Coronado Concerts in the Park - Latin American Cuisine

Our theme for Sunday's Concert in the Park was Latin American Cuisine, spanning South and Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean. The menu for the evening included Jim's Pozole Verde (Jim took over the kitchen and let Carmen have some needed down time for her writing after a busy month); Alec's Spicy Shrimp (seasoned with lots of smoked paprika, black pepper, garlic salt, a bit of cayenne, and finished with fresh squeezed lime juice); Kai's Lettuce Wraps (sprouted wild rice, avocado, cucumber, red pepper, and chipotle and ancho chile powders - yes, the fearless four are still on the "raw" diet this month), Bradley's Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Tortilla Chips; John's Prickly-Ass Tequila (prickly pear-infused tequila), and my Pupusas and Mango Tres Leches Cake.

I'm not sure how I decided on Pupusas, a traditional Salvadoran dish made of thick, hand-made corn tortilla (made using masa de maiz), and usually filled with cheese, cooked pork (chicharrón), and/or refried beans.  They are similar to South American arepas, and Mexican gorditas. It's challenging making something you've never even heard of, but they were unique, easy, and tasty, and I was able to get some use out of our tortilla press.

I read a few blogs and watched some videos on making pupusas, but saw only one chef using a tortilla press. The dough is usually shaped, filled, closed back up, and flattened in the palm of your hand, but I liked the idea of a more uniform, thinner tortilla surrounding the filling. The video demonstration that inspired me, by Chef Sergio Remolina of the Culinary Institute of America, can be found here.

For my filling, I used crispy pork belly (Chef Remolina used pork rind), Lila beans from Rancho Gordo's Xoxoc Project Sampler, and queso añejo. I cooked the pupusas in about a 1/2 inch of canola oil, wrapped them in foil, and reheated them at the park, made to order, in a dry, nonstick skillet. John whipped up a little chipotle crema for dipping, and we were good to go! These do need to be served hot, but I love sitting in the park, with my little portable burner fired up, and cooking on the fly.

My dessert was not quite as successful, but the flavors were perfect for the theme. I've been MIA in the Daring Cooks' and Bakers' Challenges since I hosted the Gumbo Challenge, and it was time to get back into the game.

Jana of Cherry Tea Cakes was our July Daring Bakers’ host. She challenged us to make Fresh Fraisiers, inspired by recipes written by Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson in the beautiful cookbook, Tartine.  Fraisiers are light, moist, chiffon layered cakes, split and filled with sliced strawberries and pastry cream, then topped with a thin sheet of almond paste.

I had the not-so brilliant idea of creating a Tres Leches Fraisier Cake, incorporating our Latin American theme and flavors. Tres leches cake, or pastel tres leches (Spanish, "three milk cake"), is a sponge cake soaked in three kinds of milk: evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream, and topped with whipped cream.  It is very popular in Nicaragua, Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Guatemala.

Because I used a deep, 6" springform pan, the cake didn't cook all the way in the middle (although it appeared to be done and passed the clean toothpick test). My next problem occurred when the pastry cream didn't firm up with the gelatin. After cutting the cake into two layers, I ended up cutting the uncooked portion out of the middle. I filled the hole with chopped mango and added the pastry cream between the layers, carefully placing a decorative kiwi and mango design around the outside edge to show through between the layers. After the required time in the refrigerator, I lifted off the springform pan, and cussed under my breath as a good portion of the pastry cream oozed out everywhere, along with my pretty design of fruit. Oh well, live and learn. Of course, in hindsight, I should have I followed the recipe for the Mango Tres Leches Cake for our Concert dessert, and prepared a second cake according to the Daring Bakers' Fraisier Cake recipe for the DB Challenge, but I was trying to be creative and combine two cakes into one.

But, the flavors were wonderful - coconut, brandy, mango puree, vanilla pastry cream, and fresh kiwis, mango and blueberries. It just didn't look like a Tres Leches Cake OR a Fraisier.

The recipe for Mango Tres Leches Cake can be found here, and the recipe for the Daring Bakers' Fresh Fraisier can be found here.  I need to give this one another go, because many of the cakes turned out by the talented Daring Bakers are simply gorgeous.  

Sunset, at Spreckels Park

Bourbon Street Madness Caramel Apple Meringue Coffee Cake

Too much unwelcome drama in the hood doesn't make for a happy Daring Baker this month. But cooking does provide an escape, so I welcomed a little Saturday morning baking to unwind and get into my zone. I focused on how much we have to look forward to when we move to our new house in a few months. We're staying in Coronado, but it was time to make a change to something a bit larger, and much more private. Did I mention loads of charm and a fabulous outdoor entertaining space? Did I mention a breakfast nook with beautiful, natural light, perfect for my blog-ography studio? Dooley's just beside himself and so very excited about his new yard, with grass and a huge shady tree for those morning, afternoon, and evening Newfie naps. We're all ready for an awesome summer of Friday night cocktails and hors d'œuvres, and another challenging season of Concert in the Park themed-picnics! In the meantime, just help me through the next few months.

The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.

Our hostesses instructed us to roll up our sleeves, put our hands wrist-deep in some smooth, silky dough, and create a yeast-risen coffee cake - a brioche-like dough, rolled jellyroll style around a layer of whipped meringue and our chosen filling, shaped into a wreath, and baked.

"Beautiful to put together, and gorgeous out of the oven, the cake is light and fluffy,

barely sweet, and the meringue miraculously melts into the dough as it bakes,

leaving behind just a hint of sweetness and adding to the perfect moistness of the cake."

Jamie provided us with her all-American version (cinnamon, chopped pecans and chopped chocolate) and Ria's version incorporated Indian flavors (saffron added to the sweet yeast bread dough, and garam masala, cashews, and semi-sweet chocolate chips in the filling). We were free to try one of their versions, or get creative and create our own personal flavor variation. They suggested we let our own national cuisine inspire us.

My inspiration for our coffee cake came from the amazingly decadent Apple Pie Caramel Apples at Fuzziwigs Candy Factory in Coronado. A crunchy, juicy, sweet apple, dipped in gooey caramel, dipped in melted white chocolate, and then rolled in cinnamon sugar, best cut with one of those apple corer/slicer doohickeys, and eaten by the slice.

With a squeeze bottle of John's Bourbon Street Madness caramel sauce still in the refrigerator, the filling for our Saturday morning coffee cake was a no-brainer: Apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, white chocolate, and bourbon-caramel sauce. I didn't shape mine into a wreath - too much like the Stollen we made at Christmas-time.

Bourbon Street Madness Caramel Apple Filled Meringue Coffee Cake
Adapted from Filled Meringue Coffee Cake
Makes one coffee cake and serves 8

Ingredients

For the yeast coffee cake dough:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 package active dried yeast (3.5 grams)
1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg at room temperature

For the meringue:

2 large egg whites at room temperature
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste
1/4 cup sugar

For the filling:

2 large apples (peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup caramel sauce

Egg wash: 1 beaten egg

Extra caramel sauce and/or powdered sugar for serving.

Directions:

Prepare the dough:

In a large mixing bowl, combine 3/4 cup of the flour, the sugar, salt and yeast.

In a saucepan, combine the milk and butter and heat over medium heat until warm and the butter is just melted.

With an electric mixer on low speed, gradually add the warm liquid to the flour/yeast mixture, beating until well blended. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes. Add the egg and 1/2 cup flour and beat for 2 more minutes.

Using a wooden spoon, stir in about 1/2 cup of the remaining flour to make a dough that holds together. Turn out onto a floured surface (using the remaining 1/4 cup of flour) and knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes until the dough is soft, smooth, sexy and elastic, keeping the work surface floured and adding extra flour as needed.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 45 – 60 minutes.

Prepare your filling: 

Place the chopped apples in medium bowl, add the lemon juice and stir to coat the apples with juice. In a small bowl, stir together the cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar, and sprinkle over the apples. Toss together to incorporate.

Once the dough has doubled, make the meringue:

In the clean mixing bowl of your electric mixer, beat the egg whites with the salt, first on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high and continue beating until foamy and opaque. Add the vanilla then start adding the sugar, a little bit at at a time as you beat, until very stiff, glossy peaks form.

Assemble the Coffee Cake:

Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

Punch down the dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a 20 x 10-inch rectangle. Spread the meringue evenly over the rectangle up to about 1/2-inch from the edges. Distribute the apple mixture and chopped white chocolate evenly over the meringue.  Squeeze caramel sauce all over (that's John's hairy arm).

Roll up the dough jellyroll style, from the long side. Pinch the ends closed to seal. Very carefully transfer the filled log to the lined cookie sheet, seam side down.

Using kitchen scissors or a sharp knife (although scissors are easier), make cuts along both outside edges of the roll, at about 2-inch intervals. Make the cuts about 1-inch deep.

Cover the coffee cake with plastic wrap and allow it to rise again for 45 to 60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

Brush the top of the coffee cake with the egg wash. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until risen and golden brown. The dough should sound hollow when tapped.

Transfer baking sheet to cooling rack and allow to cool.

Serve warm, or at room temperature, with extra caramel sauce and/or powdered sugar.

For the complete challenge recipes, please visit The Daring Kitchen Recipe Archive, and take a browse-through the Daring Bakers' Blogroll to see what some of the other members created this month. There are some fabulous savory versions also.

Thank you, Ria and Jamie! Although I procrastinated until the last minute and almost skipped this one, we were rewarded with a lovely Saturday morning coffee cake.

Silk and Lace: Meyer Lemon and Basil Crème Fraiche Panna Cotta with Blackberry Puree and Italian Florentine Lace Cookies

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

Panna cotta ("cooked cream") is a silken, eggless, Italian custard, made by simmering cream, milk and sugar, mixing with gelatin, and then allowing the custard to chill until set. It is an easy-to-make dessert, often complemented by perfectly ripe berries. Some versions incorporate yogurt, creme fraiche, mascarpone cheese, spices, or other infused flavors into the custard. You can make the panna cotta in individual ramekins and unmold them just before serving, in individual decorative dishes and serve in those, or in a large gratin dish and spoon it out at the table family-style.

Meyer Lemon and Basil Crème Fraiche Panna Cotta
with Blackberry Puree

As I typically do with the Daring Bakers' and Daring Cooks' challenges, I reviewed the challenge recipe provided, and then spent far too much time reading every other similar recipe I could find, from my cookbook collection and online, before proceeding with the challenge. However, it's very educational and I enjoy reading about the history of the dish and variations that have developed. I often reach for The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs when I want to be a little more daring and experimental with flavor combinations.

I've made a few different versions of panna cotta in the past. The recipe I chose to adapt for this Daring Bakers' challenge is very similar to the recommended recipe by Giada De Laurentiis, but it also incorporates crème fraiche to balance the sweetness of the fresh fruit with some tang. I also wanted to use a few of the beautiful Meyer lemons sitting on my counter, so I added lemon zest to the custard. I went a bit further by infusing fresh basil into the custard. Finally, I prepared a fresh blackberry puree, with a squeeze of lemon juice, to spoon over the top of the chilled dessert. The flavors meld beautifully together, especially the hint of basil, and this was a refreshing dessert after my French Fridays with Dorie Red Wine and Port Braised Short Ribs.

Meyer Lemon and Basil Crème Fraiche Panna Cotta with Blackberry Puree

Adapted from Crème Fraiche Panna Cotta with Strawberries, Susan Goin's 

Sunday Suppers at Lucques: Seasonal Recipes from Market to Table

Ingredients

1/2 cup cold whole milk

Two 1/4-ounce packages unflavored powdered gelatin

3 cups heavy whipping cream

5 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 cup loosely packed basil leaves, coarsely chopped, plus a few whole basil leaves for garnish

Zest of one Meyer lemon, plus additional zest for garnish if desired

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons crème fraiche

Vegetable oil, if using molds

For blackberry puree

2 pints fresh blackberries, with 1/2 pint whole berries reserved for garnish

1/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon to toss with reserved fresh berries

1/4 cup water

1 tablespoon Meyer lemon juice

Preparation

Place the milk in a large bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over it and stir to combine. Let stand while you prepare the remaining ingredients.

If you plan on pouring the panna cotta into molds and inverting onto a plate once chilled, lightly oil your ramekins or molds with vegetable oil.

Pour whipping cream, sugar, and chopped basil into a heavy medium saucepan and stir over medium heat just until the cream starts to boil. Turn off the heat and allow to cool for about 5 minutes. Pour mixture into blender and carefully blend to help infuse the basil. You can also use a hand-held immersion blender and blend right in the saucepan.

Slowly whisk the infused cream into the gelatin, and then whisk in the crème fraiche.  

Strain the mixture, stir the lemon zest, and pour it into prepared ramekins, molds, or glasses.

Chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, and up to two days if well-covered and chilled.

To prepare the blackberry puree: Put the 1-1/2 pints blackberries in a small saucepan with the sugar, water, and lemon juice. Bring to a simmer over low heat and continue simmering, stirring occasionally, for about 5-10 minutes. Puree blackberries in the blender and strain through a fine mesh sieve.

Cover and set aside if using within a few hours, or refrigerate. Use at room temperature.

Serving Panna Cotta:

About 10 minutes before serving, toss the whole berries in a little sugar, to taste.

If using molds, smear or puddle some of the blackberry puree on the plate, invert the panna cotta onto the puree, and garnish with fresh berries, lemon zest, and a few fresh basil leaves. If serving in a ramekin or glass, spoon some puree over the top of the panna cotta and garnish with fresh berries, basil and zest.

****

After reviewing and comparing several Florentine Cookie recipes to the Nestle recipe, I preferred those that used ground almonds instead of quick-cooking oats.

Italian Florentine Lace Cookies

Italian Florentine Lace Cookies

Adapted from Food Network Kitchens and One Perfect Bite

1/2 cup ground almonds (about 2 ounces)

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup firmly-packed light Muscovado sugar (India Tree Light Muscovado Sugar, 1 Pound (Pack of 4)), or substitute light brown sugar

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Pinch salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3-4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Position two oven racks in the middle and upper third of oven. Line three baking sheets with silpats or parchment paper.

In a medium saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and corn syrup. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat to medium-high and continue stirring until the mixture just starts to boil. Immediately remove pan from the heat, and add flour, salt, ground almonds and vanilla extract. Stir batter until all ingredients are incorporated.

Using a teaspoon, drop batter by rounded teaspoons onto prepared baking sheets, spacing cookies 3 inches apart  (6 cookies per sheet). It's important to drop the batter onto the baking sheets while it is still warm, so it doesn't harden too much. It will be sticky. The cookies do spread quite a bit (about 4 inches in diameter), so it's important to leave enough space between the cookies. I only used two baking sheets and some of my cookies baked into each other.

Bake cookies 8 to 10 minutes (rotating sheets half way through) until cookies have spread, and are thin and golden brown.

While cookies are baking, prepare wire cooling racks by covering with a sheet of plastic wrap. When cookies are done baking, remove baking sheets from oven and allow cookies to remain on baking sheets for a few minutes until they are firm enough to transfer. Gently transfer cookies with a rubber or offset spatula to plastic wrap covered cooling racks and allow to cool completely.

Put the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with about an inch of water to a very low simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching, the water. Stir the chocolate occasionally until melted and smooth. Drizzle over cooled cookies and set aside at room temperature until chocolate is set.

Immediately store cookies, carefully, separated by squares of parchment paper or waxed paper, in an air-tight container for up to 3 days.

Thank you, Mallory, for your Creamy, Dreamy, Crunchy, Sweet February Challenge!  The Panna Cotta was a classic challenge, allowing the Daring Bakers to showcase their creativity with amazing flavor variations and plating. Although I was vaguely familiar with Florentine cookies, I welcomed the opportunity to make them for the first time, and absolutely adored the elegant and lacy look, light and crispy texture, and lovely taste.

For the complete challenge recipes, please visit The Daring Kitchen Recipe Archive, and take a browse-through the Daring Bakers' Blogroll to see what some of the other members created this month.

Mona Lisa and Julia Child...Something to Smile About

The January 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Astheroshe of the blog accro. She chose to challenge everyone to make a Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremets dessert.

Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremets dessert...Je ne comprends pas!!??

For those of us who are a bit rusty in the language of love and/or have not yet graduated with honors from one of Le Cordon Blue's Patisserie Culinary Programs, let's take a deep breath and break it down before we get started...

Biscuit is the French word for sponge or sandwich cake. Joconde is an almond sponge cake, named after the Mona Lisa (interesting tidbit...see below). Imprime refers to a decorative design. Entremet refers to the "sweet course" which is always served after the "cheese course" in France, and an ornate dessert composed of multiple layers of cake and fillings.

Now, let's combine the terms. A joconde imprime is a decorative design baked into a light sponge cake, or joconde, providing an elegant finish to entremets formed in ring molds. A joconde batter is used because it bakes into a moist, flexible cake. The cake batter may be tinted or marbleized for a further decorative effect. Entremets usually take the form of a multi-layered mousse cake featuring a variety of textures and flavors, intended to delight both the palate and the eye.

The world-famous Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece, also known as La Gioconda (La Jaconde in French), is the portrait of Lisa del Giocondo, the wife of an Italian merchant, Francesco di Bartolomeo del Giocondo. Da Vinci visited France in 1516 or 1517, as the guest of King François I, and then remained there for the rest of his life. The Mona Lisa was still in the artist's possession and was held in very high esteem by the French. The name of this cake, joconde, was given to indicate how highly regarded the cake was among pastry chefs (from Globalgourmet).

The number of steps to make one little cake can be incredible! You must definitely be in the right frame of mind before commencing this project. The outer, more decorative sponge consists of two different sponges baked together: a Joconde-Décor Paste (tinted dark by the addition of cocoa powder) and a joconde sponge. A thin layer of the darker Joconde-Décor Paste is spread out onto a silpat and a pattern is sketched out (I used a pastry comb). The entire baking sheet with the patterned paste is slipped into the freezer briefly, and then the joconde batter is spread over top of the patterned paste. After it is baked, the biscuit joconde-imprime is peeled from the silpat, cut into strips, and used to line the outside of the cake. Additional pieces can be cut and used to create sponge layers between the fillings.

I should have taken more step-by-step photos, but the original recipe and links will provide far better instruction.

The Biscuit Joconde-Imprime

This Joconde requires attentive baking so that it remains flexible to easily conform to the molds. If under-baked, it will stick to the baking mat. It over-baked it will dry out and crack. Once cooled, the sponge may be cut into strips to line any shape ring mold.

Molds lined with the biscuit joconde-imprime, rounds
of biscuit joconde-imprime used for the base

We tried two different patterns. The entremet below features John's design (he came into the kitchen at this point and wanted to play).

In the photo above, you can see all of the components of the cake. The patterned strip of Joconde imprime is wrapped around the outside. Inside, you can see the base of the cake, made from Joconde, followed by a layer of Ricotta Cappuccino, another layer of Joconde, a thick layer of Julia Child's Perfect Chocolate Mousse, and topped with a thin layer of Frangelico-whipped cream. I crumbled a few Amaretti cookies over the top and garnished with some chocolate covered espresso beans.

I was pleased with my first attempt, and consider it a successful "test-run." However, if I tackle this again, I will use more care in perfecting the design in the Joconde-imprime "wrapping" and in building the layers, to achieve visually "cleaner" result.

If you aren't quite up to the challenge, I urge you to try Julia Child's Perfect Chocolate Mousse as a dessert on its own. This luscious, decadent mousse can be found on David Lebovitz' blog, here.

You can find the complete challenge recipe in The Daring Kitchen Recipe Archive, here.

Newf Notes:

1.  I used 6" springform pans, using just the outside ring, for my molds.

2.  I ended up making two batches of the joconde batter, one to create the joconde imprime wrapping, and another to cut circles of joconde to use as the bases and between layers of filling.

3.  I only needed to make half the quantity of the Joconde-Décor Paste and I made the chocolate version with cocoa powder. 

4.  I used strips of food-safe acetate, cut to fit the interior of the springform rings.  I was hoping to build the mousse and whipped cream layers higher than the top of joconde imprime (with the acetate as support), but I didn't have enough mousse.
5.  Next time, smaller entremets. Mine were too big, and easily served two.
6.  See Martha Stewart's recipe for individual Chocolate-Espresso Charlottes, made with Joconde, here.

Everyone smiled after tasting my little joconde cakes, especially Carmen, who said in a e-mail to me the following day...

"THANKS ... for ruining my diet! I thought you were sending over a "piece" of cake - It was WONDERFUL ... I can't wait to see you blog this ... this thing that's too good to be called "cake." Damn. It's too good to be called "sex" ! I'd call it the iCake because it's sturdy and compact yet light and portable and once you've had one you can't live without it!"

This was yet another Daring Bakers' challenge that introduced me to new techniques and ideas, reminding me I have so much more to learn when it comes to French pastry arts...but I am smiling, so it's a good thing!

***

A Taste of Germany for the Holidays: Christmas Stollen

The 2010 December Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie’s Baking. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make Stollen. She adapted a friend’s family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart’s book, The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread, and Martha Stewart’s demonstration.

Stollen is a traditional German cake, usually eaten during the Christmas season, called Weihnachtsstollen or Christstollen. The cake is typically made with chopped candied fruit and/or dried fruit, nuts and spices.  Similar cakes around the world include the Dutch Kerststol, the Italian Panettone, and the infamous mail-order fruitcake in the United States.

For my first stollen, I borrowed the main ingredients from Mary Cech's Sweet Potato, Golden Raisin, Cranberry and Pecan Strudel (Savory Baking), featured on Leite's Culinaria. I also played around with some decorative dough, and only used a light dusting of powdered sugar.

I spread two roasted, mashed sweet potatoes over the dough,
and then sprinkled the dried fruit and nuts evenly over the top prior to rolling

I made a second, more traditional stollen for a German Christmas Eve dinner hosted by our friends, Mike and Ruth Ann. This one featured dried cherries, cranberries, golden raisins, all soaked in dark rum, toasted almonds and marzipan. Traditional recipes also use red glacé cherries and mixed candied citrus peel, but I omitted these and added a little more dried cherries, cranberries and raisins instead.

Cherry-Almond Stollen Wreath
Adapted from The Daring Bakers' challenge recipe, here
Makes one large wreath. Serves 14-16 people

Ingredients

1/4 cup lukewarm water (110º F / 43º C)
2 packages (4 1/2 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1 cup milk
10 tablespoons (140 grams) unsalted butter
5 1/2 cups (770 grams) all-purpose flour (Measure flour first, then sift); plus extra for dusting
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon (salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
Grated zest of 1 orange
1 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
1 teaspoon orange extract
2-3 cups dried fruit (I used a combination of cherries, cranberries and golden raisins)
1/2 cup dark rum (or brandy)
1 cup sliced almonds (toasted)
1 package (7 oz.) Marzipan

Melted unsalted butter for coating the wreath
Confectioners’ (icing) (powdered) sugar for dusting wreath

Preparation

Soak the dried fruit and toast the almonds:

In a small bowl, combine the dried cherries, dried cranberries, and golden raisins. Pour about 3/4 cup rum over the top, stir and heat in the microwave about 30 seconds. Cover and allow to macerate several hours, or overnight. Toast the almonds in a pan over medium heat and reserve.

Make the dough:

Pour 1/4 cup warm water into a small bowl, sprinkle with yeast and let stand 5 minutes. Stir to dissolve yeast completely.

In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup milk and 10 tablespoons butter over low heat until butter is melted. Let stand until lukewarm, about 5 minutes.

Lightly beat eggs in a small bowl and add vanilla and orange extracts.

In a large mixing bowl, or in the bowl of an electric mixer with paddle attachment, stir together the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and orange zest.

Then stir in, or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment, the yeast/water mixture, eggs and the lukewarm milk/butter mixture. This should take about 2 minutes. It should be a soft, but not sticky ball. When the dough comes together, cover the bowl with either plastic or a tea cloth and let rest for 10 minutes. Add in the soaked fruit and almonds and mix with your hands, or on low speed, to incorporate.

Sprinkle flour on the counter, transfer the dough to the counter, and begin kneading (or mixing with the dough hook) to distribute the fruit evenly, adding additional flour if needed. The dough should be soft and satiny, tacky but not sticky. Knead for approximately 8 minutes (6 minutes by machine). The full six minutes of kneading is needed to distribute the dried fruit and other ingredients and to make the dough have a reasonable bread-dough consistency. You can tell when the dough is kneaded enough – a few raisins will start to fall off the dough onto the counter because at the beginning of the kneading process the dough is very sticky and the raisins will be held into the dough but when the dough is done it is tacky which isn't enough to bind the outside raisins onto the dough ball.

Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling around to coat it with the oil. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and allow to proof for about 2 hours. You can also put the dough in the refrigerator overnight.

Shaping the Dough and Baking the Wreath:

If you refrigerated the dough, let it rest for 2 hours after taking out of the refrigerator in order to warm slightly.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C, with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Punch dough down, roll into a rectangle about 16 x 24 inches and 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle the almond paste crumbles evenly over the dough. Starting with a long side, roll up tightly, forming a long, thin cylinder.

Transfer the cylinder roll to the sheet pan. Join the ends together, trying to overlap the layers to make the seam stronger and pinch with your fingers to make it stick, forming a large circle. You can form it around a bowl to keep the shape.

Using kitchen scissors, make cuts along outside of circle, in 2-inch intervals, cutting 2/3 of the way through the dough.

Twist each segment outward, forming a wreath shape. Mist the dough with spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap.

Proof for approximately 2 hours at room temperature, or until about 1-1/2 times its original size.

Bake the stollen for 20 minutes, then rotate the pan 180 degrees for even baking and continue to bake for 20 to 30 minutes. The bread will bake to a dark mahogany color, should register 190°F in the center of the loaf, and should sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.

Transfer to a cooling rack and brush the top with melted butter while still hot. Immediately tap a layer of powdered sugar over the top through a sieve or sifter. Wait for 1 minute, then tap another layer over the first. The bread should be coated generously with the powdered sugar. Let cool at least an hour before serving. Coat the stollen in butter and icing sugar three times, since this helps keeps the stollen fresh.

When completely cool, store in a plastic bag, or leave it out uncovered overnight to dry out slightly, German style. The stollen tastes even better in a couple of days. It tastes especially good toasted, with butter.

Storage: The more rum and the more coatings of butter and sugar you use, the longer it will store. Stollen freezes beautifully about 4 months; the baked stollen stores well for 2 weeks covered in foil and plastic wrap on the counter at room temperature, and one month in the refrigerator well covered with foil and plastic wrap.

The beauty in this challenge was the ease in adapting the recipe to personal tastes.  You can use so many combinations of fruits, nuts, spices, and fillings.

Happy Holidays!

Apple and Red Wine Crostata - Torta Di Sant' Antonio

Ciao a tutti! The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well (Lorenzo Da Ponte Italian Library).

Crostata is an Italian baked dessert tart, and a form of pie. It is traditionally prepared by folding the edges of the dough over the top of the jam/marmalade filling, creating a more "rough" look, rather than a uniform, circular shape. The jams that are traditionally used as a filling are cherries, peaches, apricots, berries. The crostata can also be filled with pieces of fresh fruit and pastry cream (crema pasticcera), but then it is called torta di frutta.

The December 2010 issue of Saveur arrived in the mail in the nick of time for Thanksgiving and the November Daring Bakers' challenge. When I saw the photograph of this gorgeous apple, red wine and cinnamon crostata, a traditional Occitan dessert from the northern Italian village of Oulx, I knew it was destined to appear on the Thanksgiving dessert table next to an encore presentation of Bobby Flay's Throwdown Pumpkin Pie. I also felt it would be a striking contribution to the array of Daring Bakers' crostate going to press on "reveal" day.

The base of a crostata is pasta frolla (or pastafrolla), sweet short crust pastry (or sweet tart dough) made of flour, sugar, butter and eggs. Pasta frolla is versatile: it provides the base to make crostata with fruit preserves, pastry cream, fresh fruit, ricotta, and other ingredients, and, by itself, it makes very nice cookies.

Kitchen Toys R & M Industries 5920 Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer

Peeled, cored and sliced

Granny Smith apples stew in red wine, sugar, cinnamon and orange zest until the apples have absorbed the deep burgundy of the wine.

A tart pan with a removable bottom is used to hold the crostata, and the edges of the dough are folded over the top of the apples to achieve a rough, rustic look.

To make the garnish, dough scraps are rolled out and cut into grape and leaf shapes.

A pastry tip provided the right size "grapes"

Torta di Sant' Antonio

Slightly adapted from Saveur, December 2010

Serves 8

2 cups flour

7 tablespoons sugar, plus more for sprinkling

1 teaspoon baking soda

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes

1/4 cup milk, plus a few tablespoons more if needed

2 egg yolks

1 1/2 cups red wine

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Zest of 1 orange

1 egg white, lightly beaten

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, and baking soda. Add butter and pulse until pea-size crumbles form. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk and yolks. Add to flour mixture and pulse until it just starts to hold together. Add another tablespoon or two of milk if it seems too dry. Transfer to a floured surface; knead into a ball; wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

In the meantime, bring the remaining 6 tablespoons sugar, wine, cinnamon and orange zest to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the apples, reduce heat, and simmer until wine is reduced to a syrup, 25-30 minutes. Stir the apples occasionally so they are evenly coated with the wine mixture.  Let cool.

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Place dough on a floured surface and roll out to 1/8" thickness. Transfer dough to tart pan with a removable bottom and press into bottom and sides. Trim dough edges and reserve scraps. Spoon apple mixture into tart shell and fold the edges of the dough over the apples.

To make garnish, roll out scraps to 1/4" thickness, cut out leaf and grape shapes, and arrange on top of apples. Brush dough with egg white and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake until golden, about 25-30 minutes.

Serve plain, or with whipped cream or ice cream.

The Saveur pastry recipe differs slightly from the Daring Bakers' pasta frolla recipe. You can find the complete Daring Bakers' Crostata recipes and links here, along with a slideshow of the creative and exquisite variations prepared by the DB chefs. You can also go to the Daring Bakers blogroll, for links to our members' blogs. Grazie, Simona!

You might also like:

• Rustic Fig and Raspberry Mini Crostata

The New Doughnut Rage: Newfie Tongues!

The October 2010 Daring Bakers' Challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes, including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.

Various doughnut incarnations are popular around the globe. Shapes include rings, balls, and flattened spheres, as well as ear shapes, twists and other forms. BEAVERTAILS® pastries, which have been referred to as a Canadian culinary icon, were my inspiration for this challenge.

According to BEAVERTAILS®, these deliciously addictive, traditional, whole-wheat pastries are stretched by hand to resemble the tail of a beaver, one of Canada’s best-known national symbols. The pastries are then float cooked on high quality canola oil and served piping hot, topped with butter and a choice of delectable flavors.

Source: Neatorama

Skating leisurely through the downtown core of Canada's capital, on Ottawa’s 7.8-km Rideau Canal Skateway, has become synonymous with enjoying BEAVERTAILS pastries.

Source:  Henry Ko, Flickr

“...BeaverTails, a...pastry served hot and sweet, most often topped with cinnamon, sugar and a squeeze of lemon: perfect for the return leg of an end-to-end canal skate.” - Sports Illustrated

Source:  Ottawa Tourism

Coronado, California just so happens to have its own winter ice skating experience, seaside at the Hotel Del Coronado. They have a coffee cart set up by the rink, but I envision There's a Newf in My Soup's rink-side doughnut cabana. I'm positive, after one season by the rink, it would become a permanent fixture year round, for the guests of the hotel, as well as the locals who walk and ride along the boardwalk in the mornings. Even the Navy boys, running by during their morning PT, would stop by for a little sugar lift!


Source:  Hotel Del Coronado

Of course, we'd have to come up with our own name and unique version of BeaverTails-style pastries. Since our Newfs have been referred to as Coronado icons, I'm thinking Newfie Tongues would be quite fitting. I know, it doesn't sound too appetizing, but eating a beaver's tail doesn't either! Stay with me here...I'm on to something big...this could be my ticket out of the law business...

Dooley, seaside at the Hotel Del Coronado, promoting Newfie Tongues 

Come to think of it, we do have connections in high places...the Mayor of Coronado reads this blog, and we've picnicked at Concert in the Park with the GM of the Hotel Del. We might be able to make this happen! Just look at these pillowy soft, fresh, warm, pastries, lightly coated in cinnamon sugar...

Newfie Tongues
Inspired by BeaverTails Pastries
Recipe adapted from various BeaverTails recipes online

1/2 cup warm water
4.5 teaspoons active dry yeast (2 envelopes)
Pinch of granulated sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup warm milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
2 eggs, lightly whisked
1/3 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2.5 cups whole wheat flour
2.5 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting work surface and your hands
4 cups canola oil for frying
2 cups granulated sugar, tossed with 2 teaspoons cinnamon (reserve in a shallow bowl)

In a large bowl, stir together warm water, yeast and a pinch of sugar. Let stand until it is slightly foamy (about 5 minutes). Add the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar, milk, vanilla, eggs, oil and salt. Stir until smooth. Mix in about half of flour and continue stirring, with a wooden spoon, gradually adding the remaining flour until it all has been incorporated.

Flour your hands and turn dough onto a floured surface. Knead for about 5 minutes. The dough will be very sticky, but resist the temptation to add more flour. Transfer dough to a greased bowl and cover with a clean dish towel.

Let dough sit covered until it rises and doubles (about 45 minutes). Lightly deflate dough and pinch off a piece about the size of a golf ball. Gently form into a ball with your hand. On a floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll out the small ball of dough into an oval shape, about 2 x 4 inches. Put it onto a lightly floured baking sheet and and cover it with a tea towel while you continue to do the same with remaining dough.

Heat about 4 inches of oil in a deep-fryer (375F/190C)) or Dutch oven. Before placing flattened dough into oil, gently stretch to enlarge the oval (I stretched mine to about 4 x 7 inches), to resemble a Newfie tongue. Carefully slip the dough ovals into oil (one or two at a time). Fry, turning once, until golden brown, about 30 seconds per side. Carefully remove from oil and let drain momentarily on paper towels. While still warm, toss lightly in cinnamon sugar.

This was one of my favorite Daring Bakers' Challenges thus far. You really can't beat fresh, hot doughnuts, especially if they're homemade. Thanks, Lori, for a challenge that allowed variety and creativity!

You can find the doughnut recipes provided for our challenge in the Daring Kitchen Recipe Archive, here, and you can visit some of the other Daring Bakers' blog posts via the Daring Bakers' Blogroll, here.

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