PUFF PASTRY TWISTS WITH CINNAMON AND CARDAMON

Posted in Breakfast & Brunch, Desserts, Sweets, Sweets by sallybr

You can conceivably use store-bought puff pastry (try to find a brand that uses real butter, not shortening), but a lot of the fun is making your own. For this type of pastry, no need to do too many folds. Great project for a weekend, but avoid days of excessive heat.

PUFF PASTRY TWISTS WITH CINNAMON AND CARDAMON
(from The Bewitching Kitchen, adapted from several sources)

3 cups (390g) all-purpose flour
1½ tablespoons sugar
1½ teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1 cup ice water (you may not need the full cup)
for butter square:
3 sticks unsalted butter, chilled

Process flour, sugar, and salt in food processor until combined. With processor running, add vinegar, followed by ¾ cup super cold water. Add remaining ¼ cup water as needed, a little at a time with the machine always running. Stop adding water when the dough comes together, and immediately remove from the processor, gathering the dough gently with your hands. Form into a square, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 full hour.

Start working on the butter block: Lay the three butter sticks side by side over a sheet of parchment paper and cover with a plastic wrap. Gently pound butter with rolling pin until butter is softened, then roll out as an 8-inch square, trying to keep the thickness equal all over the extension of the butter. Wrap the square in plastic and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.

Roll chilled dough into 14 inch square on lightly floured counter. Place chilled butter square diagonally in center of dough. Fold corners of dough up over butter square so that corners meet in middle and pinch dough seams to seal (see first photo of the composite below). Gently roll dough into 14-inch square, dusting with extra flour as needed to prevent sticking. Fold dough into thirds like a business letter, then fold rectangle in thirds to form a square, try to make it as neat as possible. Wrap dough in plastic, freeze for 30 minutes and remove to the refrigerator, keeping it there for 60 minutes more.

Repeat the folding and rolling twice, if you can do it fast no need to refrigerate, but if at any time you feel the butter warming, place it in the fridge for 45 minutes before the next rolling out. Once you complete the foldings, let the dough rest for 2 full hours before finally using it.

MAKING THE TWISTS
1/2 of the puff pastry made as above
½ cup sugar
3 tablespoon unsalted butter melted
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom

Mix sugar, salt and spices in a small bowl. Reserve. Heat the oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper (it works better than silicone for this type of bake, disregard what you see in the composite picture below, I switch to parchment on the second batch).

Roll the puff pastry into a large square (about 12 x 12 in), the thinner the better without allowing it to crack. Brush melted butter all over the pastry, then sprinkle the sugar-spice mixture, pressing gently with the fingers. Fold the pastry sheet in half, enclosing the sugar mixture. Cut narrow strips with a pizza roller. Twist each piece and place on the parchment-lined sheet.

Bake for 14-15 minutes until golden brown.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: These turned out absolutely delicious, although they un-twisted quite a bit during baking. I should have pressed the ends harder on the parchment paper, but still it didn’t compromise the experience. I cut the long strips in half because I did not want to have very long twists, so do what you think is best for you.

Yes, making puff pastry from scratch takes a bit of work, but quite a bit of it is waiting for the dough to chill. I will make turnovers pretty soon, so stay tuned!

ONE YEAR AGO: Three Delicious Bakes

TWO YEARS AGO: Banana Bread from the Experts

THREE YEARS AGO: Shrimp Stir-Fry with Snow Peas and Cashews

FOUR YEARS AGO: Pickled-Roasted Chickpeas with Cashew Cream

FIVE YEARS AGO: Twice-Baked Goat Cheese Souffle

SIX YEARS AGO: A Star from England in the Bewitching Kitchen

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Hommage to the Sun

EIGHT YEARS AGO:The Fabulous Three
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NINE YEARS AGO: Turkey-Chorizo Burger with Green Chile Dressing
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TEN YEARS AGO:Taco Salad
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ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Semolina Sourdough Boule
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TWELVE YEARS AGO:Forgive me, for I have sinned
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THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Cracked Wheat Sandwich Bread
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FIFTEEN YEARS AGO:French Bread

20Jul2024

PIE POPS

Posted in Desserts, Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

What a completely fun concept! Bake a pie, but make it small. Really small. And don’t forget to get a stick going, for that pop experience… The idea comes from Cook’s Desserts Illustrated (available at amazon.com), which is a must-have for any baker out there. I cannot publish the exact recipe and method from the book, but let me share the overall process.

Get your favorite, preferably all-butter pie crust recipe, roll it out thin, and cut 3 inch rounds…

Transfer half of the rounds to a large rimmed baking sheet, add a stick to it, and one tablespoon of the filling of your choice (I used apple butter + cream cheese, as suggested in the book).

Freeze that for 10 minutes, then brush egg wash on the edges and add the second set of pie rounds on top. Crimp the edges, cut small slits with a sharp knife, brush with more egg wash…

and bake them at 375F for about 25 minutes…

You can conceivably use any filling but make sure it is not too wet. Keep in mind these are to be enjoyed just holding on the stick, no plate, nothing. You don’t want to have filling running all over the place. It is such a cute concept, and perfect to share! I hope you’ll give this method a try soon…

ONE YEAR AGO: Thai-Inspired Cucumber and Mango Salad

TWO YEARS AGO: Dressing up the Roll Cakes

THREE YEARS AGO: Smoked Shrimp Tacos with Roasted Jalapeño Salsa

FOUR YEAR AGO: Corn Fritters

FIVE YEARS AGO: Minnie Macarons

SIX YEARS AGO: Air-Fried Mexican Meatloaf

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Mimi’s Sticky Chicken, a Call from my Past

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Perfect Soy-Grilled Steak

NINE YEARS AGO: The Devil’s Bread

TEN YEARS AGO: Heart of Palm Salad Skewers

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Potluck Frittata and Lavoisier

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Home-made Corn Tortillas

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Whole-Wheat Spaghetti with Peanut Sauce

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Brigadeiros: A Brazilian Party!

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Lemony Asparagus

8Jul2024

RASPBERRY VOVO, AND SAVOUR ONLINE COOKING CLASSES

Posted in Cookies, Desserts, Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

Coconut biscuit, raspberry jam, and marshmallow. Those three together are the key to a treat to make you smile. Looks adorable, tastes amazing… What’s not to like? Well, if you are not fond of coconut, make a plain biscuit, it will still be wonderful. I cannot share the exact recipe I used, because it is part of Savour Cooking School, but similar recipes can be found online. Like this one.

I’ve been a member of Savour for a long time. In fact, I joined just a couple of months after they launched the site. Kirsten Tibballs – pure royalty in the Australian Patisserie World – is the founder and the major engine behind the school. Classes are super detailed, and divided in “beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels”. I will not lie to you, the beginner level can be quite involved, and the advanced a sure ticket to hyperventilation and despair. But of course, totally worth it! Even if I don’t bake a lot of the things they teach, I learn a lot by watching the videos. If you’d like to join, visit the site with a click here. I cannot share their recipes, but today I show you three bakes I’ve made following Kirsten’s classes.

RASPBERRY VOVO

These are just outstanding. Reading about them, it turns out that there are two versions, one from Australia, one from Ireland (called Mikado). The Australian version uses fondant and the Irish calls for marshmallow, which is what Kirsten taught in class. You can read more about it here. I find it intriguing that the name (vovo) means “grandpa” in Portuguese, but could not quite find the origin of the name in Australia. The recipe starts with baking some coconut shortbread, then making raspberry jam, and the delicious raspberry marshmallow that gets piped at the edges. A little warm knife is the secret to get the marshmallow cut nicely in between the cookies. Some of the steps are shown below…

Recently Kirsten launched a challenge, picking one recipe from the hundreds available and asking members to make it and share the pictures. I participated of two of these monthly challenges.

DULCE ROCHER

These are considered “beginner” level at Savour. You will make a shortbread cookie, a whipped caramel for the filling, sugar-coated hazelnuts for the coating, and finally temper some milk chocolate. I loved making these but a word of caution: since each cookie will be coated in chocolate/nuts, make sure they are rolled thin to start with, or you will end up with a massive sandwich cookie. Finesse matters here! Some of the steps are shown below…

Can you imagine the taste of all that caramel plus the cookie, chocolate, and the crunch of the sugared hazelnuts? It is a dream in cookie shape! Lots of members participated of the challenge, the person who won made them super cute in square shape, she really deserved the prize (in that case it was quite a bit of high quality chocolate, and, yes, I would have loved to be the winner!).

STRAWBERRY AND CREAM CHOUX BUNS

If you can believe it, this is also considered beginner level (cough, cough). Components to make these beauties: choux buns with a craquelin coating, strawberry compote, cinnamon crumble, and white chocolate chantilly. The result is totally worth the work, trust me. Since they are too messy to donate to the homeless, I took them to our department and well, let’s say there were a bunch of super happy Professors and graduate students. Mission accomplished!

If you like to take your baking up several notches, I highly recommend joining Savour (click here). Plus there is a nice community online through their Facebook page, where you can see what everyone else is baking, and share kitchen adventures.

ONE YEAR AGO: Egyptian Goulash

TWO YEARS AGO: Steamed Chicken with Black Bean Sauce

THREE YEARS AGO: Ginger-Dill Salmon

FOUR YEARS AGO: Eleven Years, Time for Goodbye

FIVE YEARS AGO: Salmon Tacos

SIX YEARS AGO: A Dream that did not come true

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Kaleidoscopic Macarons

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Zucchini Noodles with Sun-dried Tomato Pesto

NINE YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, July 2015

TEN YEARS AGO: Sous-vide Pork Chops with Roasted Poblano Butter

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Roasted Strawberry-Buttermilk Sherbet

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Amazing Ribs for the 4th of July!

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Baby Back Ribs on the 4th of July

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Blueberry Muffins

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: A Pie for your 4th of July

14Jun2024

BRIOCHE ROLLS WITH PISTACHIO FILLING

Posted in Breakfast & Brunch, Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

I went back to a favorite recipe to make brioche dough, found in Helen Fletcher’s blog Pastries Like a Pro (click here to retrieve it). After the overnight proofing in the fridge, I took 60g amounts and shaped as little rolls, enclosing a tasty pistachio filling.

BRIOCHE ROLLS WITH PISTACHIO FILLING
(from Helen Fletcher and The Bewitching Kitchen)

for the dough, click here

for the filling:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 large egg white
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 + 1/4 cup pistachio flour

In a medium bowl, mix together the granulated sugar and butter with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until combined. Mix in the salt and egg white (reserve the egg yolk for the egg wash), and then add the vanilla extract. Stir in the pistachio flour. Place in a large piping bag and reserve.

To shape the rolls: grab 60g portions of the dough, still cold from the fridge and roll as a rectangle so that the shorter dimension will fit in your baking pan of choice. Cut small strands on 3/4 of the length as shown in the pictures below. Add the filling to the top and roll it to close. Place in your baking pan and let it rise covered loosely for 1 hour to 90 minutes. Brush the surface with the egg yolk reserved, and bake at 375F for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I saw this cool shaping technique over at Instagram in the page of Chef Antonis, from Greece (click here to visit his page. Worked like a charm with this brioche dough, I intend to try other shaping methods in the future.

The picture above is slightly out of focus, but when I noticed it was too late and I did not want to cut another one, as they were to be donated later that day. The dough has the right amount of sweetness, and the pistachio cream complemented it well. I highly recommend you play with this recipe and come up with new combinations of flavors and shaping.

Once again, a huge thank you to Helen for her great method to make brioche dough!

ONE YEAR AGO: Shrimp with Pickled Jalapeños and Broccoli

TWO YEARS AGO: Sticky Spicy Pork Over Golden Rice

THREE YEARS AGO: Mini-Pullman Sourdough Bread

FOUR YEARS AGO: Gibassier

FIVE YEARS AGO: Sundried Tomato Twist Bread

SIX YEARS AGO: And now for something completely different….

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Parsnip, Coconut, and Lemongrass Soup

EIGHT YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, October 2016

NINE YEARS AGO: Paleo Moussaka

TEN YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, October 2014

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, October 2013

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Crimson and Cream Turkey Chili

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Taking a break from the nano-kitchen

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Chocolate Chip Cookies

16May2024

VANILLA DONUTS WITH STRAWBERRY GLAZE

Posted in Desserts, Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

As those who follow my blog might know, every Friday I donate a box of sweets for a homeless meal in our town. Some items are mandatory: decorated cookies, regular cookies and chocolate-covered Oreos come to mind. Then, I like to include some variety. Little tartlets, brownies, cupcakes. Or… donuts!

VANILLA DONUTS WITH STRAWBERRY GLAZE
(adapted from several sources)

1 + 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup grape seed oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup water

for the glaze:
1 + ¼ cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoon freeze-dried strawberries, crumbled
2 tablespoon whole milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
sprinkles to decorate (optional)

Heat the oven to 375 F. Spray a 12-cavity donut pan with cooking spray and set aside.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl. Whisk together the egg, buttermilk, oil, vanilla and water in a medium bowl. Whisk the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir to combine. Fill a piping bag with the batter and pipe the batter into the donut pans, filling each cavity halfway, as the batter will expand quite a bit.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into a donut comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove to a rack and cool completely.

Make the glaze: Whisk the sugar and dried strawberries in a shallow bowl. Slowly stir in milk and vanilla extract to make smooth, pourable glaze. Dip each donut in the glaze and place back on cooling rack. Add sprinkles before the glaze sets. Allow glaze to set for 30 minutes before serving.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: This is a very simple recipe and produces donuts that are soft and delicate. Make sure not to fill the pan more than halfway. The glaze is also quite straightforward. It relies on freeze-dried strawberries that these days are available in most grocery stores. I do have a harder time finding freeze-dried raspberries… Those could go perfectly here also.