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Think pink

Champagne, hibiscus and rooibos infused plums with a raspberry sorbet and a tuile

Infusion:
1 l champagne
200 g sugar
10 plums
10 g hibiscus
20 g rooibos
¼ cinnamon stick

Bring the champagne to boil with sugar until it dissolves (1-2 minutes).
Remove from heat and infuse herbs and cinnamon.
Strain and set aside.

Score each plum by cutting an ‘X’ mark into the skin on one end.
Drop plums into rapidly boiling water for some seconds.
Remove plums to an ice water bath. Cool for a minute.
Easily peel away the skin at the X.
Cut in two halves and destone.

Pour the infusion over the plums.
Marinate for 1 hour, minimum.
Serve chilled.

Raspberry sorbet:

1 1 water
1 kg sugar
1 kg raspberry pulp
Juice of 1 lemon

Bring the water and sugar to boil for 1 minute until it dissolves.
Let it cool down completely.
Mix syrup with the pulp and lemon juice.
Pour the mixture into the ice cream machine or frozen stirring regularly to prevent crystalization.

Orange and almond tuiles

120 g sugar
90 ml orange juice
48 g melted butter
72 g almonds, powdered
Some drops of raspberry juice.

Pre-heat the oven to 190ºC.
Combine all the ingredients together.
Pour the mixture over a silpat with the desired shapes and sprinkle with some red fruits juice drops.
Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden brown.
Let them cool down to stiff.

September 14, 2008 | Filed under cookies, biscuits and tuiles, fruit desserts and jams, ice creams and sorbets | 7 Comments 

My grandmother’s bean tarts

It was on a time that I barely can remember, in a time when I had too much time to give it some importance, in a time when I didn’t realize the huge void that means losing someone…

When I lost my grandmother Leonor, I’ve lost a part of my name and the answer to all the questions that I didn’t even asked.

Sometimes, and besides all my apparent disbelief, I like to feel her behind me, her support at each step of my path and her intuitive “special touch”.

Today I bring you her bean tarts, with the same generosity that she would have: the best cook in the world.

Bean tarts
(traditional portuguese tarts)

Makes 12:

Pastry
100 g wheat flour
15 g butter
50 ml milk (as necessary)
a pinch of salt

Combine well all the ingredients.
Let it rest for one hour covered with wrap film.

Filling
500 g sugar
125 g white beans’ puree
125 g almond, finely chopped
12 egg yolks
Icing sugar (to sprinkle on top)

Bring to boil sugar and a little bit of water until soft-ball (117º C / 40 Bé)
Add the puree and let it boil for a while.
Add the almonds and let it boil a little more.
Remove from heat and add the sieved egg yolks, stirring constantly.
Bring to low heat, stirring constantly for 10 minutes.
Set aside.

Pre-heat the oven to 225º C.
Roll out the pastry over a lightly floured work surface until very thin.
Put on small moulds and fill with the beans’ filling.
Bake on a baking sheet for 20-25 minutes.

September 12, 2008 | Filed under pies, tarts, tartelettes | 18 Comments 

Improvised tartelettes…

An humble solution for a failed custard…

Soft egg tartelettes

Dough:
137 g wheat flour
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp sugar
112 g butter
25 ml cold water

With your fingers combine butter with all the dry ingredients.
Add the water.
Fold gently just to combine everything.
Refrigerate with wrap film for 30 minutes.
Roll out the dough over a slightly floured work surface.
Put on tartelette pans.

Soft eggs cream
8 egg yolks
150 g sugar
100 ml milk
Lemon and orange zest, cinnamon stick, vanilla bean
8 g cornstarch
300 ml cream

Soft eggs:
Bring to boil sugar and a little bit of water until soft-ball (117º C / 40 Bé)
Remove from heat and add the sieved egg yolks, stirring constantly.
Bring to low heat, stirring constantly until thick.
Remove from heat and set aside.

Dissolve cornstarch in a part of milk.
Bring the milk to boil with the zests, cinnamon and vanilla.
Mix with cornstarch and bring to heat, stirring constantly until thick.
Combine with soft eggs and gently fold the cream.

Pre-heat the oven to 180º C.
Pour the mixture into the moulds with the dough and bake for 30 minutes on a baking sheet.
Garnish with toasted almonds on top.

September 11, 2008 | Filed under pies, tarts, tartelettes | 5 Comments 

Hand made berliners…

After a whole morning making berliners (from 9:00AM to 3:00PM!) I was in need of the delicious yellowish portuguese filling that I always miss…
I’ve started my research and I wasn’t able to find a single recipe of this filling, or even similar, to what I was used to see in the portuguese pastries’ windows… Well… At last I was able to find one single recipe and with a picture of a yellow filling!!!

Despite my fears I’ve tried really really hard to trust the result and I’ve started…

Even with all the changes needed to turn that thing into something realistic (I’ve tried everything from sweet soft eggs with custard to sweet soft eggs with cream or custard with 20 egg yolks…) I ended with lots and lots of egg boxes and a filling far awaaaay from the “original”…

(I’m always sadly surprised by made up recipes, untested, without making any sense and pictures that aren’t true at all, I feel angry with impossible things published without any love or care).

In the end I’ve done a standard pastry cream, without the “coulourant yellow”, powdered yellow, the powder used on almos every filling of the portuguese pastry.

As a convicted supporter of top grade ingredients (a nice chocolate, a nice wine and only butter!!!) I was tremendously disappointed when I discovered that the taste I’ve kept from my childhood comes in a bag and is mixed with water…

Now I wait for another insight on this…

Berliners

Makes 25:

Starter dough:
5 g fresh yeast
275 g All-purpose flour, sieved
180 ml mineral water (at 20ºC)

Dough:
250 g all-purpose flour, sieved
11 g fleur de sel
65 g caster sugar
5 egg yolks
60 g fresh yeast
60 ml whole milk
65 g butter, diced
2 kitchen cloths and flour
Icing sugar or caster sugar to dust

1 l grapeseed oil

To the starter dough:
Dissolve the yeast in mineral water. Combine well with flour.
Bulk ferment the dough about 1h30/ 2 hours, covered with wrap film or until bubbly.

To the dough:
Combine the starter dough with all the dough ingredients and the yeast dissolved in milk.
Mix on medium speed for 20 minutes, or until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
Add butter and keep mixing until homogeneous.
Bulk ferment the dough until nearly doubled. Fold gently.
Divide the dough to make 25 balls and place on slightly floured kitchen cloths (5 cms spaced). Cover with another kitchen cloth until nearly doubled.

Carefully transfer the dough balls , a few at a time to a deep fryer (160º C) and fry until golden brown, 5-6 minutes each side.
Lift the fritter from the oil with a spider or basket, allowing the oil to drain away over the fryer.
Drain on paper towels.

Fill with pastry cream, jam, chocolate ganache, dulce de leche… I’ve used Pastry cream.

Sprinkle with caster sugar mixed with cinnamon or icing sugar.

Pastry cream:

300 ml cream
600 ml milk
200 g sugar
80 g cornstarch
3 egg yolks
Orange and lemon zest, cinnamon stick, vanilla

In a bowl mix together the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and a bit of milk (enough to dissolve the mixture).
In a saucepan bring the milk with cream to boil with orange and lemon zest, cinnamon and vanilla.
Pour the milk and cream into the egg mixture stirring constantly.
Sieve.
Place the pan over the heat again and stir constantly to thick (without boiling).
Remove from heat and strain.
Place into a bowl and cover directly with plastic wrap to stop a skin from forming on the cream.
Chill.

September 10, 2008 | Filed under custards, fillings, sauces, and glazes, fried doughs | 11 Comments 

Ice cream and a tuile…

Crossed glances, shyness and smiles… even the ice cream was melting… 3 spice scoops in love with a tuile.

Spice ice cream

1 l milk
300 ml cream
9 egg yolks
300 g sugar
3 g soluble coffee
a pinch of vanilla
1 tbsp cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, tea, anise, ginger, etc…

1 – Bring the milk to boil with 100 ml of cream and spices. Add coffee and remove from heat. Sieve.

2 – Whisk egg yolks and 150 g of sugar. Add mixture 1 while it’s still hot stirring constantly.

3 – Prepare a caramel with the remaining sugar. Add the hot remaining cream previously.

Combine mixture 3 to 2+1.
Pour the mixture into the ice cream machine or frozen stirring regularly to prevent crystalization.

Walnut tuiles

Pre-heat the oven to 180º C.
Combine soft butter, sugar, egg whites and wheat flour in equal parts.
Pour the mixture over a silpat with the desired shapes and sprinkle with chopped walnuts.
Bake for 5 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden brown.
Let them cool down to stiff.

I’ve sprinkled the ice cream with icing sugar, cinnamon and cocoa.

September 8, 2008 | Filed under cookies, biscuits and tuiles, ice creams and sorbets | 9 Comments 

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