Cream Cheese Kolache

 Cream cheese what? No worries, about a week ago, I had no idea what a kolache (or "kolacky") was either. My music history class is doing presentations on composers from the Romantic Era, and my group was assigned Dvořák. When we determined what each group member was going to do, one of my designated tasks was bringing in a Czech dessert to symbolize Dvořák's homeland. (This really didn't do us any good grade-wise, but totally earned us endless love and admiration from the rest of the class.) 

When I researched Czech sweets, "kolache" came up over and over again. They are essentially small rolls with centers that have been hollowed out and stuffed with some kind of sweet filling (although they can also be made larger and cut into slices). I went with a cream cheese filling that's almost like cheesecake, and its richness complemented the fairly simple roll well. 

 These are pretty dense, and from what I read, they should be this way; you're not going for a brioche texture. That said, they're crazy addictive, especially warm out of the oven, and they are just sweet enough to feel indulgent yet totally appropriate for breakfast. We served them during first period, and they were much appreciated by our classroom full of sleep-deprived teenagers.

  Enjoy!

Cream Cheese Kolache

(adapted from The History Kitchen)

Dough

1 package active dry yeast (¼-ounce/2¼ teaspoons)

1 cup warm milk (105 to 115°F)

½ cup unsalted butter, softened

2 large eggs

6 tbsp granulated sugar 

1 tsp salt

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

About 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 

Egg Wash

1 large egg, beaten

1 tsp cream, milk, or water

Cream Cheese Filling

16 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar or more to taste

2 large egg yolks

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

In a small bowl or measuring cup, dissolve the yeast in ¼ cup milk.

In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with the remaining milk, butter, eggs, sugar, salt, and nutmeg. Blend in 1½ cups flour. 

Gradually add enough of the remaining flour to make a workable dough (it will still be fairly sticky).

On a lightly floured surface or in a mixer with a dough hook, knead the dough until smooth and springy, about 5 minutes.

Place in an oiled bowl and turn to coat.

Cover with a kitchen towel or loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in bulk, 2 to 3 hours, or in the refrigerator overnight.

Punch down the dough, knead briefly, cover, and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in bulk, about 1¼ hours.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease the sheet. Punch down the dough, knead briefly, divide in half, form into balls, and let stand for 10 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough ½ inch thick. Cut into 2½-inch rounds (or the size of your choice). Reroll and cut out the scraps.

Place on parchment paper-lined or greased baking sheets about 1 inch apart, cover with a towel or plastic wrap greased with cooking spray, and let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, make the cream cheese topping: in a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Blend in the yolks, flour, and vanilla.

Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375°F (350°F for a convection oven). Using your thumb or the back of a spoon, press 1 large, deep indentation into the center of each round, leaving a ½-inch wide-rim (I used a shot glass to do this). Brush the edges with the egg wash.

Spoon about 1 tablespoon topping into each indentation.

Bake until golden brown or the center of the dough registers about 180°F on an instant-read thermometer, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Kolache are best eaten on the same day they are made, but can be covered with plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days or in freezer for up to 3 months.

• -makes about 36 - 2.5" kolache
• *Note: The history of this pastry is actually interesting and fairly complicated; check out the recipe's source for a detailed account.    :)

Norwegian Cinnamon Buns

 As you've probably noticed, I have a bit of a thing for cinnamon rolls. They can be everything from soft and fluffy to ooey-gooey with melted butter and sugar, and are easily adaptable to endless variations, from flavors to textures to frostings and more. And now I feel like I'm writing an infomercial, so let's move on...
These cinnamon buns in particular are totally different from any others I've made. The dough is rolled really thin, making for many, many flaky layers. The filling, instead of being just melted butter and a little cinnamon sugar, is creamed together, which lets the buttery flavor sink in to the dough while also keeping the rolls moist and gooey. 

 They are almost more of a "morning bun," Starbucks-style. They don't have any frosting, but they really don't ask for it at all - the sugar and egg wash caramelize and create a crisp, flavorful topping.
These won't be winning any beauty pageants, but I think the layers all swirling together makes for a charming little pastry that's perfect for Christmas breakfast.
Enjoy!

Norwegian Cinnamon Buns

(from How to Be a Domestic Goddess)

for the dough:

600 g flour

100 g sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

21 g (yep, 3 packets) of active dry yeast, or 45 g fresh yeast

100 g unsalted butter

400 ml milk

2 eggs

for the filling:

150 g unsalted butter, at room temperature

150 g sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 egg, lightly beaten, to glaze

Line a 9" square baking pan with parchment paper.
Combine the flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Melt the butter and whisk it into the milk and eggs, then stir into the flour mixture. Mix to combine and then knead the dough either by hand or using the dough hook of a stand mixer until it's smooth and springy. The dough will start out very soft; add extra flour, a little at a time, just until it's workable. Form into a ball, place in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise for about 25 minutes.
Take 1/3 of the dough and roll or stretch it to fit pan; this will form the bottom of each bun after baking. Roll out the rest of the dough on a lightly floured surface, aiming for a rectangle of roughly 50 x 25 cm.
Mix the filling ingredients in a small bowl and then spread the rectangle with the buttery cinnamon mixture. Try to get even coverage on the whole of the dough. Roll it up from the longest side until you have large log; as you roll, stretch the dough out a bit, in order to get thin layers. Cut the roll into about 20 rounds. Sit the rounds in rows on top of the dough in the tin, swirly side up. Don't worry if they don't fit together snugly, as they will rise. Brush them with egg and then let rise again for about 15 minutes, or until puffy. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 230 C / 425 F.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until buns are risen and golden-brown in color. Don't worry if they aren't perfectly swirled or round - this will only add to the rustic charm! ;)
Use parchment to lift buns from pan, and leave to cool slightly on a cooling rack. Tear them apart and enjoy, preferably while still warm.

Traditional Financiers

 Financiers are my new favorite thing. Ever. I bet you're dying to know why, so here's a list (partly because I like lists, but also partly because my SAT-practice-test-brain can't handle much more than that right now).
1. They are chewy with crisp edges, which is always lovely.
2. They have a wonderfully nutty flavor from the almonds and browned butter in them.
3. They are just about the most perfect snack to have with a cup of tea or coffee.
4. They are the namesake of one of my favorite bakeries. 
5. They gave me an excuse to use one of my new baking molds I bought in France this summer (because let's be honest here, what isn't better when it comes from France?).
6. They are insanely easy to make.

I baked the extra batter in tiny tart pans for an even more bite-sized treat

 I totally wasn't kidding about #6. The batter for these comes together in the time it takes to preheat the oven, and you can have a perfect snack, dessert, or breakfast (because I won't judge you) in under half an hour. When isn't that a good thing?

 These are also perfect for tons of different variations. Sick of making almond-flour-everything? Substitute ground pistachios (plus you'll get a lovely light green color). Want something fruity? Thrown in some berries. Something richer? Chocolate chips would be delicious. Anyway you make them, they're quick, easy, and will be gone in less time than it took to throw them together.
  Enjoy!

 Traditional Financiers 

(from Bouchon Bakery)

1/2 cup + 1-1/2 T. (120 g) sugar
1/4 cup + 1 T. (40 g) unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup + 2 t. (60 g) almond meal
100 g egg whites (from about 3 large eggs)
1/2 cup (100 g) unsalted butter, browned (still hot)

Preheat oven to 425F degrees, and butter 12 financier molds, roughly 1-1/4" x 2-1/4". (My tin only makes 7 financiers - if yours is like this, either set aside batter and wait to use the tin again or bake in a mini muffin tin or mini tart pans.) Refrigerate buttered tin.
Sift together sugar, flour and almond meal into a medium bowl.
Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add in egg whites; whisk together by hand until ingredients have been combined.
While still hot, slowly pour browned butter into batter, simultaneously whisking the batter until combined.
Evenly distribute batter among molds or mini-muffin tin wells, leaving about 1/8" of space from the rim.
Lower oven temperature to 350F degrees, and bake on the center rake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool unmolded financiers on a wire rack.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

If your Pinterest feed is anything like mine, you're probably being bombarded by pumpkin-scented, spice-filled, warm-out-of-the-oven everything. You might be looking forward to gingerbread or even next spring's fresh fruit by now, but if you're like me, you're excited to take any opportunity to bake up something that's even slightly reminiscent of a pumpkin spice latte (because let's be honest, those are the greatest drink in the world, and nobody should even consider having coffee in any other way, ever).

In my opinion, these rolls (or buns.. what's the difference between cinnamon rolls and cinnamon buns?) bring together the best of fall baking. They're incredibly light and fluffy, and the dough has a light pumpkin flavor. (The pumpkin in the dough does make it hard to roll out due to how soft it is, but get through it and you will be rewarded.) The generous amount of cinnamon sugar swirled in brings in the perfect amount of sweetness and spice, and the cream cheese frosting provides a nice contrast to the sweetness of the swirl.

It all comes together into one pillowy, warm, indulgent breakfast/lunch/dinner/dessert/snack/anytime food, and I promise one bite of these will make you excited to pull on a sweater and curl up by a fireplace. My friend declared them the best thing I've ever baked, and I just might have to agree with her.
Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

(from Smitten Kitchen)

Dough

6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, to be divided

1/2 cup (120 ml) whole milk, warmed (but not over 116 degrees)

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (from 1 .25-ounce or 7 gram envelope yeast)

3 1/2 cups (440 grams) all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling out

1/4 cup (packed) (50 grams) light or dark brown sugar

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar

1 teaspoon (6 grams) table salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

2/3 cups (160 grams) pumpkin puree, canned or homemade

1 large egg

Oil for coating rising bowl

Filling

3/4 cup (packed, 145 grams) light or dark brown sugar

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar

1/8 teaspoon table salt

2 teaspoons (5 grams) ground cinnamon

Glaze

4 ounces (115 grams) cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons (30 ml) milk or buttermilk

2 cups (240 grams) powdered sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Make your dough: Melt your butter and set aside to cool slightly.
Combine your warmed milk and yeast in a small bowl and set aside. After five to seven minutes, it should be a bit foamy. If it’s not, you might have some bad yeast and should start again with a newer packet.
In the bottom of the bowl of an electric mixer combine flour, sugars, salt and spices. Add just 1/4 cup (or two-thirds of; leave the rest for assembly) of your melted/browned butter and stir to combine. Add yeast-milk mixture, pumpkin and egg and mix combined. Switch mixer to a dough hook and run it for 5 minutes on low.
Scrape mixture into a large oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside for 1 hour in a draft-free place; it should just about double.
While it is rising, line the bottom of two 9-inch round cake pans (8-inch round should work too, as does an 8-inch square) with parchment paper and butter the sides of the pan and the paper.
Assemble buns: Scoop dough onto a very well floured surface and flour the top of it well. With a rolling pin, roll the dough to an approximately 16×11-inch rectangle. Brush reserved melted/browned butter over dough. Stir together remaining filling ingredients and sprinkle mixture evenly over dough. Starting on a longer side, roll the dough into a tight spiral. It’s going to make a mess because the dough is crazy soft and some stuff spills off the ends; don’t sweat it. It will all be delicious in the end.
To cut cinnamon rolls without squishing their pretty spirals: With a sharp serrated knife, using absolutely no pressure whatsoever (only the weight of the blade should land on the dough) gently saw your log with a back-forth motion into approximately 1-inch sections. When a soft dough like this is rolled, it tends to grow longer, which means that you’ll have the option to either make more buns (say, 18 instead of 16) or just cut them a little larger (in generous inches).
Divide buns between two prepared pans. You can sprinkle any sugar that fell off onto the counter over them. Cover each pan with plastic wrap and let rise for another 45 minutes.
If you’re doing this ahead of time, you can now put them in the fridge overnight. In the morning, leave them out for an hour to warm up and finish rising.
15 minutes before you’re ready to bake them, heat the oven to 350°F. Meanwhile, you can make the glaze. Beat your cream cheese until it is light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Drizzle in milk until you get the consistency you’re looking for, either thick enough to ice or thin enough to drizzle.
Finish your buns: Remove the plastic and bake buns for 25 minutes, until puffed and golden and the aroma is perfection. Transfer pans to wire cooling racks and drizzle/spread with cream cheese glaze before enjoying, preferably while still warm.

Earl Grey Eclairs

 Junior year, or at least the first 2 weeks of it, has been great and bad and wonderful and terrible and confusing and musical and most of all, busy. I've been baking, occasionally, but it's usually to de-stress, and by the time I'm done I have an entirely new to-do list and I can't even think about sitting down to blog.

 So now, in the 23 minutes I have left before the Emmys start, I give you these eclairs. They were an idea that came to me out of the blue, and somehow, perhaps magically, the baking gods were on my side and they worked out just as I had wanted them to. I only had to make them twice. ;)

 These are a simple choux pastry, hollow inside and perfect for filling with the creamy custard flavored with earl grey tea. The tea is one of my favorite drinks in the world - I have it almost every morning before school, even though it may make me seem like I'm 90 years old - and I even brought home a giant tin of it from England. On top, instead of a traditional fondant glaze, there's a thin layer of sweet cookie dough.

 This layer of cookie dough does several things. First, it makes the whole dessert something totally different, which is always nice. Second, it makes the eclairs beautiful - the cracked, sugar-dusted top is enough to make anyone's mouth water. Third, it adds texture to an otherwise fairly soft dessert: the topping is crispy and crumbly at the same time, and goes perfectly with the smoothness of the cream. Lastly (and maybe most importantly), it kind of melts into the choux and makes the whole thing insanely buttery, and wonderfully reminiscent of tea and cookies. And perfect.
  Enjoy!

 Earl Grey Eclairs

(adapted from Ladurée Sucré and Kitchen Wench)

Biscuit Topping
100g unsalted butter, very cold
125g cake flour
125g caster sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Choux Pastry
120g cake flour
100mL whole milk
100mL water
10g caster sugar
1 pinch salt
80g unsalted butter
4 large eggs

Lightened Crème Pâtissière
1/4 cup loose earl grey tea leaves (or about 5 tea bags)
400mL whole milk
4 egg yolks
80 caster sugar
30g corn starch
25g unsalted butter
1 cup double cream

For the biscuit topping:
Cut the chilled butter into small pieces, then mix together with the flour, sugar and vanilla till well combined.
Bring the mixture together into a ball by hand and refrigerate for an hour.
For the choux:
While the topping mixture is chilling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and melt the butter into the milk in a saucepan and bring to a simmer.
Add the flour, sugar and salt all at once and rapidly mix with a wooden spoon till the dough comes together into a ball and there is a thin layer forming on the bottom of the pan.
Transfer the dough to a bowl and mix in the eggs with a wooden spoon, one at a time, till the dough is smooth and glossy.
Fill a large piping bag with a 1″/ 2.5cm round tip and pipe out long shapes about 10cm long onto a tray lined with baking paper. Make sure to leave about 10cm between each pastry to leave room for them to spread.
 Once this is done, take the biscuit topping out of the fridge and lightly knead to soften, then place between two sheets of non-stick baking paper or plastic wrap and roll flat to about 1-2mm thick. Cut into rectangles about 4cm x 12cm, to make sure that it completely covers the eclairs and hangs off the sides.
Place each rectangle of biscuit topping on top of each eclair, then bake for 10 minutes, then prop the oven door open about 3mm (the handle of a wooden spoon is great for this) and allow to bake for another 20 minutes or till they are golden on top and fully puffed up. Set aside to cool before filling.
For the cream:
Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar, then add the corn starch and whisk till mixture becomes pale yellow and thickened.
Set aside and scrape the vanilla into the milk and bring to a simmer.
Slowly pour the milk into the egg yolk mixture in a thin stream while constantly beating.
Pour back into the saucepan and bring to a boil while whisking, making sure to scrape down the sides.
Leave the mixture to cool for about 10 minutes so that it’s no longer boiling, then briskly whisk in the butter till the mixture is smooth and glossy.
Scrape the mixture into a non-reactive bowl and keep tightly covered with plastic wrap till ready to use. Once you’re ready to fill the eclairs, beat the cream to firm peaks then carefully mix together the cream and the pastry cream with a spatula.
Fill a piping bag with the mixture then pipe each eclair with the pastry cream in three places and dust with icing sugar before serving.
Best eaten within a day of filling (unfilled pastries can be stored in an airtight container for up to one week).
   -makes about 20 eclairs

Lemon-Scented Cinnamon Buns

     I'm back!! My AP test is over, and I'm beyond excited to have my lazy weekend mornings and fun weekday afternoons back, with lots of room for baking!
     This recipe was actually made a couple of weeks ago, during one of my study breaks. Somehow studying seemed that much more pleasant when I could smell baking cinnamon buns in my oven...

It's so fluffy I'm gonna die! ("Up" reference? Anyone? No?...)

     These aren't quite the typical extra-large, sugar-coma-inducing cinnamon buns you might get at the mall food court (or at Ikea, as I learned yesterday...). These are fluffy, but they aren't super tall or extra sweet, largely due to the lemon zest and extract, which cut through the sweetness a little bit.

     In my opinion, cinnamon buns are the classic American weekend breakfast (with the possible exception of pancakes). I bought the book the recipe is from on a whim, when I suddenly became interested in baking bread. While lots of the recipes look pretty intimidating, I decided to start with something I had attempted before, and it ended up working out really well. I made the mistake of using active dry instead of instant yeast, so perhaps they didn't rise as much as they were supposed to, but I thought they were just the right size (and they didn't lose any fluffiness).

look at those sugar crystals...

    These are the perfect treat for a lazy weekend morning. Be warned, this recipe makes quite a large number of cinnamon rolls when you and your dad are the only ones eating them - I ended up sharing most of them with a friend at school, who wasn't too upset over having plastic containers full of pastries handed to her during English class. Two days in a row. ;)
    Enjoy!

Lemon-Scented Cinnamon Buns

(slightly adapted from The Bread Baker's Apprentice)

-6 1/2 tablespoons (3.25 oz) granulated sugar

-1 teaspoon (.25 oz) salt

-5 1/2 tablespoons (2.75 oz) shortening or unsalted butter or margarine, at room temperature

-1 large (1.65 oz) egg, slightly beaten

-1 teaspoon (.17 oz) lemon extract, or 1 teaspoon (.1 oz) grated lemon zest

-3 1/2 cups (16 oz) unbleached bread or all-purpose flour

-2 teaspoons (.22 oz) instant yeast

-1 1/8 to 1 1/4 cups (9-10 oz) whole milk or buttermilk, at room temperature, or 3 tablespoons (1 oz) powdered milk (DMS) and 1 cup (8 oz) water

-1/2 cup (4 oz) cinnamon sugar (6 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar plus 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon)

-White Fondant Glaze (see recipe below)

1. Cream together the sugar, salt, and shortening on medium-high speed in an electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a large metal spoon and mixing bowl and do it by hand); if you are using powdered milk, cream the milk with the sugar, but add the water with the flour and yeast.
Whip in the egg and lemon extract until smooth. then add the flour, yeast, and milk. Mix on low speed (or stir by hand) until the dough forms a ball. Switch to the dough hook and increase the speed to medium, mixing for approximately 10 minutes (or knead by hand for 12-15 minutes), or until the dough is silky and supple, tacky but not sticky. You may have to add a little flour or water while mixing to achieve this texture. The dough should pass the windowpane test and register 77-81 degrees F.
Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
2. Ferment at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.
3. Mist the counter with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. Shape the buns:
     -Roll out the dough with a rolling pin, lightly dusting the top of the dough with flour to keep it from sticking to the pin. Roll it into a rectangle about 2/3" inch thick and 14" wide by 12" long for larger buns, or 18" wide by 9" long for smaller buns. Don't roll out the dough too thin, or the finished buns will be tough and chewy rather than soft and plump.
      -Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the surface of the dough.
      -Roll the dough up into a cigar-shaped log, creating a cinnamon-sugar spiral as you roll. With the seam side down, cut the dough into 8-12 even pieces about 1 3/4" thick for larger buns; or 12-16 pieces each 1 1/4" thick for smaller buns.
4. Line 1 or more sheet pans with baking parchment. Place the buns approximately 1/2" apart so that they aren't touching but are close to one another.
5. Proof at room temperature for 75-90 minutes, or until the pieces have grown into one another and have nearly doubled in size. You may also retard the shaped buns in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, pulling the pans out of the refrigerator 3-4 hours before baking to allow the dough to proof.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F with the oven rack on the middle shelf.
7. Bake the cinnamon buns for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown.
8. Cool the buns in the pan for about 10 minutes and then streak white fondant glaze across the tops while the buns are warm but not too hot. Remove the buns from the pans and place them on a cooling rack. Wait at least 20 minutes before serving.

White Fondant Glaze

Sift 4 cups of powdered sugar into a bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of lemon extract and 6 tablespoons-1/2 cup warm milk, briskly whisking until all the sugar is dissolved. Add the milk slowly and only as much as is needed to make a thick, smooth paste.
When the buns have cooled but are still warm, streak the glaze over them by dipping the tines of a fork or a whisk into the glaze and waving the fork or whisk over the tops. Or, form the streaks by dipping your fingers in the glaze and letting it drip off as you wave them over the tops of the buns. (Remember to wear latex gloves.)

Cream Puffs, Eclairs, and More! (class at the International Culinary Center)

sprinkling cheese on unbaked gougères

     Happy Sunday! A few years ago, I tried making my own croquembouche a few years ago (a mini, chocolate one, granted), and it was delicious, but it wasn't great. It also didn't look all that wonderful, and as I'm starting to get more into the culinary world, I know presentation is super important. I figured what better way to improve my choux pastry technique then to take a class at the International Culinary Center! Living in New York, I'm lucky enough to have access to wonderful culinary schools, but this was my first time taking a class here.

gougères and profiterole shells, ready for the oven

    The school's "Cream Puffs, Eclairs, and More" class was overall a great experience. We weren't able to make everything that was in the little recipe booklet we were given at the start of class, but we were taught the basics needed to recreate all the recipes.

piping the filling of the Paris-Brest

     The class started off with an introduction to choux pastry and the basic chemistry behind it - leavening, flavoring, etc. Our head instructor was Chef Christopher Ciresi, who has worked as the pastry chef at the Plaza Hotel. He was great at explaining and started with the real basics, without assuming we had done this kind of thing before. He then demonstrated how to fill a Paris-Brest, gave us a pre-baked one and some hazelnut praliné pastry cream, and we each got to fill our own to take home.

         He then demonstrated how to make choux pastry and explained flavoring techniques. We split into partners and got to make it ourselves - we piped half of the dough into plain puffs to be used later on, and the other half we flavored with gruyere cheese, salt, pepper and paprika to make gougères. Chef showed us how to pipe the right way to get perfect dollops.

my finished Paris-Brest

      Once our puffs were in the oven, we were split into 3 groups to make éclairs. We were given pre-baked choux pastry, pastry cream and fondant for topping them, and each group was assigned either chocolate, vanilla or coffee as flavoring. This part of the class was more about the technique behind filling and glazing, rather than the actual making of the pastry or pastry cream.
    We then had a demonstration on how the pastry cream had been made, in addition to instruction on how to flavor it with extracts, liquors and fruit purees. Finally, we got to snack on our gougères and plate our plain puffs with some crème anglaise ice cream chef had made (he also demonstrated how to make this). The rest of the pastries were then divided up into bakery boxes for us to bring home.

some of the éclairs I brought home - vanilla, coffee, and the barely-visible one is chocolate

    Overall, this class was a lot of fun and I learned a lot from it. It is true that you don't get to make everything you bring home, but you get the foundations to replicate it, and you do get to assemble everything. I even came home with a bag full of unfilled cream puffs (we never actually made cream puffs, just the shells, which we used for profiteroles) and a wrapped-up bag of gougère dough I had made, for me to bake when I want to.
     I really liked that the chef wasn't only there to do what the description of the class stated - he taught us some extra tidbits, like how to make the chocolate sauce for profiteroles, and discussed the pastry industry with us quite a bit. He gave us his opinion on pastry school and internships, which are really helpful for somebody like me trying to get started in the industry.
   International Culinary Center, I'll be back! :)

*disclaimer: I didn't take most of these pictures - I got them from my baking partner during the class, because my phone ran out of battery just as I started taking pictures (just my luck, right?!)

Greek Yogurt Cinnamon Buns

 Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you're all enjoying a day filled with fun with your favorite people. In the midst of all the crazy, buttery pies all over the internet, I figured I should bring you this easy recipe for a treat that will feed a big family for breakfast. Greek yogurt cinnamon buns.

  That's right, you heard it. Greek yogurt. Cinnamon buns. In the same phrase. What is happening to the world??
 When you hear anything with the words "Greek yogurt," you might automatically think of "healthy." The truth is, while these are a bit better for you than the average cinnamon bun - they have whole wheat flour, too - they are far from healthy.
 I originally set out to make a big batch of indulgent pumpkin cinnamon buns, but it ended up not really working out when I realized that I only had part of the pumpkin for the recipe, and decided to throw in some Greek yogurt instead. It ended up working out kind of like the classic chocolate mayonnaise cake, where you don't taste the secret ingredient, but it makes everything more moist and delicious.
  If you want a recipe for an easy, rich breakfast for a crowd, these are perfect. And if you want to tell yourself that they are healthy as well, go for it. I won't mind.
  Enjoy!

Greek Yogurt Cinnamon Buns

(adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

Dough
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, to be divided
1/2 cup whole milk, warmed (but not over 116 degrees)
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (from 1 .25-ounce or 7 gram envelope yeast)

1 1/2 cups white whole-wheat flour
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling out
1/4 cup (packed) brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2/3 cups plain Greek yogurt
1 egg
Oil for coating rising bowl

Filling
3/4 cup (packed) brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Glaze
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons milk
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
Few drops vanilla extract

Make your dough: Melt your butter, and if you’re melting it in a little saucepan, you might as well brown it for extra flavor. Once the butter has melted, keep cooking it over medium heat for a few additional minutes. It will become hissy and sizzle a lot, then take on a nutty flavor as golden bits form at the bottom of the pot. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
Combine your warmed milk and yeast in a small bowl and set aside. After five to seven minutes, it should be a bit foamy. If it’s not, you might have some bad yeast and should start again with a newer packet.
In the bottom of the bowl of an electric mixer combine flours, sugars, salt and spices. Add just 1/4 cup (or two-thirds of; leave the rest for assembly) of your melted/browned butter and stir to combine. Add yeast-milk mixture, Greek yogurt and egg and mix to combine. Switch mixer to a dough hook and run it for 5 minutes on low.
Scrape mixture into a large oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside for 1 hour in a warm place; it should just about double.
While it is rising, line the bottom of two 9-inch round cake pans (8-inch round should work too, as does an 8-inch square) with parchment paper and butter the sides of the pan and the paper.

Assemble buns: Scoop dough onto a very well floured surface and flour the top of it well. With a rolling pin, roll the dough to an approximately 16×11-inch rectangle. Brush reserved melted/browned butter over dough. Stir together remaining filling ingredients and sprinkle mixture evenly over dough. Starting on a longer side, roll the dough into a tight spiral. This may be messy and leak out butter and sugar at the ends of the dough; that's okay.
Here’s how to cut cinnamon rolls without squishing their pretty spirals: With a sharp serrated knife, using absolutely no pressure whatsoever (only the weight of the blade should land on the dough) gently saw your log with a back-forth motion into approximately 16 1-inch sections. When a soft dough like this is rolled, it tends to grow longer, which means that you’ll have the option to either make more buns (say, 18 instead of 16) or just cut them a little larger (in generous inches).
Divide buns between two prepared pans. You can sprinkle any sugar that fell off onto the counter over them. Cover each pan with plastic wrap and let rise for another 45 minutes.
If you’re doing this ahead of time, you can now put them in the fridge overnight. In the morning, leave them out for an hour to warm up and finish rising.
15 minutes before you’re ready to bake them, heat the oven to 350°F. Meanwhile, you can make the glaze. Beat your cream cheese until it is light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Drizzle in milk until you get the consistency you’re looking for, either thick enough to ice or thin enough to drizzle.

Finish your buns: Remove the plastic and bake buns for 25 minutes, until puffed and golden and delicious-smelling. Transfer pans to wire cooling racks and drizzle/spread with cream cheese glaze (or leave plain if you're like my dad and don't like icing, in which case, we need to have a little conversation about life values and such).

- makes about 16 cinnamon buns

TWD: Popovers

Today's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe made me very very happy. It wasn't because popovers are delicious- although they are. It wasn't even because they went perfectly with the big salad lunch we had before leaving for the airport to come to Brazil- although they did. It was because as I woke up the morning of our trip and realized I still had to make this recipe to post while I was away, they took me about five minutes to throw together, enough time to get dressed and ready to go while they baked, and could (and should) be eaten hot out of the oven. How delicious they are was just the cherry on top ;)

This recipe is definitely one that I'll be making plenty of times in the future for a quick side dish or breakfast. I loved eating them with this honey butter, or with some sort of jelly. Thanks to the great hosts this week: Paula of Vintage Kitchen Notes and Amy of Bake with Amy. As always, the recipe can be found on their blogs or in Baking with Julia.
Enjoy! <3

TWD: Pecan Sticky Buns

Welcome to Tuesdays with Dorie's first Third Tuesday! Usually we do two recipes per month, but since May has three Tuesdays, we decided to make this a "rewind" week, where we can make whatever we want! I made these a couple of weeks ago, and ate them throughout the week (hey, celebrating my birthday, right?).
These are a buttery, sugary blob. But they're so delicious, they're worth it.

The flour on top of the yeast mixture cracked... yay!

This dough ROSE. The second rise was done in the fridge.

Lining the pan with butter, sugar, and pecans. I only made half the recipe, and froze the other half of the dough. We couldn't have two whole pans of these lying around!

The logs cut into pieces.

Risen and into the oven!

Oh my goodness, so delicious.

Make these! Please! The recipe can be found on the blogs of the two hosts from when the group made the recipe, Lynn of Eat Drink Man Woman Dogs Cat and Nicole of Cookies on Friday. Enjoy! <3

TWD Rewind: Parisian Apple Tartlet

Sometimes there are recipes that seem really easy. A bit too easy, it might seem. Sometimes these recipes are really good. So good that you had no idea it was possible to make such a fabulous dessert out of four ingredients. But sometimes, these recipes are really bad, and you wonder how you could have been so stupid as to even attempt to make them. But then, there are the recipes which are just okay, which tends to be the case with a recipe with just four ingredients. That's the case with these tartlets. They start off with a small round of puff pastry (I think I used one that was a bit too small, because I had to cut my apples smaller than the recipe said to). Then you put on half an apple, cut into fourths. You sprinkle on some brown sugar and butter, and you're done. Bake at 400F for 25 minutes (that was too much for mine - they took about 15-20), and consume. The brown sugar and butter dripped off of the pastry, and burned. This resulted in the bottoms of my tartlets being black and tasting burnt. The apples didn't cook all the way through, but I had to take the tartlets out of the oven because or else they would get too brown. All in all, this is a recipe that I might make if I have small scraps of puff pastry leftover from another recipe, but probably not one I'll serve at a dinner. If you want to try it out for yourself, you can buy the book or find the recipe here. Enjoy!

Daring Bakers: Holy Cannoli!

The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.

Yeah, so... cannoli. These were quite the challenge. The dough was quick and easy to put together. But the next part, frying - not so much. I have never fried anything in my life, so I got my mom to help. We tried to roll the dough out really thin, but it didn't work so well. So we had slightly thick shells. And, to make matters worse, I grabbed tongs that had just been in really hot oil. Ouch.

Many of the daring bakers were concerned about what to use as molds. We couldn't find cannoli molds or thick pasta to wrap the dough around, so we rolled up strips of disposable foil pans, wrapped those in parchment paper, and used them as molds. They worked really well. However, as we were frying the dough, some of the cannoli opened up, resulting in big dough puffs. But the ones that stayed closed were really yummy.

The filling - well, I don't even know what to say about the filling. I cut the recipe in half because of us not having so many cannoli to fill, but I forgot to cut the pistachios, chocolate, and orange zest in half. So it has quite a strong flavor. Also, as usual, I waited until the last minute to make these. So I just filled them, but the cream hasn't been in the fridge for very long, and it's still quite thin. That's why in the picture below, it's dripping out. Oh well, maybe next month I'll make the challenge earlier :D

I'm not really sure what my opinion is on these - I've never been a huge fan of cannoli. My dad, who loves cannoli, said that the filling was a bit too sweet for his taste. However, this is coming from the man who thinks that icing is too sweet. So really, I don't know. This recipe isn't one that I will make again, although I might try a different cannoli recipe in the future. But try the recipe for yourself. They are fun to make. Just be sure to grab the tong HANDLES, which haven't been in hot oil. Also be sure to check out the Daring Bakers blogroll! Enjoy!

Lidisano’s Cannoli
Makes 22-24 4-inch cannoli
Prep time:
Dough – 2 hours and 10-20 minutes, including resting time, and depending on whether you do it by hand or machine.
Filling – 5-10 minutes plus chilling time (about 2 hours or more)
Frying – 1-2 minutes per cannoli
Assemble – 20–30 minutes

RECIPE NOTE: THE EQUIVALENTS FROM THIS RECIPE WERE PREPARED USING THIS CONVERSION SITE: http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/index.asp.

CANNOLI SHELLS
2 cups (250 grams/8.82 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons(28 grams/1 ounce) sugar
1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.06 ounces) unsweetened baking cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon (approx. 3 grams/0.11 ounces) salt
3 tablespoons (42 grams/1.5 ounces) vegetable or olive oil
1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.18 ounces) white wine vinegar
Approximately 1/2 cup (approx. 59 grams/approx. 4 fluid ounces/approx. 125 ml) sweet Marsala or any white or red wine you have on hand
1 large egg, separated (you will need the egg white but not the yolk)
Vegetable or any neutral oil for frying – about 2 quarts (8 cups/approx. 2 litres)
1/2 cup (approx. 62 grams/2 ounces) toasted, chopped pistachio nuts, mini chocolate chips/grated chocolate and/or candied or plain zests, fruits etc.. for garnish
Confectioners' sugar

Note - If you want a chocolate cannoli dough, substitute a few tablespoons of the flour (about 25%) with a few tablespoons of dark, unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch process) and a little more wine until you have a workable dough (Thanks to Audax).

CANNOLI FILLING
2 lbs (approx. 3.5 cups/approx. 1 kg/32 ounces) ricotta cheese, drained
1 2/3 cups cup (160 grams/6 ounces) confectioner’s sugar, (more or less, depending on how sweet you want it), sifted
1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon (4 grams/0.15 ounces) pure vanilla extract or the beans from one vanilla bean
3 tablespoons (approx. 28 grams/approx. 1 ounce) finely chopped good quality chocolate of your choice
2 tablespoons (12 grams/0.42 ounces) of finely chopped, candied orange peel, or the grated zest of one small to medium orange
3 tablespoons (23 grams/0.81 ounce) toasted, finely chopped pistachios

Note - If you want chocolate ricotta filling, add a few tablespoons of dark, unsweetened cocoa powder to the above recipe, and thin it out with a few drops of warm water if too thick to pipe.

DIRECTIONS FOR SHELLS:
1. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer or food processor, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the oil, vinegar, and enough of the wine to make a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and well blended, about 2 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge from 2 hours to overnight.

2 Cut the dough into two pieces. Keep the remaining dough covered while you work. Lightly flour a large cutting or pastry board and roll the dough until super thin, about 1/16 to 1/8” thick (An area of about 13 inches by 18 inches should give you that). Cut out 3 to 5-inch circles (3-inch – small/medium; 4-inch – medium/large; 5-inch;- large. Your choice). Roll the cut out circle into an oval, rolling it larger and thinner if it’s shrunk a little.

3 Oil the outside of the cannoli tubes (You only have to do this once, as the oil from the deep fry will keep them well, uhh, oiled..lol). Roll a dough oval from the long side (If square, position like a diamond, and place tube/form on the corner closest to you, then roll) around each tube/form and dab a little egg white on the dough where the edges overlap. (Avoid getting egg white on the tube, or the pastry will stick to it.) Press well to seal. Set aside to let the egg white seal dry a little.

4. In a deep heavy saucepan, pour enough oil to reach a depth of 3 inches, or if using an electric deep-fryer, follow the manufacturer's directions. Heat the oil to 375°F (190 °C) on a deep fry thermometer, or until a small piece of the dough or bread cube placed in the oil sizzles and browns in 1 minute. Have ready a tray or sheet pan lined with paper towels or paper bags.

5. Carefully lower a few of the cannoli tubes into the hot oil. Do not crowd the pan. Fry the shells until golden, about 2 minutes, turning them so that they brown evenly.

8. Lift a cannoli tube with a wire skimmer or large slotted spoon, out of the oil. Using tongs, grasp the cannoli tube at one end. Very carefully remove the cannoli tube with the open sides straight up and down so that the oil flows back into the pan. Place the tube on paper towels or bags to drain. Repeat with the remaining tubes. While they are still hot, grasp the tubes with a potholder and pull the cannoli shells off the tubes with a pair of tongs, or with your hand protected by an oven mitt or towel. Let the shells cool completely on the paper towels. Place shells on cooling rack until ready to fill.

9. Repeat making and frying the shells with the remaining dough. If you are reusing the cannoli tubes, let them cool before wrapping them in the dough.

Pasta Machine method:
1. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Starting at the middle setting, run one of the pieces of dough through the rollers of a pasta machine. Lightly dust the dough with flour as needed to keep it from sticking. Pass the dough through the machine repeatedly, until you reach the highest or second highest setting. The dough should be about 4 inches wide and thin enough to see your hand through

2. Continue rolling out the remaining dough. If you do not have enough cannoli tubes for all of the dough, lay the pieces of dough on sheets of plastic wrap and keep them covered until you are ready to use them.

3, Roll, cut out and fry the cannoli shells as according to the directions above.

For stacked cannoli:
1. Heat 2-inches of oil in a saucepan or deep sauté pan, to 350-375°F (176 - 190 °C).

2. Cut out desired shapes with cutters or a sharp knife. Deep fry until golden brown and blistered on each side, about 1 – 2 minutes. Remove from oil with wire skimmer or large slotted spoon, then place on paper towels or bags until dry and grease free. If they balloon up in the hot oil, dock them lightly prior to frying. Place on cooling rack until ready to stack with filling.

DIRECTIONS FOR FILLING:
1. Line a strainer with cheesecloth. Place the ricotta in the strainer over a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Weight it down with a heavy can, and let the ricotta drain in the refrigerator for several hours to overnight.

2. In a bowl with electric mixer, beat ricotta until smooth and creamy. Beat in confectioner’s sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and blend until smooth. Transfer to another bowl and stir in chocolate, zest and nuts. Chill until firm.(The filling can be made up to 24 hours prior to filling the shells. Just cover and keep refrigerated).

ASSEMBLE THE CANNOLI:
1. When ready to serve..fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain or star tip, or a ziplock bag, with the ricotta cream. If using a ziplock bag, cut about 1/2 inch off one corner. Insert the tip in the cannoli shell and squeeze gently until the shell is half filled. Turn the shell and fill the other side. You can also use a teaspoon to do this, although it’s messier and will take longer.

2. Press or dip cannoli in chopped pistachios, grated chocolate/mini chocolate chips, candied fruit or zest into the cream at each end. Dust with confectioner’s sugar and/or drizzles of melted chocolate if desired.