold one end up . . . . . .

and the other down over it. Congrats! Your laminated dough is complete.

Now wrap it snugly and refrigerate for a good 1-2 hours to let it relax and firm up before rolling it out for your intended purpose.

For this braid project I divided the dough in half - look at those buttery layers!

Each half of the laminated version weighs about 360 g (before filling) and is good for a medium loaf pan size braid.

I created a chocolate hazelnut filling by taking 200 g of a hazelnut remonce mixture I had left from this hazelnut/almond couronne project and adding 50 g / ~2 ounces of Nocciola crema and a bit of egg white and simple syrup to loosen it a bit for piping.

Butter two medium (8”x4”) loaf pans and have the filling ready in a piping bag.

On a lightly floured surface roll one half of the dough into a 10”x10” square and divide it in three strips.

Egg wash (I used egg white since I had some on hand) along one long edge of each strip then pipe a line of filling along the opposite edge.

Roll each strip up into a log and press the edge to seal.

With seam sides down do a classic three strand braid.

As you come to the end of the braid, just tuck the ends under then pop it into a buttered loaf pan.

Repeat the steps with the second half of the dough.

Cover the pans with buttered plastic wrap and let rise for a good 1.5 hours. Toward the end of that proofing time heat the oven to 375ºF.

Brush the loaves with egg wash and bake about 35 minutes until nicely golden.

Remove them from the pans and, if you’d like to gussy them up a bit, brush with either some simple syrup or apricot glaze for a bit of shine and even go another step and drizzle on a confectioner’s sugar/milk/vanilla glaze. I left mine au naturel.

Once cooled, I sliced into one of these babies. Oooooh - buttery with just the right swirl of choco-hazelnut and pretty darn delicious to boot. Nothing like a good brioche, eh?

I love the feel of dough, the shaping, the proofing, the baking, the aromas and, of course, the tasting! Dough reigns!!

Maple glazed blueberry drop scones

I originally included this blueberry drop scone review in my recent “Puttering in the kitchen in August” post but, after consideration and Steve’s helpful encouragement, I’ve broken it out into it’s own post. Enjoy my discoveries on these tasty treats!

I’ve now made these scones THREE times since discovering Dorie Greenspan’s NYT article on Joanne Chang’s recipe. Print it out for your own to-do list!

The term drop scones refers to scooping and dropping the balls of dough on the sheet pan as opposed to forming a dough round or rectangle and cutting more uniform triangle shapes for baking as seen below. Both work depending on your vision.

Upon first taste test I found them delightful - just a hint of crispy to the outside and more cake like, tender and moist on the inside than my usual scones. The more I ate them, the more they grew on me.

I’m usually not big on cute-sy combo names like cruffins or cronuts, but for these the word “scuffins” definitely comes to mind - a term someone somewhere coined some years back - a cross between a scone and muffin. Oh well, call them what you’d like - they’re good no matter the label. Try them out yourself and see what you think.

This recipe involves a slightly different mixing method than the one I’ve come to rely on over the years. Here’s what I discovered about the process (having the recipe on hand as you read through this is helpful). You need to plan ahead - the dough is wrapped and refrigerated for at least 1 and up to 24 hours to allow the flour to fully absorb the moisture before scooping and baking. While the recipe calls for 8 large scones, I made mine smaller using a generous 1/4 cup size scoop with a yield of 16-18 scones.

Chilled dough ready to scoop - check out those butter pieces!

First batch: I pretty much followed Joanne’s recipe, using Vermont Creamery’s crème fraiche but since I didn’t have any buttermilk in the house I made the faux version by adding lemon juice to whole milk. I added the first half of the butter into the dry ingredients using the mixer with the paddle to break up the butter pieces (as she suggests), but when it came time to add the second half of the butter, I gave the mixer a rest and used my by-hand method of flaking the butter into the mix by literally flattening the butter pieces with my fingertips and leaving visible pieces in the dough.

The liquid ingredients are all blended together along with fresh blueberries and then added to the flour/butter mixture. Here again I preferred doing this by hand using a spatula and bowl scraper to quickly and gently blend everything, picking up the dry ingredients until a cohesive dough ball forms. I typically don’t add fresh fruit to scones since the fruit can become mushy and macerated during mixing, but the fresh blueberries held up well with a gentle touch.

I refrigerated the dough for four hours and then baked them. Glaze them right out of the oven, cool a bit and enjoy warm or room temperature. Nice!

First batch

I continued the by-hand approach for the next two batches as well. It speaks to me. Remember our two hands are some of the best tools we have!

Second batch: no crème fraiche on hand so this time I used Siggi’s Icelandic “touch of honey” whole milk yogurt and actual buttermilk. Once I had the dough mixed and gave it a few hours of refrigeration, I scooped out the dough balls onto a parchment lined sheet pan and froze them. It was a couple of days before I baked them (directly from freezer to oven) and they didn’t bake as evenly as the first batch. I also found they browned more on the bottom and were less tender and delightful. Perhaps you can appreciate their “rough and tumble” look below.

Full disclosure - I messed up the baking powder amount and attempted a fix so accuracy is in question. Even though they rose OK they weren’t as fluffy as batch one. Yikes - not my usual M.O.

True confession time - a few weeks back I tried some roasted tomato, ricotta, herb scones and realized after I had them in the oven that I FORGOT to add the baking powder. Whoa! How many times have I made that base scone recipe?? Just goes to show you how distraction and lack of focus can sneak right in there these days.

Second batch

Third batch: I made my own crème fraiche - yay! Here’s the deal: heat a cup of heavy cream to about 95ºF (easy in a glass Pyrex measuring cup in the microwave), stir in a teaspoon of buttermilk, cover loosely and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours. Mine was thickening nicely by then and into the fridge it went. I used it for the scones on day 4 of it’s maturation - nice and tangy. I again used a squeeze of lemon juice in whole milk as my buttermilk. I reduced the whole wheat flour by 20 g and increased the all purpose by 20 g (I just felt like it).

BTW - For all three batches I used white whole wheat flour for the whole wheat portion. In the future I’ll try whole wheat pastry flour (if I can ever get my hands on some again!) for an even more tender result.

This time I kept the dough refrigerated for a full 24 hours before scooping and baking. The end result was much like the first batch. Mmmmm good.

What I learned: mix by hand, refrigerate the dough 4-24 hours then scoop the chilled dough and bake soon after. Use the right quantity of baking powder. Duh. Thumbs up on the crème fraiche and buttermilk combo. Maybe don’t freeze them unbaked but I’m not necessarily giving up on that approach. That second batch was the outlier due to a questionable baking powder amount and maybe even the oven temp when baking directly from the freezer.

I encourage you to give these a try. You’ll like them.

Autumn is coming . . .

Puttering in the kitchen in August

Raspberry cream cheese Danish

I first published this post a few days ago but I’ve broken out the blueberry scone section into it’s own post and edited this one. So, if you saw it the first go-around, it’s different now.

We’ve had some touch of autumn days (which I LOVE!) but also some heat and humidity coming back in which doesn’t typically inspire one to do much baking. Even so - I still manage to get some quality kitchen time in. Gotta do it.

The raspberry Danish above are a result of tweaking and finalizing my Danish dough recipe mentioned in the recent Swedish cardamom bun post. So delicious!

Following are a few more visuals of some of the things I’ve been doing lately. I stumble across recipes that either get my attention or not, but those that might incorporate a different technique or ingredient are the ones that I put on the to-do pile.

Please enjoy the pics and dream of the things you might create!

First these blueberry scones are from a NYT article by Dorie Greenspan on Joanne Chang’s (of Boston’s “Flour” fame) recipe. Here’s a more fleshed out post on these. You should give them a try!

Maple glazed blueberry drop scones

Next up - dukkah shortbread. I’ve been wanting to do this for awhile now. Dukkah is a middle Eastern and Egyptian concoction made with toasted nuts, herbs, seeds and spices that are coarsely ground and used in marinades or as garnish for soups, salads, meats, veggies or whatever you want really.

There are LOTS of recipes. Just Google it. I used pistachios and hazelnuts, sesame seeds plus cumin, coriander, fennel and sea salt. I blended about 75 g of the mixture into my base shortbread dough made by blending 75 g sugar (consider half or all dark brown sugar here to add some caramel notes to the nuts and spices) with 200 g unsalted room temperature butter; blend in 250 g all purpose flour (or use 60 g whole wheat pastry flour and 190 all purpose) along with the dukkah . Wrap, chill at least an hour, then roll out and cut shapes of choice. This is good. Sweet and savory. I might leave the fennel out next time and add almonds into the mix.

Dukkah shortbread cookies

Individual cobblers are fun. These are made with fresh Michigan peaches and blueberries. Great with vanilla ice cream of course.

Individual peach blueberry cobblers

Financier batter is simply ripe with flavor possibilities.

Coffee walnut streusel financier

Next up - these maple almond butter cakes are from a recipe on the underside of the foil lid on Siggi’s yogurt. I don’t keep flax meal on hand so I used almond flour instead. Other than adding a bit of almond butter to shortbread dough in the past, this is my first foray into baking with a significant amount of almond butter. Let’s just say I could get used to it.

There are many brands out there - Justin’s is a popular one. I used “Barney Butter” and have since purchased a roasted almond butter from my favorite almond paste supplier Mandelin. I’m looking forward to trying it.

I made these twice. It’s an easy mixing process. The first time with some blueberries and/or peaches tucked on top before baking plus a basic crumb top. Two different sizes - 3” Fat Daddio aluminum pans and smaller panettone papers. One of the 3-inchers went to my mom for her birthday.

The second time I used one of my favorite silicone muffin molds, didn’t add fruit but made a delicious almond streusel topping.

I will say these are growing on me. They have very little sugar in them compared to many muffin recipes (1/4 cup maple syrup and just a couple tablespoons of brown sugar) so at first bite they seem to fall flat on the taste buds yet . . . . the texture and overall experience is nice, and they seem right somehow. Even Steve said so.

Drizzling some maple syrup or honey on before eating is an excellent addition. The fruit version definitely beats the non fruit and with that added almond streusel . . Yum. Methinks a nice dollop of jam in the center of each before baking would be great too. Next time.

A look ahead - even though it has taken me a seemingly endless amount of time, in addition to putting the final touches on a new brioche feuilletée post, I’ve started the draft for a baguette project piece as well. I love sharing details of processes and steps but that also means I spend a lot more time reviewing and comparing in order to offer a reasonable summary of whatever it might be. At any rate, after 24 weeks of essentially being home, each day brings a different vibe to our lives.

Happy baking, be reasonable and don’t forget that periodic deep breathing helps too.

Soon we’ll be deep into official “baking season”. Love it.

Summer fruits galette/spelt pâte brisée

This time of year when the farmer’s markets are teeming with fresh fruits and produce, a rustic galette is just the ticket for a delicious summer dessert. Think cherries, peaches, plums, berries (red, blue and black), and currants too! Steve and I love our local Fulton Farmers Market and make at least a weekly visit for our favorite seasonal goods.

Even though our socializing has been curtailed and we’ve been at home for the majority of our time in the last five months, every now and then we get out to Clear Lake to see cousin Jen and her family. What a beautiful spot to enjoy an outdoor meal and of course each other’s company. We provided grilled chicken, fresh green beans and corn while Jen had some deelish nibbles, crusty rolls, followed by vanilla ice cream to accompany the fruit galette. Yum indeed. Thanks Jen, Scott and Claire!

In France a fruit galette (crostata in Italia) is a rustic tart - no tart pan or ring, just a rolled out round of dough topped with a mound of fresh fruit then baked to golden crust perfection. I’ve written about galettes before but it’s always fun to revisit an old friend.

Planning ahead, you can certainly make your dough days or even weeks before, wrap it well and freeze it until you need it. Think about that when, before you know it, the fall and winter holidays will be upon us. What better way to be prepared for the pies or tarts you hope to serve for Thanksgiving dinner or holiday suppers/gatherings than to have your dough already made. Yippee!

For this one I used my favorite pâte brisée recipe but substituted 60 g of spelt flour for 60 g of all purpose flour. What a buttery, flaky, edge-of-nuttiness and melt-in-your mouth dough this is!

I’m a big fan of Bob’s Red Mill specialty flours. While I use King Arthur flour for my all purpose, bread and general whole wheat needs, the wonderful array of BRM’s offerings available on my local grocery store shelves allows me easy access to some of my faves like whole wheat pastry flour (sadly hard to find during this pandemic!), spelt, and semolina, plus non-wheat options like rye, cornmeal, rice and oat flour, potato and tapioca starch just to name a few.

For this galette I used about 300 g of dough for a finished size of about 9 inches. On a lightly floured surface roll the dough into a rough ~ 12-inch round about 1/8 inch thick. Check out the butter marbled throughout and the speckling of spelt in the photo below - I love that.

Remember to work with your dough cool - if it becomes warm and the butter squishy, it’s time to pop it into the fridge or freezer for 10-15 minutes to firm things up. You’ll be happy you did. Once your dough is rolled out to your satisfaction, place it on a parchment lined sheet pan and hold it in the fridge while prepping your fruit.

Heat the oven to 425ºF.

I used a total of 5 cups of fruit including sliced peaches and yellow bubblegum plums, blue/red/blackberries tossed with about 1/3 cup sugar, 2 to 2.5 tablespoons flour, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a pinch of salt. I follow that ASAP with assembly so my fruit mixture doesn’t get too juicy.

To provide a bit of anti-soggy protection to the crust I blend a tablespoon or so each of either all purpose or almond flour and sugar. Sprinkle that over the crust, leaving about a 2-inch border. Have at the ready a couple tablespoons unsalted, diced butter to dot on top of the fruit and some milk or cream and raw sugar for the edges.

Now mound that pile of fruit in the center, again leaving about a 2-inch border. Notice I’m doing my assembly ON the parchment lined sheet pan rather than my work counter so as to avoid having to lift the filled/shaped galette onto the sheet pan. Yup, it’s all in the details folks.

Pleat the dough up over the fruit and, once you’ve made it all the way around, cup your hands around the edges and give everything a firm squeeze to set your dough in place. Dot with butter, brush milk on the dough edges and sprinkle with raw sugar.

Pop the whole pan into the freezer for 10-15 minutes to firm up the butter and set the dough even more.

Bake on the bottom rack for 10 minutes, turn the oven down to 400ºF and give it another 10 minutes. Move the sheet pan up to the middle rack, decrease the oven temp to 375ºF and bake another 15 minutes, periodically checking for the degree of browning. You want to see the fruit bubbly and the edges golden brown. If needed, go another 5-10 minutes. All in all I usually plan on a total baking time of 40-45 minutes for this size galette. Remember - in your oven it may be a bit more or less.

Have fun creating your own mixture of fresh fruity goodness for a delicious summer fruits galette - you can do it. Absolutely!

Swedish (cardamom) buns

Time for more Swedish fun! Once again inspired by Brontë Aurell’s “Brontë at Home” as well as Beatrice Ojakangas’ “The Great Scandinavian Baking Book” (a recent acquisition as a result of a birthday gift card!) and a NYT article on cardamom buns, I’ve plunged into the depths of bun recipes and options. Whoa - so much out there!

As I’ve come to learn, the Swedes (and let’s be honest, Scandinavians in general) are HUGE bun lovers - cardamom, cinnamon, blueberry just to name a few. The dough is a pretty basic enriched dough made with milk, usually (but not always) some egg, butter, sugar, salt, yeast, cardamom and flour of course. Once the dough is made and rested/risen, you roll it out and spread it with a filling of butter and sugar (white or brown, either way), fold it in thirds, roll out again, cut it into strips, twist, wind and tuck and voilà, there’s your classic Swedish cardamom bun.

The process as just mentioned is the less buttery bare beginnings of a fully laminated dough, and you can take it in other directions with different shapes and fillings. Think jam, chocolate hazelnut spread, citrus zest, chopped toasted nuts, fresh or dried fruit, almond paste . . . the list goes on.

My first attempt sprang from the NYT article on classic Swedish cardamom buns, and, being intrigued by the shaping technique, I was ready to give them a try. One sees a hint of the shaping in the article images although the shaping instructions in the recipe didn’t give my brain a good image to work with. I played around with it, finally resorting to an online video or two which helped a lot. Just remember - there’s more than one way to shape a bun!

If you’re interested in checking out the NYT article, a quick note on the filling - I found it to be too much butter. There was a LOT of butter leaching out during baking so I’ve reduced the filling amount for this post and for my future bun projects.

As you see below I ended up with a number of different looks to my buns as I twisted, coiled and tucked. Interesting indeed. The one on the bottom left looks like a conch shell, don’t you think?

After reviewing WAY more recipes than I should have, the more I compared them, the more I realized that I can simply take my base croissant détrempe, the dough BEFORE any added butter block/laminations occur, sub in some egg for part of the milk, bump the butter and sugar up a touch, throw in some vanilla extract and add cardamom or cinnamon or a spice mix of choice and you have your basic bun dough. Here’s the recipe I came up with.

In addition to being able to create a variety of buns from that base dough, you can also take that dough even further by adding a butter block and fully laminating it too! It then becomes Danish pastry dough (wienerbrød) like that in the Danish Kringle I wrote about here. Lots more buttery layers to be had.

Let’s take a look at the steps for the Swedish cardamom buns (let’s call it my first trial and error go at it).

I’ve had some green cardamom pods on hand for a while now - time to use these babies. Open the cardamom pods, remove the seeds, toast them over medium heat then crush and grind them with a mortar and pestle. Generally around 6-7 pods will yield seeds to give you about a teaspoon of ground cardamom. You’ll need 1-2 teaspoons for the dough (to your taste), another teaspoon (optional) for the filling and an additional teaspoon to make cardamom sugar for sprinkling. Remember - feel free to sub in other spices!

Make the dough as directed in the recipe. It will be a bit sticky. Lightly ball it up, place in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rest/rise about an hour at room temperature. Give it a good stretch and fold then ball it up nicely. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or up to overnight. I usually make my dough in the late afternoon/early evening for use the following morning. It’s all about planning ahead.

On baking day prepare the filling by blending 80 g soft unsalted butter with 80 g sugar (white or brown as you wish), one tablespoon flour, a teaspoon vanilla plus a teaspoon ground cardamom if desired.

Note: You can ramp the filling up by grating 80 g good quality almond paste then blending it into the butter/sugar mixture.

Remove the dough from the fridge about 20 minutes before rolling, filling and shaping. On a lightly floured surface roll it out to a ~ 13”x18” rectangle, the short edge parallel to the work surface.

Spread the filling in an even layer then fold the dough in thirds, the top down toward you . . . . .

and the bottom up over that.

Roll the dough out a bit more to ~9”x14” and trim any uneven edges. By the way - don’t get hung up on precise measurements, just go with the flow.

Cut 2 cm strips. I also created a couple of scrap buns by braiding some of the edge pieces and coiling them up. Why not?!

Pick up and gently stretch each strip, wrap it around three fingers a couple of times then bring it across and tuck it under. NOTE: in the future I’ll twist the strip as I wrap it for an even greater twisty look.

This is where I was a bit confused and my first attempts were clunky. but once I figured out the moves it worked out OK. Even so - variety is the spice of life so do whatever makes you happy.

Hmmmm . . . . going from the top down? Probably not.

Hmmmm . . . . not really it, but I do like a basic coil

Still a mish mash but, once I watched a video I finally got the cross-over-the-top thing to happen!

At any rate, once you’ve shaped your little heart out, place the buns on parchment lined pans, cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise 30-45 minutes.

Meanwhile heat the oven to 350ºF. Once risen, brush the buns lightly with egg wash and sprinkle cardamom sugar (1/2 cup mixed with a teaspoon ground cardamom) on top.

You can also wait on the cardamom sugar until after baking in which case, once out of the oven, brush your buns with simple syrup and sprinkle with the sugar.

Bake around 10-15 minutes or until nicely golden brown. Remember all ovens are different so watch what’s going on in there!

I haven’t fully decided how I feel about the flavor of cardamom on its own. It can be a bit overwhelming but mixed in with other spices like cinnamon, coriander, ginger and nutmeg, I find it’s a very pleasing combo. Steve and I gave the overall bun texture and crumb a thumbs up. Even a couple of our neighbors who weren’t familiar with cardamom thought they were pretty darn good. Yay!

I did one more batch (doubled) along the cinnamon lines, this time with some variants on the twisty coils. Of course I’ll keep playing around with it.

Now get into your kitchen and create your own shapes and fillings - and just have fun!

On a final nature note, here are a few images from my August walks. Summer marches on.

Keep a steady course, stay safe and find comfort in the trees, skies, flowers and plants. It helps.

Hydrangea

Black-eyed Susan

Summer annuals going strong

Mid-July update

Seeing Queen Anne’s lace in bloom is a sure sign of summer’s march into August and beyond. Still plenty of time for outdoor enjoyment, fresh air and sunny skies.

As we come to grips with the fact that (whoa!) it’s already mid-July, would any of us have foreseen all that’s happened in the past four months?! No sir.

Lately we’ve had quite a string of hot days, punctuated over this past weekend with pleasant days, cool nights and clear, low humidity skies. Baking is happening in waves, and now seems as good a time as any to share a few of the things I’ve been making in recent months.

Cinnamon oat crunch scones

A number of projects were done with an eye toward becoming blog posts and are currently in their draft phases. I’m working on them bit by bit, often side tracked by various other at-home activities that seem to take precedence. Time has taken on a much different sense, don’t you think?

Some of these goodies go into the freezer for future enjoyment, some are shared with neighbors and family and some go into the occasional pastry order that pops up every now and then.

Chocolate hazelnut swirl brioche loaf

Gateau renversé aux cerises (cherry upside down cake)

Mixed berry mascarpone trifle

Swedish cardamom buns

Baguette

Croissant

Stay tuned! Baguette! Brioche! Swedish buns! Yippee!!

Meanwhile enjoy summer, be kind and helpful. It works.

Tosca almond torte

This project came about as a result of three forces: Lindsey Shere, Brontë Aurell and Dorie Greenspan. Not a bad way to start eh?

For some months I’ve had the simple almond torte recipe from Lindsey Shere’s iconic book “Chez Panisse Desserts” on my to do pile. I still had some of Mandelin’s fabulous almond paste on hand and thought why not?!

So I made it and LOVED it!

Here’s the torte run down: butter a 9” springform pan or round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment; heat the oven to 325ºF; beat 250 g/1.25 cups sugar with 227 g/8 ounces soft almond paste (it works well to grate it!) to blend well; beat in 227 g / 8 ounces soft unsalted butter and a teaspoon vanilla extract then cream for several minutes until light and fluffy; beat in 6 large room temperature eggs, ONE at a time, until each is thoroughly blended in; fold in 130 g/1 cup all purpose flour, 1.5 teaspoons baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt, blending just until combined. Transfer batter to prepared pan, smoothing the top with a small offset spatula.

Bake for about an hour to an hour and a quarter, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remember - always check sooner than later! Gently touch the center and it should feel springy. Let it cool in the pan about 20 minutes then un-mold and cool on a wire rack.

Here it is in all its simple glory, bottom side up. No muss, no fuss - just one delicious cake. On it’s own dusted with confectioner’s sugar or with some lightly whipped cream and fresh berries, it’s all good.

Then two other things happened that pushed me to the next step in this process. I happened upon a Dorie Greenspan piece in NYT Cooking with a recipe for “Swedish Almond Cake”.

Hmmm I thought, this one sounds good too. While the cake itself doesn’t contain any almond ingredients, It’s deelish and buttery and includes a cooked almond/butter/sugar/flour topping (known in Sweden as “tosca” topping) that goes onto the cake part way through the bake.

I made D.G.’s version and it’s fantastic. Just go to the recipe and try it yourself - you won’t be disappointed.

Now cue Brontë Aurell’s book “Brontë at Home” to which I’ve referred in both my rye buns and Danish Kringle posts. That’s where I first learned about tosca topping. Her’s is very much like the one Dorie G. uses with just a few slight variations. Hey! Why not make Lindsey Shere’s almond torte and add the tosca topping to it? What a wonderful almond-y treat it could be!

And so I did.

A quick note: I recommend using a springform pan for this since it would be difficult to turn it out of a standard round cake pan due to the topping.

Prepare the almond torte batter and once the cake is in the oven, get the topping ingredients ready to go. I tweaked DG’s topping recipe by reducing the butter and sugar, using brown sugar instead of granulated and subbing heavy cream for milk.

Here’s my mise: 80 g / 5.5 tablespoons unsalted butter; 100 g / ~ a cup sliced almonds; 80 g / scant 1/2 cup dark brown sugar; 2 tablespoons all purpose flour; 3 tablespoons heavy cream.

The baking time for the almond torte is somewhat longer than for Dorie G’s butter cake but either way, bake the cake about half way then make the tosca topping. Mix the topping ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat and stir to melt the butter. Bring to a boil and cook for a minute or so.

Take the partially baked cake out of the oven and gently portion the topping over the cake, spreading with a small offset to cover the top. Pop it back into the oven and finish baking.

The topping should become beautifully golden, the liquid-y appearance should set and caramelize and the aroma . . . . Oh my.

Soon after it comes out of the oven take a paring knife or offset spatula and gently run it around the edges of the cake so they won’t stick to the pan. Then let it cool 10-15 minutes, remove the sides of the springform pan and finish cooling to room temperature.

Enjoy a slice with a fresh cup of coffee or tea or just by itself au naturel. It is SO good.

Here’s to a safe and calm summer with beautiful deep blue skies and nature’s varied hues to give us peace.

We can do this.

Chocolate pot de crème fudgesicle

Just think about this - one delicious base and two ways to use it - classic pots de crème and a creamy, frozen, reminiscent-of-childhood treat. What a great way to create a luscious chocolate-y summer dessert duo with a minimum of oven work involved. Even better, to make it more enticing, it’s a make ahead project too!

This takes me back to Gracie’s days. At the restaurant I used to make these chocolate pots de crème in small brown espresso cups topped with a dollop of lightly sweetened Chantilly cream and served with a baton of delicious vanilla shortbread. Just enough to satisfy an after dinner sweet tooth with rich, cool and creamy luxury.

Then one day I discovered that I could take any leftover custard base I had in the fridge, pour it into silicone molds and freeze it. After all, the mixture is essentially crème anglaise (dairy, yolks and sugar), the same base used to make ice cream. So why not!

The perks of silicone molds are not only the many, many shapes and sizes out there but also their oven safeness and their freeze-ability and flexibility. Once frozen, simply push the treats out onto a plate or into a bowl when ready to serve.

The grey cube shape here (thanks Chef Joe) is an Elastomoule made by the French company De Buyer. The majority of my silicone molds are the Italian brand Silikomart which I typically buy through Kerekes, a NYC based company with a great selection of all things pastry plus great customer service.

The first time I sampled one of these, my taste buds took me back to the fudge-sicles of childhood (without the stick!) but with a creamier, richer smoothness that blew them out of the water! Since with this approach the custard is what’s referred to as “still” frozen rather than churned in an ice cream maker, it isn’t aerated and thus has a denser texture. Mmmmm!

Before going on to the recipe, here’s a quick back story. In 2009 I had the good fortune to spend some time in Paris pursuing professional development courses at Le Cordon Bleu and language study at L’Alliance Français. Needless to say, I was regularly out and about on the metro as well as being a flâneuse, strolling along les rues. I used to love going to les grand magasins, the big department stores like Galeries Lafayette and Bon Marché to browse all manner of things. A feast for the eyes!

On one visit to Galeries Lafayette I came upon these crinkled, colorful little espresso cups from Revol the French porcelain company (they still make these “crumpled cups” in three sizes!!). Easy to pack and a perfect addition to the different sizes and shapes of ramekins I so easily fall for. I’m a sucker for baked custards so why not have some cool oven safe receptacles in which to bake them.

The full base recipe fills 8 to 10 four-ounce ramekins. Obviously your yield will vary depending on what you’re filling. Smaller portions, greater yield.

For this project I made 2/3 of a recipe (4 yolks) with a yield of six of my cute Revol cups and ~ten 42 g/1.5 oz frozen cubes. I love small portions.

Don’t let the image below confuse you - just pretend there are 6 yolks in that bowl! The recipe quantities given are for the FULL recipe using 6 yolks.

Finally - here we go.

Place 113 g / 4 ounces chopped dark chocolate (I like a 60-66% range) in a bowl or a glass Pyrex measuring cup. Heat 4 cups heavy cream and a pinch of salt in a saucepan, bring it to a boil over medium heat then pour it over the chocolate and blend until melted. Note: You can reduce the fat content somewhat by using 2.5 cups cream and 1.5 cups whole milk if you’d like.

In a separate bowl whisk (with gusto!) 6 large egg yolks with 100 g / 1/2 cup granulated sugar to thicken and lighten them, a minute or two. Temper the hot chocolate mixture into the egg yolks and return all to the saucepan.

Cook over medium heat while stirring (I go back and forth between a silicone spatula and whisk) until beginning to thicken.

When making crème anglaise you don’t want the mixture to boil. You’re shooting for a temp of 180- 185ºF (82-85ºC). If you don’t have a thermometer, there are several signs to help you. You should feel a bit more drag as you stir the mixture. Look for tiny bubbles forming around the edge of the pan and steam coming off the surface. Coat your spatula with the mixture and run your finger through it - it should hold the track and not run. The more you do it, the more you just know.

Strain the mixture and fill whatever ramekins you’re using for pots de crème, leaving about 1/4 to 3/8 inch space at the top. Place ramekins in an oven safe dish and fill the dish with hot water to a level about 1/2 way up the ramekins’ sides. Cover loosely with foil and place in a 300ºF oven. Bake about 30-40 minutes until almost completely set but with a jiggle in the center. I always check at about 20 minutes then every 5-8 minutes or so until I’m happy with the jiggle status. They will set more as they cool and chill.

I filled my 6 Revol espresso cups which hold about 2 ounces. The rest of the base went into the fridge to chill before transferring to silicone molds and the freezer.

See the before-oven (liquid) above and after-baking (set) difference below?

Once out of the oven, lift the ramekins out of the hot water bath and place on a rack to cool fully. Then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate to chill thoroughly, at least several hours. They’ll keep for several days - remember the planning ahead approach? It’s a good one.

If you’ve made your custard base with an eye to both pots de crème AND fudgesicles, refrigerate the rest of the base for a day or two where it should thicken nicely. Fill your flexi-molds to the top, using a small offset spatula to smooth and remove any excess, then place the molds on a sheet pan and into the freezer to firm up. Once frozen I cover the surface directly with plastic wrap - the molds can stay in there for days up to a couple of weeks.

When you’re getting close to serving, give yourself an extra 10-15 minutes or so once you’ve popped them out of the molds. At least with my “deep” freezer, they freeze very firmly and do well with a bit of softening before enjoying their luscious goodness.

Serve them along side the pots de crème on small plates as I did or by themselves in a bowl with your favorite ice cream type toppings.

I love a dollop of whipped cream, cookie crumbs, caramel sauce and chopped toasted or candied nuts, but you could also choose a bit of finely diced crystallized ginger, toasted coconut or raspberry or cherry coulis all of which complement chocolate so nicely. Valrhona chocolate crunchy pearls aren’t bad either.

Dense, chocolate-y, creamy and oh so delicious. Yes.

Please be safe out there. We still have a long way to go.

It’s officially summer - there’s still plenty of time to pot up some assorted annuals and make yourself smile!!

Roasted strawberry ice cream and ginger shortcakes

This is strawberry shortcake at it’s best! Roasted balsamic strawberries churned into a deelish ice cream, paired with fresh strawberries and ginger scones. Oh boy!

Recently I was perusing Rose Levy Beranbaum’s “The Bread Bible” (I can’t remember exactly why!) when I came across “Rich and Creamy Ginger Scones”. I had forgotten that she includes a section on quick breads, muffins, biscuits and scones in this wonderful bread tome of hers.

Never one to deny myself a new scone experience, since I had crystallized ginger in my cupboard (still working through the pantry!) and heavy cream in my fridge, I definitely wanted to give these a try.

It also just so happened that I had purchased some strawberries at our local Meijer supermarket that wouldn’t necessarily be considered primo, if you get my drift. I decided to roast them up, purée em and make strawberry ice cream. The strawberry ginger shortcake idea was born.

When you hear the terms scones, shortcakes and biscuits, one can’t help but ask “What’s the diff?” They’re pretty similar all-in-all although some have egg, some not; some heavy cream, some buttermilk or other dairy like yogurt or even ricotta; some softer self-rising flour like Lily White (i.e. biscuits) and some with a flour twist like replacing a portion of all purpose flour with spelt or whole wheat pastry flour. LOTS of options.

Most shortcake recipes I’ve used or reviewed contain flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cold butter chunks and cream, all put together with a light touch. The word short refers to the fact that the butter coats the flour to prevent gluten strands from lengthening (hence short), keeping the product flaky, light, crispy and delicious all rolled into one!

Let’s make the principal players.

To roast the berries hull and chunk up about a pound of strawberries, toss them with a tablespoon of good quality balsamic vinegar, a tablespoon of brown sugar (light or dark, it’s up to you) and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper. I used a Silpat but parchment is fine too. Roast them at 375ºF for about 20 minutes until dark and syrupy, stirring them a couple of times. Note to self - punch up the balsamic and pepper next time.

Let the berries cool then either mash them with a potato masher or purée them if you’d like them a bit more refined. I made my usual ice cream base and blended in the berry mash while chilling the base over an ice bath. I let the strawberry blended base mature in the fridge for a couple of days before processing and freezing.

On to the ginger scones. The primary difference in this recipe from the one I normally use is more butter (170 g vs 113 g), twice as much sugar, no egg, same amount of cream (but whipped!), a teaspoon of ground ginger, zest of a lemon and the addition of 113 g finely diced crystallized ginger.

To get ready, whip the 180 g/3/4 cup cold heavy cream to soft peaks and cube the cold 170 g/6 ounces of butter - hold both in the fridge. The mixing steps are the same as for your typical scone, biscuit or shortcake: blend in a medium mixing bowl 260 g/2 cups all purpose flour, 66 g/1/3 cup turbinado sugar, 14 g/1 tablespoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, zest of a lemon and 1/8 teaspoon salt; rub and flatten the cold butter pieces into the dry ingredients to a mix of coarse crumbs and visible pieces of butter; add in the crystallized ginger; fold in the whipped cream. You got it!

Remember the key to scone mixing is cool, quick, decisive - don’t over handle the dough. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and give a few quick kneads to bring it together.

I like the way RLB divides the dough in half, forms 2 six-inch rounds about 3/4” thick, then cuts them in either 6 or 8 pieces depending on the size one prefers.

Heat the oven to 400ºF with either a baking stone or a sheet pan on the middle rack. The scones go onto a second sheet pan, parchment lined, brushed with cream and sprinkled with raw sugar then placed in the freezer for 15 minutes or so to firm them up and keep that butter COLD!

Don’t forget that you can take it to this step and freeze them for baking another time. I love plan ahead projects.

Pop the baking sheet onto the heated sheet pan and bake for 15-20 minutes. I usually give them 10 minutes, rotate the tray and check again in about 8 minutes. If they seem to be browning too quickly I turn the oven down to 375ºF.

These have an ethereal quality -crispy outside, light and flaky inside, just the right amount of ginger and oh so good.

I’m a firm believer in eating scones, shortcakes and biscuits the day they’re made, otherwise freezing them the day they’re baked to preserve their like-fresh quality. This time I did a little test: I took 4 baked scones out of the freezer, loosely wrapped them in parchment paper, left them at room temp and the next morning gave one a 5-8 minute warm up in a 300º oven. Still SO GOOD. Crisp out and light in, a match made in heaven.

I repeated this over the following 2 days and found they continued to offer that just baked enjoyment. For THREE days, they sat wrapped in parchment at room temperature and did not disappoint. Amazing.

Steve and I enjoyed the combo of roasted strawberry ice cream, great quality fresh berries that we happened upon at Kingma’s market and of course the perfect ginger scones. Thanks Rose.

Swiss meringue buttercream

Ciao everyone! It took me a bit of time to get this post together, but here it is at last. You’d think with all the extra time on our hands during our staying at home (11 weeks and counting), I’d have knocked this baby out in a few days. I decided to take some extra time to add some recipes for some base components that are great ones to have in your baking armamentarium, and you’ll find links for those throughout the post.

Remember - you can also go directly to my recipe page for a list of base recipes with links to their PDFs and in some cases to blog posts on that particular topic.

Let’s go for it.

Never a big sweet frosting lover, I usually turn to a simple lightly sweetened Chantilly cream, a flavored whipped mascarpone or a basic ganache to give my petite cakes a swirl of panache. Buuuuuuuuut . . . . . . in recent years I’ve become a huge fan of SMBC. So light, airy, buttery and not cloyingly sweet, it’s rife with flavor possibilities. Let’s take a look at just a few and see what you can create to tickle your taste buds.

The beauty of this process is that the base remains the same - egg white, sugar, butter - with flavor added once all the butter is incorporated. Depending on what I plan to use the buttercream for, I’ll do a full batch as a single flavor or divide it in two and create two different flavors. The half batches work well for my small portion cake projects in which a nice swirl or dollop per un petit gâteau is all that’s needed. How efficient is that?

It’s the perfect make-ahead component too since it holds well in the fridge for several days and in the freezer for months. Just remember to thaw and bring it completely to room temperature before rewhipping and using for its intended purpose. It’s most commonly used for filling and decorating layer cakes, garnishing petite cakes or for sandwiching French macarons. A squiggle on an èclair or choux puff might not be bad either!

I reviewed a number of recipes from different sources and found many variants in terms of sugar to egg white ratio (anywhere from 1:1 up to 2:1) as well as differences in the amount of butter added e.g. when using 6 large whites, the butter quantity can range from 340 g / 12 ounces up to a full 456 g / one pound or even more!

Here’s my full batch base recipe (includes flavor variations!) which makes about 4.5 cups of buttercream - generally plenty for a 2-layer eight or nine inch round cake with leftovers for decorating, or just the ticket for some dozens of small treats. And remember - you can freeze the leftovers!

Getting ready to go!

On the day you want to make your SMBC, plan ahead and weigh out 370 g unsalted butter and cut it into 1/2 to 1 inch cubes. The butter needs to be at room temperature before adding it to the meringue!

Have your flavor ingredients ready to go too - from a pinch up to 1/4 teaspoon of salt to taste, 2 teaspoons vanilla (or other extracts) plus your chosen additions like caramel, fruit purée, melted/cooled yet liquid chocolate or lemon curd.

For the meringue place 6 large egg whites and 300 g sugar in a bowl over a steaming bain marie whisking constantly until the mixture reaches a temperature of anywhere from 145-155ºF. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk and beat on high until completely cool and marshmallow-y. I plan on a good 10 minutes for that.

Realize that the bottom of the mixing bowl may still feel a tad warm to the touch due to the heat of mixing. I test the meringue by putting a dab on my wrist - if it feels cool, I start adding the butter. You want to avoid adding it too early or you’ll end up with a soupy mess.

Add the butter several pieces at a time, blending completely after each addition. The mixture should thicken and become smooth and creamy by the time all the butter has been added. If it’s too loose, pop it into the fridge or freezer to firm it up and then rewhip.

Butter added - just waiting for flavor additions

When incorporating flavor components, they should be at room temperature, added slowly and blended on medium low with the whisk attachment to keep the buttercream from separating. Then scrape down and give it a final high speed whisking for a couple of minutes. Some folks switch to the paddle to give it a final fluffing up.

For a full batch of apple cider caramel blend in 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 cup caramel sauce with 2 tablespoons boiled cider (available from King Arthur Flour) and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.

Apple cider caramel

For white chocolate mocha have ready 170 g white chocolate, melted and cooled yet still liquid, plus 2 tablespoons instant espresso powder dissolved in 2 tablespoon hot water and cooled. Blend it in. Yum.

White chocolate mocha

Oh man - yes I know this isn’t gelato but these images remind me of those mounds of creamy, cold goodness on display in all the gelaterias in Italy!

In addition to the two above (let’s call them richer flavors), I also went for the lighter, springier choices of lemon, mixed berry and honey orange. You can find details on the flavor additions here.

Now what exactly might I do with all this buttercream?? Small cakes of course!

First a quick word on piping tips. Just three tip shapes - round, star and French star - can create a bevy of designs for you. For years I’ve relied on my round and basic star tips (closed or more open like the one in the rear) to pipe the simple designs I prefer, but the French star - oh my. It has finer spacing which creates more of a seashell or tighter spiral look. I LOVE it. The only one I have is the one you see below, but I think a couple more sizes would do me just fine. Yup.

BTW just so you have a sense of size, the round tips range from 6 mm at the bottom of the image up to 12 mm (~1/2 inch) at the top.

I chose pecan cakes for the apple cider caramel SMBC, baking them in petite tinned steel brioche tins. NOTE: it’s very important to butter the tins thoroughly and pop the cakes out within a few minutes of coming out of the oven to avoid sticking. One could also use mini muffin tins like I did in a previous post where you’ll find the pecan cake recipe. Silicone molds would also work well although I think the cakes brown and crisp better in metal molds.

My small round tip served nicely to pipe a daisy like design to compliment the fluted ridges of the cakes. Pretty simple stuff.

Apple cider caramel on pecan pie cake

For the white chocolate mocha SMBC a classic moelleux chocolat seemed just right, baked in one of my favorite square savarin silicone molds. The French star tip yields a lovely scallop like swirl. Those are some Valrhona dark chocolate crunchy pearls on top. Delicious.

White chocolate mocha on moelleux chocolat

The lemon cake is essentially financier batter to which lemon zest has been added. I baked these in mini-muffin silicone molds. So simple and nice.

Lemon on citrus financier

Since I made a batch of lemon curd to add to the lemon buttercream, I also used it to create a center flavor burst in the cake before topping with the final flourish. Using a round tip I cut out a core piece (for snacking of course), filled it with the curd and finished it off with a star tip swirl.

For the mixed berry use your favorite base muffin recipe and fold in an assortment of berries like blue, red and black. I generally avoid adding fresh strawberries to cakes or muffins due to their water content and mushiness after baking. Once again a star tip provides the luscious ridges. Create different looks as you swirl, twist and lift your tip.

Mixed berry on triple berry muffins

For the honey orange SMBC I again used my base financier batter, replacing 1/2 the almond flour with finely ground pistachios and adding orange zest for a lovely citrus touch. Similar to the lemon cakes above, I used my favorite mini-muffin silicone mold for the cakes and the star tip swirl for the top flourish with a few pistachios tucked in the center for a tasty treat.

Honey orange on orange pistachio financier

For a different look I used another favorite ingot rectangular silicone mold which gives me a linear canvas for the buttercream using the French star tip. Same financier, more orange zest in the buttercream for a deeper orange color and a ridge of scallops or stars on top. Remember it’s all about how you twist, swirl and lift! Candied pistachios add just the right crunch. So deeeelicous!

Have fun creating your own treats with luscious buttercream the Swiss way!

As spring moves into summer do your best to keep a positive outlook, stay safe and healthy. That’s what counts.

Giant allium

White lacecap Viburnum

Fragrant lilac -oh the aroma!

Spring catch up

We’ve had a cool spring so far but of late the crabapple trees have been giving us quite a show. Above is an example of what I’ve been seeing on my daily walks - a much appreciated and welcome splash of color to brighten our otherwise homebound lives.

Walking is my musing time (according to Merriam Webster, muse can be used as an intransitive verb meaning : to become absorbed in thought, especially : to think about something carefully and thoroughly), a way for me to try and make sense of what’s going on, dreaming of visiting family, traveling long distance or once again being in front of an eager group of pastry students.

Through it all baking continues to be my companion (in addition to Steve of course), whether it’s reading one of my favorite pastry books or physically working in the kitchen enjoying the rhythm of mise en place, preparation or the enjoyment of the final result, no matter if it’s for our larder or to share with others.

Here are just a few things that have come out of the kitchen in recent weeks.

Sesame sticks for personal snacking!

Caramel drizzled cinnamon star for Mother’s Day sharing

Baguette ooh la la - more on this one coming up!

Petite gateaux au citron

Graham crackers for snacking or crushing into crumbs.

The project ideas continue to churn. What next, eh?

Meanwhile be reasonable, stay safe and take care of yourselves and those you love.

Happy Spring!!

Couronne aux amandes et aux noisettes . . . . and more!

During our weeks of staying home and sheltering in place I’ve been doing a variety of baking projects with an eye toward using ingredients I have on hand (hmmmm . . . this is starting to sound old). That also includes croissant dough sitting in my freezer waiting for just the right moment.

Wouldn’t you know I had two batches of said dough that were nearing their “use by” date - I don’t like unbaked yeasted dough to sit for longer than 6 weeks in the freezer since after that the yeast starts dumbing down and the dough doesn’t rise well at all. Trust me - I know.

Time to create! Get ready for it!

I decided to make four different pastries: a bit more than half of one batch for a couronne (can be translated as crown or wreath), the remainder of that batch for petite pain au chocolat, another half batch for apricot twists and the final half batch for what I refer to as cherry cream cheese “flip throughs”. Oh boy!

First up is the hazelnut and almond couronne which is shaped in a pretty cool way. A good rule of thumb when rolling this type of dough, no matter what you’re going to shape, is to aim for a finished piece of dough that’s about 1/4” thick. If you start getting much thinner than that, you’ll lose some of the discrimination of your layers and won’t have as lovely of a laminated finish.

I rolled ~680 g of croissant dough into a 8”x14” rectangle. I had my hazelnut filling ready to go - very much like remonce (which I wrote about in the recent Danish Kringle post), it combines equal weights of almond paste (I’m loving Mandelin premium), sugar and butter followed by the addition of three times that weight in toasted, finely ground hazelnuts - e.g I used 100 g EACH of almond paste, sugar and butter plus 300 g toasted, ground hazelnuts. Cinnamon or other spices can also be added.

My couronne required 340 g of filling so I had leftovers which I wrapped and froze for another day.

Spread the filling over the dough and roll it up into a log.

Once rolled, cut slits about 1 inch apart along one side, not quite all the way through.

Then form the log into a circle, joining the ends. Twist each sliced portion outward so you see the filling.

Brush lightly with egg wash and let rise about 1.5 hours. Toward the end of the rising time heat the oven to 350ºF.

Do a second egg wash and sprinkle with sliced almonds.

Bake about 45 minutes until golden brown. I always check about half way through and rotate my tray to promote even baking.

I decided to gussy it up a bit by making a simple orange scented glaze with some orange zest, confectioner’s sugar and fresh orange juice and drizzled it all over.

Once cooled I sliced a section for testing and loved it! I’m a big fan of hazelnut and orange anyway, so this definitely did the trick. And the almond/hazelnut combo took it up a notch too. A big thumbs up!

The petite pain au chocolat portion of the program was straight forward, a process I’ve done many times. A simple image will do this time around. Hmmm . . . . I’m getting low on chocolate batons.

Next up - apricot twists. Using a half batch of croissant dough, I rolled it out to 12”x 14” rectangle with the long side facing me, parallel to my work surface. Brush the dough with melted butter then sprinkle on about 1.5 tablespoons of vanilla sugar (cinnamon sugar if you like). Roll lightly with a rolling pin to help the sugar stick.

Fold the dough in half from one side so that you end up with a 12”x7” piece. Roll the dough to seal it and slightly stretch it.

Now cut seven strips, each 1” wide.

Holding each strip at the ends, stretch it as you twist it several times then coil it up into a spiral.

Place on a parchment lined sheet pan, brush lightly with egg wash and let rise about an hour.

I often use my cold oven as a proof box, placing a pan of warm water on the bottom shelf. However, if my oven is in use, I tuck my tray in a safe spot, place a small glass of warm water on the tray and cover with an overturned clear tote bin to provide moisture and a hint of warmth.

Once risen - they should look more pouf-y and the laminations appear more prominent. Brush again with egg wash, push down at a couple of central spots with your little finger tip or the end of a wooden spoon or chopstick and do your best to direct some apricot jam in there. Don’t fuss over it - just go for it. I added a sprinkle of vanilla sugar too.

Bake at 375ºF for about 17-18 minutes until golden.

To bring up the rear, last but not least are my “flip-throughs”. Once again using a half batch of croissant dough, I roll it out to ~8” by 13.5” and cut 12 pieces, each 4” by 2.25”. Each rectangle gets a slit down the center leaving the ends intact. I consider these my medium size - you can make them smaller or larger - just cut any size rectangle you’d like!

Now take one short end, roll it downward then bring it up through the slit, essentially flipping it through to the top as the sides naturally twist. Looks kinda like a bowtie - just straighten the rectangle a bit and they’re ready to rise. The first time I did this way back when, I found it helpful to cut a piece of paper or felt and practice - you can visualize it immediately.

Place on a parchment lined sheet, lightly egg wash and let rise about an hour. Egg wash again and top with your chosen filling - lemon curd, almond cream and jam are just some of the possibilities.

One of my favorite ways to finish these off is with a basic cream cheese filling made by blending 227 g / 8 ounces cream cheese with 57 g / 1/4 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, some lemon and/or orange zest, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; beat on medium with the paddle until light and smooth; blend in 2 large egg yolks until fully incorporated. This made plenty for my purpose here but you can certainly double the recipe if you’re doing a larger batch of pastries.

NOTE: After the rise the center should fill in but sometimes there’s still a gap between the twisted sides. Just blob your filling/jam more along the edges if need be, otherwise just dollop a blob along the center and top with jam of choice - in this case cherry.. Once they bake it all blends in.

Bake at 375ºF about 17-20 minutes until golden and the filling is set.

Planning for properly timed rises and taking turns in the oven for each type of pastry made for a busy baking day and resulted in a wonderful assortment of goodies that I ended up divvying up amongst a number of our neighbors. A great way to use croissant dough that would have soon been over-the-hill after too long a stay in the freezer.

The neighbors were most happy!

Have fun, stay safe and keep on keepin’ on folks.