These autumn days
Sometimes one enters the house with autumn
hanging by a thread(…)
Eugénio de Andrade
Alfajores con dulce de leche
Makes 40 (20 pairs):
Dulce de leche
1 condensed milk can
Place the can totally immersed in water on a pan.
Bring to boil over high heat.
Reduce to low heat and keep boiling for 3 1/2 hours.
Add water as needed.
Open the can when completely cold (very important!).
You can also use a pressure cooker.
Alfajores:
112 g cornstarch
125 g wheat flour
1 egg
50 g butter, softened
62 g icing sugar
2 g baking powder (1/2 tsp.)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pre-heat the oven to 250ºC.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy.
Add the egg and the vanilla extract and continue mixing until well combined.
Add the sifted flour with the cornstarch and baking powder and mix until smooth.
Roll out the dough (3-4mm thick) over a floured worksurface.
Cut 5 cm diameter cookies.
Place the alfajores into the prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 4-5 minutes.
Transfer cookies to a wire rack until completely cool.
Spread the bottoms of half of the cookies with dulche de leche.
Sandwich together with remaining cookies.
Coat with chocolate or grated coconut.
My snack…
Smeared with jelly, here they come one after another…
Peanut cookies
Makes 42 (20 g each):
260 g peanut paste
112 g butter, softened
180 g light brown sugar
2 eggs
240 g all-purpose flour
5 g baking powder (1 tsp)
5 g vanilla extract (1 tsp)
250 g quince jelly
Pre-heat the oven to 190ºC.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Combine the peanut paste, butter and brown sugar.
Beat until well blended.
Add the eggs, one at a time and then the vanilla.
Sift together the flour and baking soda and add to the peanut mixture.
Mix just until blended.
Form the dough into 2,5 cms balls and place them on the baking sheets.
Use yout thumb to make a depression in the center of each ball.
Bake the cookies for 8 minutes.
Let the cookies cool down on a rack.
While they are cooking, fill each depression with about 1 teaspoon of the jelly.
Beach and chocolate
Summer is already announced by the Spring with hot blue days.
Night silence the breathing and the windows open themselves in a quest for a breeze.
Beach, tanned skin, fresh fish to dinner and a compliment to the dessert.
Chocolate and hazelnut cake with toffee, streusel and vanilla ice-cream
Serves 4-6:
Chocolate and hazelnut cake
4 eggs
150 g icing sugar
150 g butter, softened
200 g dark chocolate
16 g wheat flour
100 g hazelnuts, roasted and powdered
Pre-heat the oven to 220ºC.
Grease a round pan.
Melt the chocolate in a double-boiler.
Whisk the egg yolks with the icing sugar until creamy.
Add the melted chocolate to the yolk mixture.
Gently fold in the flour, the hazelnuts and the butter.
Whisk the egg whites until firm peaks form and add gently to the mixture.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Unmold when cold.
Milk chocolate ganache:
240 g de milk chocolate, chopped
120 ml cream (35% fat)
8 g corn syrup
40 g butter, softened
Place the chocolate in a bowl.
Bring the cream to boil.
Add the corn syrup to the hot cream.
Pour this mixture over the chocolate (start with only 1/3 of the cream).
Combine well gently.
When the mixture reaches 60ºC add the butter, stirring gently.
Toffee sauce:
50 g sugar
100 ml cream
10 g butter, softened
Bring the sugar to boil until it caramelizes.
Add the hot cream to the caramel and stir.
Remove from heat and add the butter.
Refrigerate.
Hazelnut streusel:
50 g hazelnuts, grinded
30 g butter, diced
20 g sugar
30 g wheat flour
Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.
Combine the hazelnuts with the flour and sugar.
Add the butter and combine with your hands until crumbly.
Bake until golden brown.
Toffee tuile:
Werther´s original caramels
Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.
Grind the caramels.
Spread a thin layer over a silpat.
Bake to melt.
Remove from oven and let it cool down.
Vanilla ice-cream
Serving:
Pour the ganache over the cake.
Serve with the tuile, the toffee sauce, cream, hazelnut streusel, vanilla ice-cream and berries.
On white…
I clear all my toughts. Everything is bright… pure light…
Wine and oil sablée
250 g white wine
500 g sunflower oil
150 g sugar
1 kg cake flour
10 g baking powder
Icing sugar
Put the sugar, wine and oil into a mixer fitted with the hook attachment.
Mix and then add the flour in, sifted with the baking powder. Be particularly careful not to mix the dough excessively.
Bake at 190º.
Source: Paco Torreblanca
Cookies and gracias!
I believe in feelings. I believe in people and in the graceful bonds between them.
Ricardo had exchanged his place with me in a lottery between some of the master students.
He let me be the sous-chef of Oriol Balaguer at Alimenta IB, while Ricardo will be helping out Carlos Valentí.
He knew what this mean to me and he had an immediate and spontaneous reaction that left me completely astonished and deeply touched.
I feel eternally grateful and doubly happy!
Cookies
Makes 60 (20g each):
300 g dark chocolate chips
150 g light brown sugar
2 eggs
450 g wheat flour
200 g melted butter, cold
16 g baking powder
a pinch of salt
vanilla sugar
Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Combine eggs with sugar.
Fold in the flour sieved with the baking powder, salt and vanilla sugar.
Add the butter.
Add the chocolate chips and combine.
The dough must be fold just until all the ingredients are well combined.
Make small dough balls with the desired size and place them over the lined baking sheet, slightly spaced.
Bake until golden brown (15-20 minutes).
A pinch of vanilla, eggs, sugar and cocoa... Unmeasured words, seasoned silences... stir all that I am and set aside in bain marie...
Search
Recent posts
Categories
- bread
- cakes, muffins and madeleines
- chocolate
- choux pastry
- cookies, biscuits and tuiles
- crepes, blinis and pancakes
- custards, fillings, sauces, and glazes
- decorations
- desserts, puddings and soufflés
- drinks
- fried doughs
- fruit desserts and jams
- ice creams and sorbets
- journal
- meringues
- mousses
- pastry dough
- petit-fours
- pies, tarts, tartelettes
- turrones and pralinés
