Croissants

Croissants were one of those things that I've always wanted to make, but were afraid to. It's as if I didn't believe that even if I followed the steps in my copy of The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts, they would never turn out like those flaky, light and buttery ones from the bakery.

The other day when I was about to buy the ingredients to make the Hachis Parmentier for last week's FFwD, I realized that I didn't really want to make it, but sort of felt like I had to because I had bought the book to participate in the FFwD. Instead, I really had the urge to make croissants! Plus I didn't have to buy all those ingredients; I already had everything I needed.

There are a few things that I would change next time I make these. First I found the croissants to taste great right out of the oven, but when at room temperature, they were too sweet so I would decrease the amount of sugar. Also I didn't roll out the dough thin enough before cutting it into triangles so I only ended up with half the amount of croissants than I was supposed to. This is probably the reason why they didn't end up as light as the store-bought ones.

Making croissants wasn't very difficult, it just demands a lot of time. There's a lot of rolling and putting the dough in the fridge, then taking it out from the fridge. But the final result makes it all worth it.

Cran-Apple Crisps

It's cranberry season! We drink plenty of cranberry juice and dried cranberries can be found in our granola bars and cereals, but have any of you tried fresh cranberries? I just recently tried them for the first time and I have to say that... they're very sour! I stopped after one! But when combined with apples, dried cranberries, sugar and flour to make the filling, they taste sweet!

With all the members of TWD raving about this crisp and how easy it is to put together, it didn't take me long to decide to make it. I topped it with a scoop of Goat Cheese Ice Cream I made following David Lebovitz's book, The Perfect Scoop, and... Mmmm!

The Repressed Pastry Chef hosted that week's TWD so the recipe for the Cran-Apple Crisps can be found on her blog!

FFwD : Spicy Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup

I made it! I was really debating if I should skip this week's FFwD since it's midterm time and all I've been doing is finance and accounting for the past week and a half... but no! It does feel good to take a break and cook up this delicious vietnamese soup! It reminded me very much of the one my boyfriend and I love having in Chinatown (except I don't think that one has any coconut milk).

I read some reviews this morning on the Dorie's group site and a couple had written that it wasn't very flavorful or spicy. I found it was a bit spicy, so I just added a bit of Sriracha (love that stuff!) and lots of lime juice and it was great! It wasn't very hard to make either... I think it took me longer to look for all the ingredients!

Chocolate Matcha Cake

Matcha and chocolate in a cake! What's not to like? My only regret is that the chocolate taste took over the matcha one, so I could barely taste that. I would definitely add an extra tablespoon or so next time for a stronger taste and color!

Chocolate Matcha Cake

Adapted from Bakerella

Makes one bundt cake

Chocolate Mixture

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Matcha Mixture

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2-3 tbsp matcha powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients

3 cups sugar

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 eggs, at room temperature

1 3/4 cups milk, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a loaf pan and dust it with cocoa.

With a wire whisk, mix the dry ingredients for the chocolate mixture in a small bowl and set aside. In another small bowl, do the same for the matcha mixture.

Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, milk and vanilla, and mix until throughly combined. Divide the cream mixture evenly in two separate bowls.

Slowly add the chocolate mixture to 1/2 of the creamed mixture and mix throughly. Then add the matcha mixture to the other half of the creamed mixture and mix throughly.

Drop alternating spoonfuls of each mixture into the loaf pan and gently run a knife through the two batters in a swirling motion (for a marbled effect... mine failed!).

Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

(I halved this recipe to make a loaf cake, the baking time still remains 1 hour and 15 minutes.)

FFwD: Gerard's Mustard Tart

When I was younger, I hated mustard! I was more of a ketchup fan. I would put ketchup on everything and anything! But as time is passing, my taste in food is changing and I now find myself eating things like Gerard's Mustard Tart!

The filling was easy to make: whip the eggs with the cream, add the mustards, whip and season with salt and pepper. It was the crust that I found a bit challenging.

The first time I made the pâte brisée by hand, the dough was very crumbly, I could hardly form a disk with it! It was impossible for me to roll it out, so I decided to remake it. The second time, I used the food processor method, that took me at most 5 minutes. The dough turned out soft and workable... Success!

This tart is something I would never had tried on my own, but I'm glad I gave it a try! It smells delicious out of the oven and I had to hold myself from cutting a slice right away. If you like mustard, you're sure to love this!

FFwD: Gougères

October 1rst has arrived and so has the first post for the French Fridays with Dorie! I am so happy that it has finally begun! Dorie Greenspan chose the recipes for the month of October from her new book Around My French Table and all members of the FFwD must post about the weekly recipe!

Before I talk about this week's recipe, Gougères, I must confess that I was debating if I should join this group mainly because I never cook anything! I've always done the baking at my house, never prepared anything that had to do with meat or fish (except that one time when I made an Italian Wedding Soup... yum!!). But then this is the perfect opportunity for me to learn! I mean, I have to learn how to cook someday, and why not start with some delicious French meals!?

Making Gougères is similar to making profiteroles except that you mix in some grated Gruyère cheese (or Cheddar) before piping/spooning the dough. This was the first time I made pâte à choux and it was a lot easier than I expected!

I decided to top the mounds of dough with the remaining Gruyère I had left so they ended up with a nice golden color. In the past, I found Gruyère to be a very strong cheese but when baked, it is unbelievably good (plus your kitchen will have a delicious aroma)!

The Gougères are best eaten warm out of the oven because they are crispy on the outside. I found that they got soft after being stored in a container, but they get crispy again when warmed up!

I am one of those weird people who don't like wine or Champagne, but I can assume that these ''cheese puffs'' would pair well with a nice glass...?

Lemon-Glazed Madeleines

My idea of a perfect madeleine: has a bump, is airy and springy, and must have nice seashell shape. And I finally found it thanks to David Lebovitz! I don't think I've ever made anything I regretted from him, everything always turns out delicious!




These madeleines didn't require much time to make. In fact, I left them in the refrigerator overnight and baked them in the morning. I used to use cooking spray for the pans but they would stick a bit and it would ruin the whole shape! Butter and flour is the way to go!

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Lemon-Glazed Madeleines

Adapted from David Lebovitz

Makes 24 madeleines

Madeleines:

3 large eggs, at room temperature

2/3 (130g) cup granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

1 1/4 (170g) cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

Zest of one small lemon

9 tbsp (120g) unsalted butter, melted and at room temperature

Lemon Glaze:

3/4 cup (150g) powdered sugar

1 tbsp freshly-squeezed lemon juice

2 tbsp water

Brush the madeleine mold with the melted butter. Dust it with flour, tap off the excess flour, and place it in the refrigerator.

In a medium bowl, whip the eggs, granulated sugar and salt until thickened, about 5 minutes. Spoon the flour and baking powder into a sifter and use a spatula to fold it in as you sift it over the egg mixture. Add the lemon zest to the cooled butter and drizzle it into the batter a few spoonfuls at a time while folding the batter to incorporate it.

Cover and chill the dough for at least one hour (and at most 12 hours).

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Fill the madeleine molds with about three quarters dough (don't spread it). Bake for 8-9 minutes.

While madeleines are baking, make the lemon glaze by stirring the lemon juice, powdered sugar and water together in a bowl until smoothe.

When madeleines are cool enough to be handled, dip one side of each into the glaze (the shell side) and rest them, glaze-side up, onto a cooling rack until glaze has cooled.

Tarte aux pommes - Apple Tart

Lately, I've been doing a lot of thinking about my future. I had a hard time choosing my major in University and I sometimes wonder if I made the right choice. I still have some time ahead of me, but I am finding it increasingly difficult to motivate myself and devote myself 100 percent to studying Accountancy.

This past summer, an idea occurred to me and I am surprised I didn't think of it earlier: why don't I study pastry and do something that I actually enjoy? I do spend most of my time reading baking blogs, flipping through food magazines and baking books, watching the Food Network, baking and making ice cream...

So I've come to a big decision: I will apply to the Institut de tourisme et d'hôtellerie du Québec for next Fall and meanwhile continue my studies in Accountancy! The only thing really motivating me is knowing that I will be able to attend the Professional Pastry Making Program. Until then, I have made it my objective to learn as much as I can about pastry arts! I own The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts, the book used in the Classic Pastry Arts Program at the French Culinary Institute, and believe that I can learn a lot from it!

So here goes, the tart I've been meaning to make for a long time, the apple tart. I will not be posting the recipes from the book since I will be using it a lot and I don't think it would be right. I used a pâte sablé (shortbread) dough for the crust and made an apple compote with apples, sugar, vanilla extract and lemon juice. Thinly-cut apple slices were arranged on the top and the tart was baked for 50 minutes at 350 degrees F. When cooled, I lightly brushed the top with a nappage made from apricot jam and a bit of water.

Rainbow Cake

I am so obsessed with Whisk Kid, Kaitlin's blog! She always makes these truly amazing cakes and cupcakes and has really good photographing skills... like the grapefruit cupcakes she posted recently! I really want to learn how to make those buttercream roses!

Whisk Kid is one of the first blogs I discovered when I entered the food blogging world. Like many others, the famous Super Epic Rainbow Cake is what led me to it! I was so happy for her when she made her appearance on The Martha Stewart Show in June. That means that not only bloggers and people who bake for fun visit food blogs, but bigger companies (like even the Food Network) are constantly searching the web for ideas!

Last Saturday was my boyfriend's and friend's potluck birthday. Their birthday falls on the same date so they celebrate it together every year. I wanted to bring a cake but not just any cake. Not a simple buttercream layered one, but a huge colorful cake with lots of layers!

Making THE cake was pretty long, which is why I don't make cakes often! It is pretty simple if you think about it: make the cake batter, divide it into 6 bowls, put different colors in each, bake, cool, make swiss meringue buttercream and assemble. There was one problem: I only had 2 round cake pans so it made the process longer. And let's not forget all the dishes pilling up non-stop...

I only suggest you serve this cake at room temperature so leave it out for about an hour or so. I served it right out of the fridge and the swiss meringue buttercream tasted really buttery...

I have to admit though, I am quite pleased with the result and so was everyone else. The birthday boys were really surprised when they cut a slice and got to see the rainbow!

For the recipe, you can visit Whisk Kid here where she also put the link for you to watch her appearance on The Martha Stewart Show (I watched it before making the cake, it really helped).

Checkerboard Cookies

I first saw these cookies in The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts book and have avoided making them ever since because I found they looked really hard to make. In the book, there's a recipe for the chocolate and vanilla doughs, but no explanation on how to achieve the checkerboard! Luckily I found a diagram on Baking Obsession that Vera drew to help people like me :)




The doughs didn't require much time to make but I had to keep taking them in and out of the fridge. Cutting and assembling the dough (following the diagram from Baking Obsession) is easier when they are cold.

As long as the dough doesn't get too soft at room temperature (like the spritz cookie dough), any shortbread or sablé cookie dough recipe would do. I used the recipe from The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts book for sablé cookies and was very pleased with the results!