Millefeuille au chocolat blanc, chantilly chocolatée et framboises – White Chocolate Millefeuille, Chocolate Chantilly and Raspberries

Millefeuille au chocolat blanc, chantilly chocolatée et framboises – White Chocolate Millefeuille, Chocolate Chantilly and Raspberries

You need:

• 200 g + 100 g white chocolate (I used Valrhona)
• 10 cl heavy cream to make chantilly
• 400 g fresh raspberries
• 2 to 5 tbsp confectioner sugar
• Wild Australian Wattle seeds (which is my personal addition, not in the original recipe. They are a little treasure given to me by my friend Kim! Thanks Kim, I love those seeds! They can be bought online at Zingerman’s.

Note on wattle seeds:
Seeds of a variety of acaria collected by Aboriginal people West of the Great Divide, roasted and ground to amplify their natural nutty flavor. Great with chocolate and nuts.

Steps:

• Melt 200 g chocolate using the bain-marie method.
• Pour the chocolate on top of a silicone sheet, make it even with the help of a cookie cutter, and let cool until cold (I placed in the fridge to speed up the process a bit).
• When you reach this stage, cut 12 small rectangular pieces.
• Whip the cream into chantilly and add the remaining melted white chocolate.
• Add the wattle seeds (optional).
• Take a small plate where you place a white chocolate rectangular.
• Top over with the white chocolate cream (use a decoration bag).
• Place another chocolate rectangular over and press gently.
• Place some cream, a few raspberries and some cream over. The cream serves as “glue” for the dessert to stay in place.
• Place the last rectangular on top, pressing gently again.
• Decorate with confectioner sugar.

Note: I made individual portions, about 1.5 inch by 4 inches.

As much as I am not a white chocolate eater, I really enjoyed this simple dessert.

Mille Feuille with Dragon Fruit

Daring Bakers: Mille Feuille/Napoleon

NO NEED TO SPELL IT OUT: MAGNIFICENT MILLE FEUILLE 

Our October 2012 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Suz of Serenely Full. Suz challenged us to not only tackle buttery and flaky puff pastry, but then take it a step further and create a sinfully delicious Mille Feuille dessert with it!

(I have to say I didn't feel any guilt creating – or eating – this dessert!)

Suz provided an excellent recipe and step-by-step instructions for the mille feuille, from the pastry to the filling and assembly. I followed the recipe for the puff pastry exactly and didn't have any problems.

To make a small mille feuille, I only needed half of the pastry and used the other half for some old-school cream horns which took me back to my childhood.

Suz wrote that the traditional mille feuille is filled with a vanilla pastry cream (crème pâtissière). It is also known as a Napoleon (thought to refer to Naples in Italy rather than the diminutive French emperor), a custard slice or a vanilla slice. It’s often topped with royal icing and distinctive chocolate squiggles.

Succulent and sweet red dragon fruit

Well, my strips of pastry were a little burnt and so I thought I would draw attention away from that by building the layers up with slices of fruit. I've read that strawberries are commonly used, but I stayed local and used red dragon fruit. Instead of a custard-based pastry cream, my mille feuille has a filling of whipped cream and jam – it takes less work but is no less delicious, I think. The vanilla icing for the top is also much easier to make and doesn't contain raw egg whites as in a royal icing. The chocolate icing for the feathered effect is a paste of cocoa powder, powdered sugar and water.

French for "thousand sheets", the mille feuille gets its name from the multi-layered puff pastry which expands when cooked. However, the pastry layers of the mille feuille are actually pressed down while baking to prevent this from happening and I've always wondered why. None of my reference books nor online searches has an explanation. I posed this question on the Daring Bakers forum and Heather, Renata and Suz had thought about it too. Renata and Suz suggest it might be for texture since puffed up, "bumpy" pastry isn't very neat or flat. That's certainly plausible.

A thousand visible sheets or not, no one can say this dish wouldn't be the high point of any high tea.

The slicing could be a little less messy :-p

Mille Feuille with Dragon Fruit

Serves 6

325g puff pastry, preferably homemade

Vanilla Icing

125g (1 cup) icing sugar, sifted

¼ tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Icing

30g (¼ cup) icing sugar, sifted

½ tbsp cocoa powder

Filling

110g raspberry jam

160ml cream, whipped

½ large red dragon fruit

On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry out to about 30cm x 24cm. Cut the rectangle into three equal pieces (10cm x 24cm).

Place the pastry on a large baking sheet lined with grease-proof paper. Prick the pastry strips all over with a fork. Place another sheet of grease-proof paper over the top and then a heavy baking tray.

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Bake the pastry for about 25 minutes, removing the top layer of grease-proof paper and tray 10 minutes before the end for the tops to brown. Keep an eye on them and lower the temperature if they are browning too much. Cool on a wire rack.

To make Chocolate Icing: Mix the icing sugar and cocoa with ½ tbsp hot water to get a smooth paste like melted chocolate, adding more water if necessary. Spoon into a paper icing bag.

To make Vanilla Icing: In a heatproof bowl, mix the icing sugar and vanilla with 1-1½ tsp hot water. Stand the bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring until the icing is smooth and glossy. Spread icing on one of the cooled pastry strips. Pipe diagonal lines with Chocolate Icing. Drag a skewer along the icing at intervals in alternate directions to give a feathered effect. Leave to set on a wire rack.

To make the filling: Peel the dragon fruit and cut the half into four wedges. Cut each wedge into thin slices. Spread jam over the two un-iced pastry strips and top with slices of dragon fruit, overlapping them slightly. Cover the fruit with whipped cream. Finally, sandwich the three layers together with the iced strip on top.

Cut into six slices with a serrated knife and serve.

Caramel Apple Tarts

Caramel Apple Tarts

Wondering what to do with puff pastry? Make Caramel Apple Tarts.

At this time of year when the apples are falling off the tree, I crave caramel apples. At every fair, it's the one treat I look forward to. This is just caramel apples in a crust. Yum!

If you don't have puff pastry in your refrigerator, just use a regular pie crust. If you don't have that, just make caramel apples!

Recipe

Makes one pie or 12 individual tarts

1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup sweeted condensed milk (or 300-mL can)
2/3 cup golden corn syrup
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

6 apples, peeled and diced

Puff Pastry

In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, stir all ingredients until a temperature probe reaches 236°F. Make sure you stir constantly and ensure the mixture doesn't stick to the bottom and start to burn. Let cool.

Meanwhile, peel and dice the apples. Stir the apples into the cooled caramel mixture.

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Roll out the puff pastry.

Fill the tart shell (or individual tart shells). Bake for 50-60 minutes (30-40 minutes for individual tart shells). Let cool. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

How to make a flower pot cupcake

by GILLIAN on Feb 25, 2013 

With Mothers day approaching I thought I would show you how to make a flower pot cupcake.

This is what I used:

Silicone flower pot cases (these ones were purchased in Lakeland)

Buttercream

Glass of water

Paint brush

Rolling pin

Some coloured fondant, I have used, red, yellow and lilac

Green food colouring gel and a toothpick for adding colour

Medium rose petal cutter

Medium and small blossom flower cutter

Bow (optional)

Edible rice paper butterfly (optional)

Step 1:
Using your cupcake recipe, make up the batter and fill the pots half to three-quarters full and bake in the oven. Remove and leave to cool

Step 2:

Colour the buttercream green, by dipping a cocktail stick in the food gel colour and adding to the buttercream and mix well.

Step 3:
Using a spatula, thickly cover the top with green buttercream.  (You could pipe a swirl if you prefer). Once finished it should look like this:

Step 4:
Roll out some red fondant and cut out rose flower petals with the rose cutter.  Make a cone shape for the centre of the rose, (this should be approximately half the size of the cut out rose).

Step 5:
Add a little water to the centre of your rose cut out with your paint brush and stick the cone in the middle.

Step 6:
Then add a little water to one of the petals and carefully, (so as not to tear it) lift it up and drape it around the cone and pinch gently to secure. Next add a little water to one of the petals opposite as seen below and again lift it up and drape it around the cone and pinch gently so that only the tip of the cone can be seen.

Step 7:
Lastly, add a little water to the left side of one of the three remaining petals and glue just the side to the bud, but keeping half unattached. Glue the left side (only) on the next petal (making sure to work on the petal to the right of the one just stuck) arranging them so they overlap one another but stay open, and then the same on the third and final petal.

Step 8:
Make 5 red and 4 yellow roses (or choose colours of your own).

Step 9:
Arrange the roses into the pots by adding one red rose in the middle and then alternating colours around the edge, pushing them gently into the buttercream.

Step 10:
Roll out some lilac fondant and using some small blossom cutters, cut out some blossoms.

Step 11:
Attach blossoms to the pot, filling the gaps around and between the roses and the pots.

Step 12:
Lastly roll out some green fondant and cut out some leaf shapes.  Attach them to the tops of your pots between the roses, pushing them gently into the buttercream to hide the gaps.

Step 13
Finally I added little bows and a rice paper butterfly topper to my pots with a dab of royal icing.

Happy Caking!

How to Make Your Own Cupcake Stand

How to Make Your Own Cupcake Stand

I am writing this post in response to a reader’s question. Jessica B. wanted to know where to get this type of cupcake stand.

I usually ask my cupcake baker to make it. This way, I am sure that the colors are coordinated with the cupcakes. But if you do it yourself, you could start from your party decor and provide a sample of your stand paper and ribbons to the cupcake baker.

These stands are for one use only

Garbanzo Bean Salad

Salade Nokhod (Garbanzo Bean Salad)

Salade Nokhod

A nice an lite side dish, or healthy snack…easy to make too!

Ingredients:
garbanzo beans - 1 large can
2 - 3 tomatoes (cut up into pieces)
Olive oil
Vinegar
Salt and Pepper
Fresh cilantro
green onions - 1 package

Directions:
Mix all the ingredients together and then serve