Chocolate Pistacio Biscotti w/Cranberries

Warning, the making of biscotti resembles something you make when you're alone in the bathroom. It's a very tricky process that can go wrong easily.

RECIPE:
.2oz cinnamon, ground
.3oz baking powder
10oz hazelnut flower
3oz almond flour
1lb pastry flour
5 eggs
1lb sugar
8oz butter, melted
10oz whole pistacios
10oz dried cranberries
4 oz cooled, melted chocolate
warm, melted chocolate (as needed)

Directions: Sift together cinnamon, baking powder. Stir in hazelnut, almond and pastry flours. Whisk together eggs and sugar until thick and pale, and has doubled in volume (3 minutes). Add butter. Stir in flour mixture, then stir in pistacios and cranberries (start with half, then keep adding until you like the consistency). Hand gather all of the ingredients on a table to make sure everything is incorporated evenly.


Divide dough into 3 parts, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll dough into a log approximately 12" long (leave 3" in between each log).


Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Cool, then slice logs into desire width. Place sliced cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place that sheet pan on top of anothe sheet pan, upside down inthe oven.
Reduce temperature to 325 back until thoroughly crips, 30-40 minutes.


Note: you can dip the biscotti into melted chocolate once it has cooled.

Eclair Paste (Pate a Choux)

Best made using a convection oven, these treats can be made and frozen in advance.
Use pastry cream (see a previous post for recipe - or ask) to fill and dip/drizzle with melted chocolate.

Eclair Paste Recipe:
8oz water
8oz milk
.3oz salt
.3oz sugar (optional)
7oz butter
10oz bread flour
10-11 eggs

Directions: Bring liquids to a boil, with salt and sugar (if using). Sift dry ingredients. Turn off heat. Add dry ingredients, combine well, then return to medium heat. Cook mixture until it thickens. Place mixture in bowl of standing mixture, with paddle attachment. Mix on low until mixture has cooled, add eggs one at a time. Mixture should be soft and "pipeable."

Pipe small-medium sized balls. Use a star tip to pipe a "donut" design and you've made a Paris-Brest. Bake on 325 for 8-15 minutes.

Note: If making Paris-Brest, you will then need to slice the donut in half, fill with cream, then re-top with other half.


Paris-Brest Cream Recipe (optional filling cream):
12oz butter, softened
4oz praline paste (or hazelnut paste)
1lb 8oz pastry cream

Directions: Cream butter. Add paste and combine. Mix in cream until well combined. Use immediately.

I'm Back!

Ok.... so it's been a while.
School really kicked my butt last quarter, and softball and the family didn't help ease the pain when I wasn't in school.

Anyhoot... I'm back. Here to share the greatest recipes (from school) ever and also here to try out some of yours.

Stay tuned... for a lot of catching up :)

Sacher (not soccer) Cake

So, when I was first told that I would be preparing this cake, the instructor said the name so fast I thought we were making a cake, in the shape of a soccer ball. I quickly found out that that was not the case. I give a CHOCOLATE CAKE to end all chocolate cakes. Sorry some of the pictures didn't come out so great, I'm taking pictures in class with my iPhone, and well... get over it.

RECIPE: Chocolate Glaze

4oz unsweetened chocolate
4oz semisweet chocolate
4oz unsalted butter
4 tsp light corn syrup

Melt all ingredients together over a double boiler, remove from heat and allow to cool - stir occasionally. Use immediately before the glaze dries or stiffens.

RECIPE: Sacher Cake

10oz A/P flour
3oz cocoa powder, alkalized (more expensive chocolate than sometimes available)
12.5oz unsalted butter, softened
18oz sugar
14 egg yolks
hazelnuts (I used pecans), toasted and finely chopped
14 egg whites
18oz apricot jam/glaze (or as needed to glaze tops of cake)

Grease (2) 9" spring foam pans, line with parchment.
Sift flour and cocoa powder TWICE.
Cream butter and 7 oz of sugar until light. Slowly add egg yolks and beat well.
Fold in sifted flour mixture and nuts by hand (mixture will be really hard/tough).
Whip egg whites to soft peak, than add remaining sugar and whip until stiff.
Stir in 1/4 of egg whites to flour mixture, to lighten mixture. Repeat.
Fold in last 1/4 of egg whites.
Pour batter into pans, bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes. Cool cakes before removing from pan.
Split cakes in half (or thirds) and glaze the tops and sides of each cake with apricot jam/glaze. Cool cakes completely.

*OPTIONAL- frost tops and sides of cakes (additional) with chocolate ganache.
Layer cakes on top of each other, and "ladle" chocolate sauce over sides and then top of cake.
**DO NOT SPREAD SAUCE**
"Shock" the pan the cake is on, making the chocolate even out over the top of the cake. Replace cake on a clean surface, and refrigerate to set.


"Torch" the top of the cake when ready to serve, in order to have a nice shiny cake.



Use a HOT knife to cut through all layers and give a clean cut.

(Ladyfingers were used to decorate the cake, and you can also use some left over ganache to write on top of the cake, and on a random piece of paper -see????!?!!?!!!)

Ganache filled Ladyfingers

Even though I wasn't a really big fan of the ganache we made, I still think it turned out pretty good. The ladyfingers could have been piped better, there was way too many different shapes (meaning some were longer, fatter than others) but HAY! ... they all tasted the same when I dumped them into my mouth.

RECIPE: Ladyfingers
3oz cornstarch
4oz bread flour
6 egg yolks
6oz sugar
6 egg whites
1/2 tsp lemon juice

RECIPE: Ganache
1 lb bittersweet chocolate
1 pt heavy cream
1 fl oz almond/coffee liquer

(bring cream to a boil. Pour hot cream over chopped chocolate stir with rubber spatula to blend; stir in liquer. All to cool before using)

Sift flour and cornstarch together.
Whip egg yolks with 2oz of sugar until thick and creamy.
Whip egg whites until foamy. Slowly add 2 oz of sugar and lemon juice.
Whip until soft peaks form, then add remaining sugar until soft peaks form.
Fold 1/3 of whites into whipped yolks, then fold in remaining whites. Fold in
the flour mixture.
Place mixture in pastry bag, and pipe as desired.
Bake at 425 until lightly browned.
Flip cookies on back side. Pipe ganache in center and sandwich between two cookies.
Sprinkle with powder sugar.

Orange Chiffon w/ Chantilly Cream

This cake is wonderfully light, and has a great orange/lemon compliment flavor.
The normal chiffon cake is suppose to be made in a bundt pan, however we decided to make it into a 'jelly roll' and have a little fun. You could also fill this one up with a lemon curd... and it would equally as great!

RECIPE:
8oz cake flour, sifted
12oz granulated sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
4 fl oz vegetable oil
6 egg yolks
2 fl oz water, cool
4 fl oz, orange juice
1 tbsp orange zest, fine grated
2 tbsp vanilla extract
8 egg whites

Sift together flour, 6oz of sugar, baking powder and salt.
Mix together oil, yolks, water, orange juice, orange zest and vanilla. Add to flour.
Beat egg whites until foamy. Slowly beat in remaining sugar.
Stir 1/3 of egg whites into batter. Fold in remaining whites.
Pour mixture into parchment lined baking sheet or jelly roll pan.
Bake on 325 for about 8-10 minutes.

Allow to cool (can place in refrigerator overnight).
Line the entire top of cake with chantilly cream.
Roll cake, sprinkle with powder sugar, slice and enjoy.

Vennoise Baguette

The last of the projects made this week in bread class was the "Vennois."
At first glance its made almost exactly like a standard baguette.
It has an egg wash (that you first brush on; refrigerate the bread for a couple of minutes, and then re-egg wash the bread) that makes it incredibly shiny.

The other difference is in how you "slash" the bread. If you slash it almost straight across it looks like mine (pictured here). If you slash it downward, towards the length of the bread, it almost made an "S" curve down the bread (which was very beautiful... sorry no pics).

RECIPE:
1 kl bread flour
20g salt
100g sugar
40g yeast
2 eggs
500g milk
150g butter, cold and cubed.

Again, just make this bread dough as you would any other. Add butter last.
Allow to rest for 1 hour. Portion your dough into 300g. Preshape into baguette
shape. Final shape bread into baguette and egg wash. Refrigerate for 3 minutes, then egg wash again. Slash bread and proof for 20 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.