Coriander buttermilk "bouchon"

If you’re dreaming of the perfect buttermilk pancake and donut hole rolled into one, this is it! Moist with hints of nutmeg, coriander and ginger, these small bites go down so smoothly that you’ll clamor for more. I first made these in 2012 in my small shop inside Hope Artiste Village in Pawtucket RI. When Steve and I saw them, we immediately knew what they should be called.

Bouchon is the French word for cork, and the champagne cork shape develops as they bake in small round flexi-molds. The key is to fill the wells enough so that the top poofs out over the edges as the cakes rise, giving that signature look.

The process is your basic creaming method of cake prep. In a nutshell: cream butter and sugar, add eggs and vanilla, blend in dry ingredients alternating with wet (1/3 dry, 1/2 wet, 1/3 dry, 1/2 wet and end with 1/3 dry), scraping down after each addition.

In the plan ahead phase, bring 170 g / 6 ounces unsalted butter, one cup buttermilk and 2 large eggs to room temperature. While not a complete deal breaker, this will cut down on any curdling that can occur during mixing when things are too cold.

Heat the oven to 425ºF.

In a medium bowl whisk 200 g all purpose flour, 146 g whole wheat pastry flour, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1.5 teaspoons baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon ground coriander, 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (I eyeball it and probably end up using less) and 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger.

Place the 170 g room temp butter with 75 granulated sugar and 67 g dark brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle. Cream for 2-3 minutes and scrape down the bowl.

Add the eggs, one by one, as well as a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Do the dry/wet additions as mentioned above.

In the image above you can see the Demarle Flexipan mold 2266 I use for this - at purchase it is a 48 well mold, but I cut it in half to fit on a half sheet pan. I probably haven’t mentioned this for some time now, but I always set silicone flexi-molds on a wire grid on the sheet pan. This allows for better oven heat circulation and more even baking.

This cake batter is quite thick so I use a wide round tip (20 mm / 3/4” diameter) to pipe and hold my offset spatula in the other hand to cleanly “cut” the batter away from the tip as I go. Works like a charm.

Pipe the batter to nearly the top of each mold with a nice dome at the finish. Not having made these for some time, I had to fine tune my piping as I went. The yield varies but I typically get 32-34 cakes from a recipe. I ended up with 42 this time which tells me I need to be more generous with my piping for the next go. Gotta get those cork tops!

Bake about 15 minutes until golden. The cakes should feel firm when gently pressed on top.

While the cakes bake, melt 4 tablespoons butter in a small bowl; in another small bowl mix 1/2 cup sugar with 1 teaspoon ground coriander, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger and a few grates of fresh nutmeg.

Once out of the oven, let cool about 5 minutes then pop the cakes out onto the wire racks.

Working in small batches, dip the tops in the melted butter, give them a couple of minutes for the butter to absorb and then dip/roll them in the coriander sugar mixture.

I didn’t dip and roll the whole batch since I wanted to freeze some au naturel to have on hand for later. You never know when a bouchon occasion might arise.

These babies are dense yet light, not too sweet and with just the right warmth from the spices.

My inspiration for making these after a number of years was two-fold: I was dreaming about them and just happened to have some buttermilk in the fridge, plus a weekend visit from sister Joyce for whom I had to have a little treat or two on hand. Thanks for your visit Joybell!

Oh - and let’s not forget that Steve loves them!!

Happy bouchon making everyone and here’s to more autumn baking adventures.

Ciao for now.