From Phyllo to Backlava! Daring Bakers Challenge June 2011

Honestly, I was trying to come up with some excuse for why I couldn't complete this month's challenge. One reason: i.n.t.i.m.i.d.a.t.e.d. I just didn't think I would have the patience, time or ability to do it. And I'm not a fan of backlava. Ok there. I said it. I made it once a few years ago and just didn't like it, so I wasn't too excited about the challenge. Now that I've finished it though, I'm delighted I did. I can now say I made my own phyllo pastry.

And I will never be doing it again. I figure its like climbing Mt. Everest. Its an awesome achievement, but once in a lifetime is enough.

Ok well maybe its not as extreme as climbing Everest, but its my baking equivalent :)

Here's a link to the recipe which has some really great tips on how to roll out the phyllo.

As I have a 90th birthday cake to make (I'll post it next week :), I'm just going to give you what I did in stages.

First I had to make the phyllo and roll it very, very thin. I made a single batch of recipe and it took me nearly 4 hours to roll it out.

 Nearly see-thru

Once I had the dough done and nicely covered I started processing the nuts. Instead of going for the walnuts and pistachios listed in the recipe (not really a fan of walnuts, which may have contributed to my dislike for the first version I made years ago) I emptied out my cupboard and used the different types of nuts I had on hand.

 

In the end I had cashews, pecans, hazelnuts, almonds and brazil nuts. So I threw all them with a cinnamon stick, a pinch of allspice and some sugar into my mini-processor.

Isn't it cute?

Its so tiny it took a few goes but I finally ended up with bowl of deliciousness ...

 A thought it was stuffing, so he grabbed a spoon and dug in. He had quite the look of shock when he realized it wasn't actually stuffing, but he said it tasted awesome. I had to use my rolling pin to get him out and make sure I had some left for the backlava!

 

After multiple butter-phyllo-butter-phyllo-butter-phyllo-butter-phyllo-butter-phyllo-nut mix-butter-phyllo (you get the idea) it was ready for the oven. When it was finished I poured the syrup over the crispy deliciousness and just left it swimming for the night.

 

Swimming in syrup

I was a little worried it would be too much syrup, but by the morning ...

All gone!!

The syrup had all soaked in! I was surprised.

I had to try a slice ...

...and it was totally delish!! So nice, I have to get it out of the house ... my hips don't need this delicious, pastry, nutty, syrupy treasure hanging around. Good thing I have a 90th birthday party to take them to :)

Try it sometime. Just make sure you don't have anything else planned for the evening :)

Peace,

Jenn x

Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake - Daring Bakers Challenge, March 2011

Man I've been offline for a while, eh? Sorry.

I got a new job a couple of weeks ago, which is great. I'm really enjoying it and it feels good to be doing chemistry again after my hiatus. I've also been out of town the last two weekends, so I've literally been going non-stop for the last 2 weeks. While I wasn't working I filled my days pretty well with cooking, baking, cleaning, exercising and blogging. Unfortunately, I'm barely keeping up with cooking, let alone everything else! This working thing ... I'm not so sure I like it so much :)

Anyway, this month's Daring Baker's challenge was fantastic. It was hosted by Jamie of Life's a Feast and Ria from Ria's Collection. The first time I read the challenge I knew it was going to be a good one. I love meringue but never thought of putting it into a loaf. It just melts into the bread and flavourings and is just ... well ... beautiful! I highly recommend it. I'll be making it again for sure!

Here's how I made it:

FILLED MERINGUE COFFEE CAKE


Ingredients
For the yeast coffee cake dough:
2 cups flour
1/8cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 package active dried yeast
3/8 cup whole milk
1/8 cup water (doesn’t matter what temperature)
1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 large egg at room temperature
1/2 tsp almond extract

For the meringue:
2 large egg whites at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup sugar

Fillings
100g slivered almonds
100g dried apples
2 tbsp cinnamon
150g dark chocolate, chopped

In a large mixing bowl, combine 3/4 cups of the flour, the sugar, salt and yeast. In a saucepan, combine the milk, water and butter and heat over medium heat until warm and the butter is just melted. With an electric mixer on low speed, gradually add the warm liquid to the flour/yeast mixture, beating until well blended. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes. Add the egg and 1/2 cup flour and beat for 2 more minutes.
Using a wooden spoon, stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a dough that holds together. Turn out onto a floured surface (use any of the 3/4 cups of flour remaining) and knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes until the dough is soft, smooth, sexy and elastic, keeping the work surface floured and adding extra flour as needed.
Place the dough in a lightly greased (I use vegetable oil) bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let rise until double in bulk, 45 – 60 minutes. The rising time will depend on the type of yeast you use.

Once the dough has doubled, make the meringue:
In a clean mixing bowl – ideally a plastic or metal bowl so the egg whites adhere to the side (they slip on glass) and you don’t end up with liquid remaining in the bottom – beat the egg whites with the salt, first on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high and continue beating until foamy and opaque. Add the almond extract then start adding the 1/4 cup sugar, a tablespoon at a time as you beat, until very stiff, glossy peaks form. Line 2 baking/cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Punch down the dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a 20 x 10-inch rectangle. Spread the meringue evenly over the rectangle up to about 1/2-inch (3/4 cm) from the edges.

Sprinkle your filling of choice evenly over the meringue. Roll up the dough jellyroll style, from the long side.

Pinch the seam closed to seal. Very carefully transfer the filled log to one of the lined cookie sheets, seam side down. Bring the ends of the log around and seal the ends together, forming a ring, tucking one end into the other and pinching to seal. Using kitchen scissors or a sharp knife (although scissors are easier), make cuts along the outside edge at 1-inch (2 ½ cm) intervals. Make them as shallow or as deep as desired but don’t be afraid to cut deep into the ring.

 Cover the coffee cake with plastic wrap and allow it to rise again for 45 to 60 minutes.

Oozing meringue. Yummmm!!!

 Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
Brush the tops of the coffee cakes with the egg wash. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes until risen and golden brown. The dough should sound hollow when tapped.

This was really delish. The dough was lovely and the flavour and texture of the meringue was really nice. I would probably leave out the apples and chocolate next time I make it as the almonds and cinnamon were the nicest bits.

 So next time you have company coming for tea, throw this together. You won't be disappointed!

Peace,

Jenn x

Panna Cotta and Florentines - Daring Bakers February 2011

I am now a Daring Baker!

After repeatedly seeing the amazing things made by Not Quite Nigella and Ria, I was inspired to try it out. I love to bake and the unique treats made would provide me with a challenge. I'd get to make things I haven't heard of before (like Florentines!) and be part of a wonderful online community. What's not to love?

So keep an eye, on the 27th of each month the daring treats will be published.

The challenge for this month was hosted by MissMallory of a sofa in the kitchen, who decided on panna cotta and Florentines. I had never made panna cotta before and had never even heard of Florentines, so it was a great beginning. I had great ambitions to make a jelly of one flavour to work with the flavour of the panna cotta, but I couldn't find a recipe for banana jelly and I knew the month was going to get away from me, so I decided to start small and focus on chocolate panna cotta. I followed David Lebovitz's recipe for perfect panna cotta and added some chocolate so it wasn't a plain vanilla panna cotta. Here's how I made it:


Perfect (Chocolate) Panna Cotta (adapted from David Lebovitz)

2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 packet powdered gelatin
3 tbsp cold water
75g chopped dark chocolate

When I was thinking about flavour combinations with chocolate, I decided not to go with orange. I'm not a fan of the chocolate/orange pairing. But I didn't read the label on the chocolate very well:

... so chocolate/orange panna cotta it was!



Heat the heavy cream and sugar in a pot. Once the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla

 and the chopped chocolate, stirring until all the chocolate is melted.

 

 Lightly oil 4 custard cups with a neutral tasting oil.

Sprinkle the gelatin over cold water in a medium sized bowl and let stand for 5-10 minutes.

 

this stuff gets pretty solid!

Pour the warm panna cotta mixture over the gelatin and stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Divide the panna cotta mixture into the prepared cups then chill them until firm, at least 2 hours.

And there was cookies, which makes everything better :) The challenge said 'Florentines', so I looked in my favorite dessert cookbook, and there was a recipe. I just didn't realize until composing this post that the Daring Bakers used a different recipe. I hope I don't get kicked out for making a completely different biscuit :S

Florentines (from The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts p480-481)

quarter recipe Pâte Sucrée (I'll post this recipe another time)

90 grams sugar

1 1/2 tbsp golden syrup (or light corn syrup)

50 grams unsalted butter

40 grams honey

52 ounces heavy cream

zest of half an orange

125 grams sliced almonds

40 grams candied pineapple, diced

Combine the sugar and corn syrup with 3 tbsp of water in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, for about 4 minutes, or until the mixture begins to caramelize.

Stir in the butter and honey and bring to a boil. Immediately add the cream and zest and again bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the mixture reaches 124C (255F) on a candy thermometer.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the almonds and candied pineapple. Grab your blind-baked Pâte Sucrée. Pour the hot mixture into the pastry and spread into an even layer using an offset spatula. Bake at 177C (350F) for about 12 minutes or until the candied mixture is bubbly (mine were done after 7 minutes).

 This was a little small so it was a taster :)

Set the pan on a wire rack to cool, then using a sharp knife cute into 1 inch squares. Serve or store, airtight, at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Verdict: I wasn't mad about the panna cotta. We went out for dinner a few nights ago and I ordered the strawberry panna cotta on the menu to see how different it was from mine and I didn't like it either. I know David Lebovitz is amazing with desserts, so I think its just my taste.

The Florentines, however, were fantastic. They were a lovely, delicate yet flavourful biscuit that A couldn't get enough of. He said they were perfect comfort cookies. I also served them to the youngest Chef to ever win a Michelin star (any idea who he is??) and he took 3 of them, so they gotta be good. I was pretty proud :D

So tell me, do you like panna cotta? And have you ever tried this version of Florentines? And do you know which Chef I'm talking about?

Peace,

Jenn x