Madeleines au chocolat

Today I was in the mood for something chocolatey, easy and of course, French! I searched my Pintrest board and checked to see what ingredients I had before I finally settled on Chocolate Madeleines. I found an English recipe so I had to do some converting of measurements so after a little research, here is what I got:

Ingredients:
1 3/4 sticks of butter, melted
1 1/2 c of flour (possibly a bit more)
~1 c sugar (slightly less)
4 eggs
2 T cocoa powder
2 t baking powder

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF

In an electric mixer, mix together the eggs and the sugar.

Add in flour, cocoa powder and baking powder. Mis together.

Lastly, mix in the melted butter.

In a greased Madeleine tray, spoon in the batter. The batter should be thick. Fill the molds 3/4 of the way full, they will expand and rise.

Bake for about 8-10 minutes, or until the middle is baked through.

They are best eaten the day of. They will save for up to 2-3 days but must be stored in an air-tight container.

Chocolate, Coconut, Pecan Braid

I've recently gotten into this French pastry show called Le Meilleur Patissier (The Best Baker) and I have been wanting to try some of the French classics that they contestants are challenged to make on the show. Through watching this show, I have learned how precise French baking is (nothing I already knew) and the history of some of the classics. Unfortunately, I don't have most of the fancy baking products that are needed for this classic pastries, so I settled for something from my Pintrest Board that I have been wanting to make for awhile: a Chocolate, Coconut, Pecan Braid.

I can't take credit for this recipe, so I am including the link to the full recipe here.

I will note some of the challenges I faced and my slight alternations for the future.

*The blogger says to roll the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper; however, I found that parts of the dough stuck to the paper and when I went to transfer the dough, I had to re-roll it out. Next time, I will just roll out the dough on a floured surface.

*Once the dough has been rolled out into the appropriate size, you are to divide it into three equal parts lengthwise. I found the I was unable to fill the braid because the sections were too small. Next time, am going to roll it out longer widthwise so that I can fill the inside more. I also found that the braid was too doughy. Hopefully, by making it larger widthwise, this will fix this problem too.

*Despite these challenges, it was still a great dessert and I will definitely make it again in the future!

Coconut Cream Pie

For my 24th birthday, my middle sister, Brittany, got me one of the most creative and thoughtful gifts I've ever gotten, a cooking class! It was something that I have always wanted to do, but have never actually done it. Whole Foods offers several classes a week. They have everything from demos to hand-on which include baking 101, sushi rolling and of course my favorite, French cuisine. My sister got me the baking 101 which was right up my alley. The chef was so knowledgable and we made some dynamite recipes, including this coconut cream pie.

Ingredients:

Pie Crust

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c cornstarch

2 c half-and-half

4 egg yolks

3 T butter

1 c flaked coconut

2 1/2 t vanilla (divided)

2 c whipping cream

1/3 c sugar

Garnish with toasted coconut

Directions:

Combine 1/2 c sugar and cornstarch in a heavy sauce pan. Whisk together the half-and-half and the egg yolks. Gradually whisk the egg mixture into the sauce pan. Cook over medium heat and bring to a boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Stir in butter, 1 cup coconut and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Cover the mixture with plastic wrap and let it stand for 30 minutes. Pour the custard filling into the pie crust and chill (I prefer to chill mine overnight.)

Topping - beat together the whipping cream at high speed with an electric mixer. Beat until foamy - you will see bubbles around the edges. Add remaining sugar and vanilla and beat until soft peaks form. This might take a few minutes so be patient! Spread over the pie filling and garnish with toasted coconut.

Enjoy!

Easy as pie Pie Crust

I was always afraid to make my own pie crust and I always took the easy route of using a store-bought crust. Then, my eyes were opened! When I lived in France, we often made apple tarts and quiches and my roommate, Leslie, taught me that making crust is super easy.

This recipe comes from a cooking class that I took the other night at Whole Foods.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 T sugar
1/2 t salt
6 T unsalted butter, chilled, cut into small pieces
3 T solid vegetable shortening, chilled, cut into small pieces
4 T ice water

Directions:
Blend the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor using a plastic blade. Add the butter and shortening; pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. *This is where the professional chef told us that "less is more". It is better to underblend than overblend.* Drizzle water over the mixture and process just until moist clumps form. Add more water if the dough it still dry. Gather the dough into a ball and flatten it into a disk. Wrap it and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Roll out the dough into a 14-inch round. Transfer into a pie dish. Fold the edges as desired. Poke the bottom of the crust with a fork and chill for another 15 minutes.

Pre-heat the over to 375ºF and bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. Cool completely.

Cherry Almond Shortbread Cookies

Already in 2014, a second "snowpocalypse" has hit the south! This time, it's the real deal and it seems that the only logical thing to do is to bake. With Valentine's Day right around the corner, I've decided to try a recipe from a blog that my mom found on Pinterest. It's a simple shortbread cookie with dried cherries to give it that little hint of red for the most romantic day of the year.

Ingredients:
-3 sticks of butter, room temp (the original recipe called for 3/4 lb and I discovered that each stick is a 1/4 lb)
-1 cup sugar
-1 t vanilla extract
-1 t almond extract
-3 1/4 cup flour (the original recipe called for 3 1/2 cups, but I found that the dough was too floury and didn't hold together very well)
-1/4 t salt
-1 1/2 cup dried cherries, diced

Directions:
Mix together the butter and sugar for about three minutes until the mixture is a creamy texture. Add the vanilla and almond extracts. Slowly add in the flour and salt and mix until the dough forms a ball. Add in the dried cherries.

*Optional: Remove the dough and form into a disk and refrigerate for about 20 minutes.

Roll the dough to 1/4 inch (I found that they were better a bit thicker) and cut into shapes. Unfortunately, I didn't have a heart-shaped cutter, so I made round cookies.

Bake at 350ºF for about 15-20 minutes, or until the edges are slightly brown.

Millefeuille

A few weeks ago at Amelie's French Bakery in NoDa, I had a Millefeuille, sometimes called a Napoleon, and ever since then, I've been craving another! Due to the "snow storm", school was cancelled, so I figured that the best way to spend my day off was to attempt this classic French pastry.

I looked up several recipes and took different components from each. I cheated on the puff pastry and used store-bought puff pastry, but I am including a homemade recipe from my favorite cookbook, Lunch in Provence. I followed this recipe for the cream filling. One of the reasons this is my favorite cookbook is because it features stories and pictures of the Provence region of France, my favorite of course. However, one thing that I am not crazy about is the explanation (or lack there of) for the recipes. The authors assume that you are a classically-trained French chef and do not need specific instructions on how to prepare or cook these recipes. After hounding my mother for some insight and searching the internet, I was able to give it a try.

***This recipe yields 6 pastries. If you are using store-bought puff pastry, I found that each "sheet" made 2 pastries.

Puff Pastry Ingredients
2 1/2 cups flour
1 generous t salt
1 T butter, softened
scant 1/2 cup cold water
1 3/4 sticks butter
confectioners' sugar for dusting

Cream Filling Ingredients
1 cup milk
1 T butter
1 vanilla pod (you can also substitute vanilla extract, 1 t = 1 pod)
3/4 cup sugar
2-3 egg yolks
1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup whipping cream

Directions - Puff Pastry
Mix the flour, salt and butter. Add the cold water then mix with your hands until the dough is firm. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Roll the dough out into a rectangle and place the butter (1 3/4 stick) in the center. Fold the corners so the butter is wrapped in the dough, then roll it out again until 1 1/4 inch thick. Fold in thirds and refrigerate for another 2 hours.

When the pastry is ready, roll it out again - about 1/5 inch thick. Bake at 360ºF for about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with powder sugar, bake again until the sugar caramelizes.

Cut the pastry into rectangles.

Directions - Cream Filling
In a saucepan bring the milk, butter and vanilla pod to a boil.

Beat together the sugar, egg yolks, and flour. When the milk comes to a boil, add the egg mixture, mix well and return to the saucepan. Bring this mixture back to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool.

Whip the cream and add it to the cooled mixture, and refrigerate.

***This recipe does not specify when to remove the vanilla pod. I decided to remove it right before I assembled the pastry. I cut it up the middle and scraped out the seeds and mixed them in.

Directions - Assembling
Layer the puff pastry with the cream filling. Normally, there are three layers of pastry and two layers of cream.

I made a simple icing (powder sugar and milk) for the op layer. I then melted bitter-sweet chocolate to drizzle on top of the icing. I need to work on my "drizzling" skills, I'm not fully satisfied with the look of the pastries but they sure do taste yummy!

Speculoos Madeleines

For Christmas, two of the many French-inspired gifts that I got were Speculoos powder and a Madeleine tray. If you do not know what speculoos is, I highly suggest that you figure it out, and quickly! It can best be described as a spice flavor with hints of ginger and cinnamon. Trader Joe's sells "Cookie Butter" which is essentially speculoos in a peanut butter-like form. You can also buy speculoos cookies and speculoos spread at World Market.

Today, I used both of these gifts and made Speculoos Madeleines. The original recipe that I used was from a French blog, but I have translated it into English. I had fun following a recipe in French and I learned some good cooking vocabulary. For example, beurre in French means butter and the verb beurrer means to butter or to grease. I have added the link to the original recipe at the bottom.

Ingredients
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup of sugar
1 stick of butter (melted)
2 eggs
pinch of salt
2-3 T of speculoos powder (A friend who recently traveled to Belgium bought me the powder there. You can buy the cookies at World Market and crunch them up.)

Directions
Pre-heat the over to 375ºF

Melt the butter. Mix together the eggs and sugar. Add in the salt. Mix until the mixture starts to lighten in color - this allows the dough to rise without the use of baking powder.

Add the flour, melted butter and speculoos powder in little-by-little. Mix well. The mixture will be thick, not runny.

Grease the tray and fill the molds 2/3 full. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the middle starts to bulge and the edges turn brown. Remove from tray and place on cooling rack.

Let them cool and enjoy :)

la recette originale - merci !