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…
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.
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 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.
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!
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.
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.
Plump, soft, sweet, with a little sharpness of the strawberry, these are a crowd-pleaser!
Is it a cake? Is it a sweet bread? Is it heaven on a plate? Yes to all! Another amazing recipe from Helen Fletcher, this is a bit involved but absolutely worth it… Slicing through it to reveal the coiled pattern inside is just too cool!
¾ cup unsalted butter (170 grams) 1 teaspoon active dry yeast 3 tablespoons warm water Pinch granulated sugar 2 ¼ cup bread flour (315 grams) 1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar ½ teaspoon salt 3 large eggs, room temperature ¼ cup half and half (or heavy cream)
Filling ¾ pound dried apricots 1 cup water 5 tablespoons butter (75 grams) ½ cup powdered sugar (65 grams) 1 ½ teapoons vanilla 2 teaspoons cocoa
Almond Paste Crumb Topping 1 cup cake flour (125 grams) ½ cup almond paste (125 grams) ⅔ cup granulated sugar (130 grams) ½ cup unsalted butter (114 grams)
Assembly 1 large egg, well beaten
Make the brioche dough: Cut the butter into small pieces by cutting the stick in half lengthwise, the cutting it into half inch pieces. Place it back in the refrigerator to keep cold. Make a sponge by dissolving the yeast and pinch of granulated sugar in the 3 tablespoons warm water. Add 3 tablespoons flour from the measured amount of 2 ¼ cups flour. Stir together to completely mix the ingredients. Cover with film and set aside to double or more while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
In the processor bowl fitted with the steel blade, place the remaining flour, salt and sugar. Process 5 seconds to mix. Place the cold butter in a circle over the flour. Process the butter until it is indistinguishable, about 20 seconds. Scrape down and process about 5 seconds more. Place the eggs in a circle over the dry ingredients, pour the half and half or cream over the eggs, and add the sponge, also in a circle. Process approximately 20 to 25 seconds until the ball which initially forms breaks down into a creamy, evenly dispersed batter in the processor bowl. Do not stop processing until the batter is formed, as the motor may stall when you try to restart it. If the ball doesn’t break down, that’s fine as long as everything is mixed well.
Remove from the processor bowl and place in an ungreased bowl. Cover securely with plastic wrap and allow to rise until double in bulk about 2 to 2 ½ hours. Stir down and refrigerate overnight. Punch down and use as directed. It can stay in the refrigerator for up to 3 days before using.
for the filling: Place the apricots and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and, stir frequently until most of the water is gone. Place the apricots and remaining ingredients, except the cocoa, in a processor bowl and process until smooth. Set aside to cool. Stir the cocoa in. This may be made a week ahead and stored in the refrigerator. Remove to room temperature before using.
for the crumb topping: Place the flour and almond paste (either home made or bought) in the bowl of a processor. Process until the almond paste is indistinguishable. Add the sugar and butter and process until it begins to form crumbs. Switch to pulses and pulse only until large crumbs form. Remove them to a bowl and refrigerate until needed.
To assemble the coffee cake: Spray a 9×3″ cheesecake or springform pan with a non-stick baking spray. Set aside. Remove the brioche from the refrigerator, punch down, pat into a rectangle on a lightly floured surface and roll into a 20×11 inch rectangle so the long horizontally in front of you to make rolling up easier. Spread the filling evenly over the brioche within ½” of the edges. Roll up tightly from the 20″side and pinch the seam securely together. Roll and gently stretch it until it is 30″ long. If it is very soft at this time, coil it up on a parchment line baking sheet and chill to firm up. Do not let it freeze.
Starting in the middle of the pan, coil the roll around towards the outer edge of the pan. Press it down to flatten and fill the pan. Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled in bulk. Because everything is cold, this could take 4 to 4 ½ hours to rise.
Heat the oven to 375F. When the coffee cake is full risen, brush it with the beaten egg and distribute the almond paste crumbs evenly over the brioche. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes until the top is browned. A tester is difficult here because the filling stays moist and clings to the tester. If the top begins to brown too quickly, tent it with foil. Cool until barely warm and release the cake. Dust with powdered sugar to serve.
Comments: Helen’s method to make a brioche in the food processor is something I’ve been meaning to try for the longest time, and it works so well, I will keep it as my method of choice from now on. It considerably speeds up the preparation of the dough, and you cannot beat the texture. A pleasure to work with. I could have done a better job keeping the coil leveled on all sides of the pan, if you look at the bottom left photo of the composite above, you’ll see that my coil got a bit lopsided. Other than that, no issues. I highly recommend you visit Helen’s site (click here) because she goes over every little step with pictures and you get a better idea of what to expect as you make this recipe.
The crumb topping is irresistible, so I advise you to stop nibbling on it and use it exclusively to top the cake. I made my own almond paste, following Helen’s detailed recipe, and it turned out perfect! I used her simple syrup method. You can read her post about it clicking here. My little concoction looked exactly like hers – or the ones you can buy at the store – but my picture was badly out of focus, so you will have to take my word for it. I loved making this crumb cake, now I dream of variations, maybe some black sesame paste in the filling could be fantastic also!
Bewitching Kitchen 