croquembouche or piece montée

The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.

This was an exciting challenge.  I had only made pate a choux once before, and that was in home economics back when I was 12.  I do remember that our cream puffs turned out quite nicely, but I've never made them again.  Mostly because I'd just never really thought about it.  So this month, I was excited to see pate a choux as part of our challenge.  But a croquembouche???  That seemed a little bit daunting.  
  
I do have a confession to make.  I don't enjoy making caramel.  Inevitably I manage to either a) burn the caramel or b) burn me.  During this months challenge, I managed to accomplish both!  For some reason, caramel and I just don't get along and darn - that boiling sugar gets super hot.  

However I think overall the challenge turned out well.  Sure I still have a love/hate relationship with caramel (love the taste as long as it doesn't hurt me in the process).  I wanted to make more spun sugar, but I managed to burn the second batch (see?!??!) and so I convinced myself that the one batch of sugar would suffice.  And so while I would have appreciated the extra drama that more spun sugar would have provided, I think it turned out well overall.  

Now I'm just waiting patiently for my boys to come home so that they can begin tearing this tower of pastry and cream apart!

For the Vanilla Crème Patissiere (Half Batch)
1 cup (225 ml.) whole milk
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
6 Tbsp. (100 g.) sugar
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
2 Tbsp. (30 g.) unsalted butter
1 Tsp. Vanilla

Dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup of milk. Combine the remaining milk with the sugar in a saucepan; bring to boil; remove from heat.

Beat the whole egg, then the yolks into the cornstarch mixture. Pour 1/3 of boiling milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the eggs do not begin to cook.

Return the remaining milk to boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, continuing whisking.

Continue whisking (this is important – you do not want the eggs to solidify/cook) until the cream thickens and comes to a boil. Remove from heat and beat in the butter and vanilla.

Pour cream into a stainless steel/ceramic bowl. Press plastic wrap firmly against the surface. Chill immediately and until ready to use.

For Chocolate Pastry Cream (Half Batch Recipe):
Bring ¼ cup (about 50 cl.) milk to a boil in a small pan; remove from heat and add in 3 ounces (about 80 g.) semisweet chocolate, finely chopped, and mix until smooth. Whisk into pastry cream when you add the butter and vanilla.

For Coffee Pastry Cream (Half Batch recipe)
Dissolve 1 ½ teaspoons instant espresso powder in 1 ½ teaspoons boiling water. Whisk into pastry cream with butter and vanilla.

Pate a Choux (Yield: About 28)
¾ cup (175 ml.) water
6 Tbsp. (85 g.) unsalted butter
¼ Tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup (125 g.) all-purpose flour
4 large eggs

For Egg Wash: 1 egg and pinch of salt

Pre-heat oven to 425◦F/220◦C degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Preparing batter:
Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely.

Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly.

Add 1 egg. The batter will appear loose and shiny.

As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes.

It is at this point that you will add in the next egg. Repeat until you have incorporated all the eggs.

Piping:
Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip (I piped directly from the bag opening without a tip). Pipe choux about 1 inch-part in the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1 inch high about 1 inch wide.

Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. You want them to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top.

Brush tops with egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten with pinch of salt).

Baking:
 

Bake the choux at 425◦F/220◦C degrees until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 10 minutes.

Lower the temperature to 350◦F/180◦C degrees and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 20 minutes more. Remove to a rack and cool.

Can be stored in a airtight box overnight.

Filling:

When you are ready to assemble your piece montée, using a plain pastry tip, pierce the bottom of each choux. Fill the choux with pastry cream using either the same tip or a star tip, and place on a paper-lined sheet. Choux can be refrigerated briefly at this point while you make your glaze.

Use one of these to top your choux and assemble your piece montée.

Chocolate Glaze:
8 ounces/200 g. finely chopped chocolate (use the finest quality you can afford as the taste will be quite pronounced; I recommend semi-sweet)

Melt chocolate in microwave or double boiler. Stir at regular intervals to avoid burning. Use the best quality chocolate you can afford. Use immediately.

 

Hard Caramel Glaze:
1 cup (225 g.) sugar
½ teaspoon lemon juice

Combine sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan with a metal kitchen spoon stirring until the sugar resembles wet sand. Place on medium heat; heat without stirring until sugar starts to melt around the sides of the pan and the center begins to smoke. Begin to stir sugar. 

Continue heating, stirring occasionally until the sugar is a clear, amber color. Remove from heat immediately; place bottom of pan in ice water to stop the cooking. Use immediately.

 Assembly of your Piece Montée:
You may want to lay out your unfilled, unglazed choux in a practice design to get a feel for how to assemble the final dessert. For example, if making a conical shape, trace a circle (no bigger than 8 inches) on a piece of parchment to use as a pattern. Then take some of the larger choux and assemble them in the circle for the bottom layer. Practice seeing which pieces fit together best.

Once you are ready to assemble your piece montée, dip the top of each choux in your glaze (careful it may be still hot!), and start assembling on your cake board/plate/sheet. Continue dipping and adding choux in levels using the glaze to hold them together as you build up. (You may want to use toothpicks to hold them in place).

When you have finished the design of your piece montée, you may drizzle with remaining glaze or use ribbons, sugar cookie cut-outs, almonds, flowers, etc. to decorate. Have fun and enjoy!

traditional british pudding

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet. 

Well this challenge was interesting. I'd made steamed puddings before at Christmas and I have a "go-to" recipe from the "Joy of Cooking" that has always been tried and true.

But I decided to try something different.

Sometimes different is not good.

I admit it. I was feeling a tad lazy and decided to use ingredients I had at hand rather than head out to the grocery store. So I found a recipe that was pretty straightforward. I had suet in my deep freezer from last Christmas. I had raisins. I had flour and eggs. And you can bet I had some brandy. So I was good to go.

The recipe I chose was from "Delia Online" and it was a Steamed Raisin Pudding with Port Wine Sauce. I knew the boys wouldn't go for the port wine sauce, so I decided to make a hard sauce with orange juice instead.

The pudding itself was really easy to pull together. And the steaming was pretty straightforward too. But when I went to turn the pudding out, that's when I became concerned. It was rock hard! It was solid. The knife actually struggled to slice it when I took it out. Hmmmm... is this thing going to be any good?

Doesn't this look appetizing?  Doesn't it?

I whipped up some hard sauce, and re-heated the pudding so that it was steaming hot. I put the sauce on and waited a moment... I admit, it wasn't looking too appetizing. I had my doubts. But I tasted it and it wasn't too bad. Thank god for the sauce.

It's good to try new things. Really it is. But honestly, next time I'm going to stick with my "Joy of Cooking" recipe!

brunswick stew

The 2010 April Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Wolf of Wolf’s Den. She chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make Brunswick Stew. Wolf chose recipes for her challenge from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook by Matt Lee and Ted Lee, and from the Callaway, Virginia Ruritan Club.

  

Well, I'm exhausted, but must admit this stew is delicious!  I chose to make the long version, and it did take a long time.  I was really looking forward to using rabbit in the recipe as while I've had rabbit before, I've never cooked it myself.  However when I went to my grocery store, where I can usually find rabbit, there was none.  So I substituted pork.  While the pork worked very well with the chicken, I look forward to making this stew again with rabbit.

This stew has deep flavour and is very filling.  You only need serve it with a crust of bread and you've got it all:  beans, corn, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, onions... not to mention the pork and chicken.  I was a little concerned that the serrano chilies would make it too spicy for my boys, but there was no noticeable heat to the dish and the boys loved it!  

So while it took some time to prepare, it's a great dish to serve up on the weekend or when you can spare a few hours in the kitchen.  It keeps well too.

Apparently you are supposed to be able to stand a wooden spoon up in your brunswick stew... so... ta da!

Brunswick Stew

Estimated time-3-4 hours, longer if making the Sunday Chicken Broth, or your own stock from scratch.

 
From “The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook: Stories and Recipes for Southerners and Would-Be Southerners” by Matt Lee and Ted Lee

Serves about 12

1/4 lb slab bacon, rough diced

2 Serrano, Thai or other dried red chiles, stems trimmed, sliced, seeded, flattened

1lb rabbit, quartered, skinned

1 4-5lb chicken, quartered, skinned, and most of the fat removed

1 oz sea salt for seasoning, plus extra to taste

8-12 cups chicken broth

2 Bay leaves

2 large celery stalks

2lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, or other waxy type potatoes, peeled, rough diced

1 ½ cups carrots (about 5 small carrots), chopped

3 ½ cups onion (about 4 medium onions) chopped

2 cups fresh corn kernels, cut from the cob (about 4 ears)

3 cups butterbeans, preferably fresh (1 ¼ lbs) or defrosted frozen (I used white lima beans)

1 35oz can / 4 cups whole, peeled tomatoes, drained

¼ cup red wine vinegar

Juice of 2 lemons

Tabasco sauce to taste

Directions

1.    In the largest stockpot you have, preferably a 10-12 qt or Dutch Oven, fry the bacon over medium-high heat until it just starts to crisp. Transfer to a large bowl, and set aside. Reserve most of the bacon fat in your pan, and with the pan on the burner, add in the chilies. Toast the chilies until they just start to smell good, or make your nose tingle, about a minute tops. Remove to bowl with the bacon.

2.    Season liberally both sides of the rabbit and chicken pieces with sea salt and pepper. Place the rabbit pieces in the pot and sear off all sides possible. You just want to brown them, not cook them completely. Remove to bowl with bacon and chilies, add more bacon fat if needed, or olive oil, or other oil of your choice, then add in chicken pieces, again, browning all sides nicely. Remember not to crowd your pieces, especially if you have a narrow bottomed pot. Put the chicken in the bowl with the bacon, chilies and rabbit. Set it aside.

3.    Add 2 cups of your chicken broth or stock, if you prefer, to the pan and basically deglaze the pan, making sure to get all the goodness cooked onto the bottom. The stock will become a nice rich dark color and start smelling good. Bring it up to a boil and let it boil away until reduced by at least half. Add your remaining stock, the bay leaves, celery, potatoes, chicken, rabbit, bacon, chilies and any liquid that may have gathered at the bottom of the bowl they were resting in. Bring the pot back up to a low boil/high simmer, over medium/high heat. Reduce heat to low and cover, remember to stir every 15 minutes, give or take, to thoroughly meld the flavors. Simmer, on low, for approximately 1 ½ hours. Supposedly, the stock may become a yellow tinge with pieces of chicken or rabbit floating up, the celery will be very limp, as will the chilies. Taste the stock, according to the recipe, it “should taste like the best chicken soup you’ve ever had”.

4.    With a pair of tongs, remove the chicken and rabbit pieces to a colander over the bowl you used earlier. Be careful, as by this time, the meats will be very tender and may start falling apart. Remove the bay leaf, celery, chilies, bacon and discard.  After you’ve allowed the meat to cool enough to handle, carefully remove all the meat from the bones, shredding it as you go. Return the meat to the pot, throwing away the bones. Add in your carrots, and stir gently, allowing it to come back to a slow simmer. Simmer gently, uncovered, for at least 25 minutes, or until the carrots have started to soften.

5.    Add in your onion, butterbeans, corn and tomatoes. As you add the tomatoes, crush them up. Simmer for another 30 minutes, stirring every so often until the stew has reduced slightly, and onions, corn and butterbeans are tender. Remove from heat and add in vinegar, lemon juice, stir to blend in well. Season to taste with sea salt, pepper, and Tabasco sauce if desired.

6.    You can either serve immediately or refrigerate for 24 hours, which makes the flavors meld more and makes the overall stew even better. Serve hot, either on its own, or with a side of corn bread, over steamed white rice, with any braised greens as a side.