More fun with croissant dough - berry flan buns and bourbon glazed pecan spirals

I typically have croissant dough in my freezer just waiting to be formed into something delicious. As it turns out, I had a couple of batches that needed to be used for fear that they would soon be over-the-hill soooooo . . . . .

I baked one batch as standard croissants destined for the ever popular twice baked croissant aux amandes.

Freshly baked all butter croissant

Twice baked croissant aux amandes

I divided the other batch in half with two goals in mind - flan buns and pecan spirals. First up - Kouign-amann style berry flan buns. Many of you know about this caramel-y, layered Breton specialty that continues to be very popular in the US. There are specific recipes for K-a dough that differ somewhat from croissant dough, buuuuuuut - you can use croissant dough too! As a matter of fact, it was Chef Xavier Cotte at Le Cordon Bleu Paris who demo’ed Kouign-amann to our class using croissant dough all those years ago. What a treat that was.

Did you realize that Kouign-amann was the subject of the very first post I wrote for this blog back in the fall of 2014! Wow, how time flies.

While I use muffin tins, individual cake pans and ring molds to bake the various twists, spirals and twirls that I make with croissant dough, I love making these in buttered and sugared ring molds. I find they brown much better in the open rings. These are 80 mm (3 inches) in diameter and 2.54 cm (1 inch) high, taller than the usual open tart rings I use for tart making. They’re perfect for this use as well as for other pastries like the aforementioned spirals, twists or twirls.

For a half batch of dough I go for a yield of 9 pastries, rolling the dough out (on a sugared rather than floured surface) to a 12” x 12” square, then cutting nine 4” x 4” pieces. Do your best to keep the corners square, although a little curve never hurt a thing. As you roll, flip the dough from front to back, sprinkling more sugar on as you go. Don’t be shy.

Now simply fold the corners of each piece up, kind of pleating the sides, and set the dough into the buttered/sugared rings. Easy-peasy!

Cover lightly with plastic wrap and give them a 45-60 minute rise - you should see more definition of layers and a general pouffy-ness. Meanwhile heat the oven to 375ºF.

You can bake these au naturel, but here I piped a blob of pastry cream into the center (hence the “flan” label), added some blueberries/raspberries and topped with another blob of cream and a sprinkle of raw sugar. I usually have berries in the freezer and add them frozen to avoid the mushiness and wateriness that happens if they’re thawed first (don’t do it!). It’s also helpful that frozen raspberries are easy to break up into smaller pieces for placement in a smallish space.

Sheesh! I forgot to grab a pic after assembly so shot a quick one after going into the oven. Kind of a cool perspective.

Bake about 20-25 minutes until the pastry is golden and the cream set. Once out of the oven I leave them on the sheet pan but gently lift off the rings - they come off much more easily when still warm, before the caramel-y sugar cools.

They’re deelish still slightly warm, but you can also finish cooling them on a wire rack and enjoy the same day.

You can freeze them too. If you do, plan for a treat with morning coffee by heating your oven to 325ºF, take them right out of the freezer, place on a parchment lined sheet pan and thaw/warm for about 15 minutes. If they’re still a bit cool inside, give them another 5 minutes or so. You be the judge.

Next up - crackly glazed pecan spirals.

I’ve previously posted a version similar to this using laminated brioche dough, but here I’m using a slightly different filling and opted for a bourbon butter glaze like the one I used on pound cake a while back. I won’t spend a lot of time on this but just want to share it with you.

For a half batch of croissant dough I’m going for 8 or 9 pastries - just depends on how things roll out.

For the filling blend 28 g/ 2 tablespoons soft unsalted butter with 70 g brown sugar (light or dark, either way). Add a generous teaspoon of spices if you wish - cinnamon or a mixture of your favorites like coriander, cardamom, cinnamon and ginger.

Roll the dough to about a 10”x10” square, spread the filling over it, top it with finely chopped pecans (eyeball it) or your own favorite nut, then roll it up into a log. Cut ~3 cm slices and place them in the center of buttered and sugared rings. You might notice below that I have wrapped two shallower rings together with foil. Since my flan buns were occupying my higher rings, I created my own!

Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise about an hour. I hope you can appreciate in the image below the increase in fullness of the dough compared to above.

Bake at 375ºF for about 20-25 minutes until golden brown, which gives you time to make your glaze.

Here you go: heat 2 tablespoons bourbon with 28 g / 2 tablespoons unsalted butter to melt, then stir in 50 g / 1/4 cup granulated sugar, stirring to dissolve. Once the sugar is dissolved bring to a boil for one minute. Remove from the heat and blend the mixture with 50 g / 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar and 2 tablespoons of crème fraiche.

Once out of the oven, remove the rings (sooner than later is always best).

Brush the glaze generously over the spirals. Now pop the tray back in the oven for about 2-3 minutes. The heat makes the glaze crackle and bubble up, although you can certainly omit this step if you prefer a smooth glazed look.

Smooth or crackled, they’re tasty either way.

Have fun creating your own treats using croissant dough. You can do it!

FOOD52 - Genius Desserts

The last thing I want to do is flood inboxes, BUT I just had to make an apology and correction to my cocoa powder post that just published. As I reviewed the post in my own inbox I realized my error right away. I’ve righted my wrong in the post’s content, but for those of you who receive the posts in your email inbox, please take note!

I referred to the above book as “Dessert Genius” rather than its accurate title “Genius Desserts”. What tricks our minds can play on us sometimes, eh?.

This book is fantastic, not only for all of the great recipes, but it’s such fun to read and contemplate the many pearls of baking wisdom within. I highly recommend it.

So kudos to Kristen Miglore, FOOD 52, Ten Speed Press and all the baking geniuses out there. Hurrah!

Happy Baking!

Flourless cocoa walnut cookies from “Genius Desserts”

Baking with Dutch process cocoa powder

Ganache dipped, Swiss meringue swirled cocoa cakes

Dutch process cocoa powder is one of my standby ingredients, always on hand and at the ready. I’ve been using it for years, not only for my standard brownies that are perennially available for the Steve-meister for his regular evening treat, but for MOST recipes calling for unsweetened cocoa powder. Such wonderful flavor.

NOTE: I say “most” because there are some guidelines for using natural vs Dutch processed that have to do with acid/alkali and using chemical leaveners (baking soda, baking powder). Here’s a great summary for you from Serious Eats (a great resource by the way!).

Dutch process you ask? It’s all thanks to Dutch chemist and chocolatier Conrad van Houten (1801-1887) who figured out how to alkalize the acids in cocoa powder to create a more mellow taste experience. I’ve been using Bensdorf high fat Dutch process cocoa powder for some years now (I am of Dutch heritage after all!) and find the end results so tasty. It’s available through a variety of sources which you can easily find online.

Many say that the decision to use natural cocoa powder vs Dutch process is purely personal and indeed a matter of taste. While the natural version may offer a more enhanced and complex chocolate flavor, the “dutched” version is smoother and, in my estimation, more delicious.

French Tarte “O”s

As I review the things I generally bake with cocoa powder (brownies, financier, shortbread, meringues, fudge cookies, flourless sponge and more), I realize that, at least in my current armamentarium, the only one that contains a chemical leavener is Bouchon’s version of that popular chocolate sandwich cookie lining grocery store shelves. I did a bit of research to try and figure out why one would add baking soda to a shortbread cookie since they don’t typically rise like, let’s say, a classic chocolate chip cookie. From the scientific standpoint, the alkaline baking soda seems to contribute to a more even bake, tenderness and even enhances color and flavor.

OK - enough science. Let’s look at some more ways to use Dutch process cocoa powder. along with a couple of straight forward recipes for you.

Cocoa cakes

This tasty babies are from Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh’s book “Sweet”. Not unlike financier, the batter is made with similar ingredients but doesn’t involve browning the butter which one would normally do for financier. They are a dream to put together and bake so nicely in individual silicone molds from very mini to larger “muffin” sizes, depending on your mood.

This Silikomart mold (SF022) is one of my favorite ones for simple small cakes - just the right size to enjoy a few bites without feeling you’ve overdone it. Remember - everything in moderations folks!

The wells each hold about 48 g/1.7 ounces (if full) - I get about 15 cakes out of the recipe below. You can easily double the recipe for more!

Heat the oven to 375ºF. If not using silicone molds, buttered mini or regular muffin tins work well. Yield will vary depending on the mold/pan you use.

Melt 140 g/5 ounces unsalted butter (I use a pyrex glass cup on medium power in the micro) and have it at the ready.

In a separate bowl, sift together 40 g all purpose flour, 40 g almond flour and 50 g Dutch process cocoa powder.

Place 120 g (4 large) egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment along with 160 g granulated cane sugar and beat on medium-high for a couple of minutes until thickened and glossy.

Continue on the same speed and drizzle the melted butter down the side of the bowl, beating until combined. Scrape down the sides.

On low speed blend in the dry ingredients. I usually take the bowl off the mixer and finish the blending by hand - you want to make sure none of the dry stuff is sitting on the bottom.

Fill molds about 3/4 full (you can scoop but I prefer piping for more equal portions and less muss) and bake about 15 minutes or until center looks set and springs back when touched. Baking time varies depending on mold size.

Let cool in molds about 10 minutes then turn out onto wire rack to finish cooling.

Once cooled I dipped the tops in ganache (seen above), popped them in the fridge to set the ganache, then gave them a nice swirl of dark chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream. Yum. Steve loves these!

Next up - flourless walnut fudge cookies, a François Payard recipe from FOOD52’s “Genius Desserts”. This is an eye opener folks. Plus you can change up the nut choice as you wish - pistachio, pecan, macadamia and more. Nuts and chocolate are a marriage made in heaven if you ask me.

Heat your oven to 350ºF. Line two 1/2 sheet pans with parchment or silicone mats. Place 4 large egg whites in a bowl and allow to come to room temperature (place the bowl in a slightly larger bowl of warm water to speed it up).

Toast 275 g / ~2.75 cups walnuts or nuts of choice on a parchment lined sheet pan for about 10 minutes. You’ll smell the aroma and you’ll know. Let them cool, then chop ‘em up.

Mix together 350 g confectioners sugar, 70 g Dutch process cocoa powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt and the chopped nuts in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle. Give a quick low speed mix to combine then add the egg whites and a tablespoon vanilla extract with the mixer running. Mix on medium about 3 minutes to thicken.

I prefer smaller cookies so I used my tablespoon scoop to portion the dough out. Place pans into the oven then reduce the temp to 325ºF and bake about 15 minutes until tops lightly crack. Rotate your pans half way through the bake.

Slide cookies with the parchment onto cooling racks. Remove from parchment once cooled (tip - if sticking, lift parchment up and gently peel it off cookies from the bottom OR brush a little water on the undersurface of the parchment and the moisture makes for easier release.)

Mmmmmm - what a delightful chew, wonderful nutty flavor and all around tasty experience. Thanks to François Payard and FOOD52!

To wrap it up, I want to share one more way I’ve used Dutch process cocoa in recent weeks. I often speak of twice baked croissant aux amandes, one of Steve’s and my favorite treats (and a lot of other people too, let me tell you).

I made a chocolate hazelnut version by replacing the almond flour in my basic crème d’amandes with hazelnut flour, left the all purpose flour out and added a hefty tablespoon of Dutch process you-know-what.

It goes like this: take croissants a day or two old; slice them as though you’re going to make a sandwich; dip the whole thing in vanilla simple syrup to moisten and give it a squeeze (don’t worry, it’s great fun!) to get rid of excess.

Now open the croissant, pipe a line of hazelnut-cocoa cream, throw a few chunks of chopped chocolate (something in the 60-ish % ballpark) on the cream, then close the sandwich and pipe another line of cream on top. You can add a sprinkling of chopped hazelnuts too.

I usually assemble my twice baked croissants and hold them in the freezer until baking. Heat the oven to 325ºF (I use convection) and put them in right outta the freezer. Bake about 20-25 minutes - you want the cream nicely golden and set. Cool and enjoy. A nice dusting of confectioners sugar gives them that certain je ne sais quoi.

Our taste test was so enjoyable! The inside had just the right amount of chocolate to accompany the hazelnut cream. Of course we tried one while still slightly warm which only enhanced the experience. Yum. Yum. Yum. And just as good the next day. Yes!

Have fun creating your own chocolate goodies. Until next time - stay safe, stay healthy and get vaccinated when you can!

A New Year's Day planche

Happy New Year everyone!

Steve and I celebrated our quiet, at-home New Year’s Day with an early afternoon repast of a classic planche (literally translated as plank) - basically a wooden board on which one places cheeses, meats, olives, nuts or whatever you decide you’d like to have. What’s wrong with that, eh?

Of course we couldn’t help but reminisce about the first of our two trips to Lille, France in recent years to visit niece Christina, husband Glen and children Kiera and Liam. They inspired us with une planche at their home back then, and this year we shipped a few goodies to their current home in upstate NY to give their own planche a kickstart for the Christmas holiday.

Why not do one of our own to start the New Year on just the right note!

Our three cheese choices came from our favorite cheese vendor here in Grand Rapids MI - The Cheese Lady. Such a wonderful array of cheeses with a great selection from many countries. We opted for “Ewephoria”, a firm, aged sheep’s milk Dutch gouda; taleggio, one of our favorite Italian soft cheeses; Stilton, the classic blue from England.

We added some thin sliced ham and mustard seed salami as our meat options, along with sweet and savory toasted pecans (recipe coming below), an olive assortment (for Steve), coarse ground mustard, delicious olive oil crackers from Italy (also a Cheese Lady purchase) and my homemade baguette. Prosecco joined the ranks for our toast to 2021.

Cornichons are a classic addition to a planche but neither one of us cares for them so sayonara to that. One could also add different spreads or dips along with fresh veggies; chutneys, jams or quince paste; even a little pot of honey to give a drizzle of sweetness to any cheese.

What an enjoyable way to spend a portion of our day. We lifted our glasses to 2021 and plunged in.

Steve went with his own combos, and for my first treat I paired baguette with coarse mustard, taleggio and ham . . . . . .

and then moved to a simple chunk of Ewephoria with the mustard seed salami on baguette, a schmear of Stilton on olive oil cracker and some of the deelish pecans.

From there I mixed and matched my way to feeling very satisfied. Good stuff.

Here’s a bit more on the nuts with a recipe for you below.

These are mmmm good . . . . just the right touches of savory and sweet in my book. Try ‘em - I think you’ll like ‘em, especially if you’re a nut fanatic like I am. You can use a mixture of almonds, walnuts and pecans or just go with one nut - you choose.

A full recipe calls for 4 cups of nuts but, unless we’re having a group over (like essentially never during this pandemic), I usually cut it back to 2 cups. That’s plenty for the two of us to enjoy nibbles over the course of a few days.

NOTE: always start with raw/unsalted nuts. Once you’ve mixed them with the other ingredients you’ll be toasting them in the oven. Even when I’m chopping nuts for cookies or cakes or streusel or whatever, I give them a 10-15 minute 300ºF toasting to bring out the flavor and aroma, then cool and chop.

Heat your oven to 325ºF. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

For 2 cups of raw, unsalted nuts: have your nuts measured and set aside; in a heat proof container or saucepan melt one tablespoon unsalted butter (I do it in a 4 cup Pyrex cup in the microwave); blend in one tablespoon olive oil, one tablespoon brown sugar, one tablespoon dried rosemary (I crush it a bit before adding), 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (once you make them and feel you’d like a bit more, increase to 1 teaspoon the next time), 1/2 teaspoon paprika (I use sweet but if you like smoked, you know what to do), 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander, 1/4 teaspoon cumin and a pinch of cayenne (or more to taste). Stir in the 2 cups of nuts to coat evenly.

Spread out on parchment and bake for 15-20 minutes, stirring a couple of times, until fragrant and browned (if you toast nuts frequently, you just know). Transfer to paper towel to cool. Store covered at room temperature for several days.

Remember that pecans tend to brown more quickly than almonds or walnuts so, if I’m using solely pecans, I pay closer attention and even drop the oven temp a bit. You don’t want those babies to burn, no sirree!

Of course you can ramp up the spices to your own taste, sub in your own favorite spices or herbs and use maple syrup instead of brown sugar. Lots of wiggle room here.

You don’t have to wait for a holiday to enjoy your own version of une planche - you can do it!

To health and safety in 2021. Cheers and warmest wishes to all of you from Steve and myself.