Lemon Verbena Pot de Crème

I always like dessert that can be made a head, the one that can be serve in individual ramekin, a dessert, that can be serve cold straight from the refrigerator, with minimal, or no garnishes and yet, still look elegant. A dessert that children and adult would be happy to enjoy. Although, I do realize there are plenty of dessert that will please children and adult alike, somehow in my experience, nothing would be more enjoyable then a simple, smooth, creamy and melt in your mouth custard.

Lemon Verbena Pot de Crème

serve 12 -2 oz size, or 6 - 4 oz size ramekins

2 cups heavy cream
6 extra large egg yolk
⅓ cup sugar
a few sprigs lemon verbena
chopped pistachios for garnish, optional
mix berries for garnish, optional

• In a medium or large size sauce pan, bring the cream to a gentle simmer, add lemon verbena, turn off the heat, and let it steep for 20 to 30 minutes. Discard the leaves, turn the heat back to medium, reheat the cream gently just until hot. Meanwhile, using a whisk, combine the yolks and sugar just until blended. Gradually pour the hot cream into the egg mixture, keep stirring while you do this. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into another bowl. Divide the cream mixture equally among ramekins, then seal tightly each with aluminum foil to prevent skin forming.

• Place the ramekins in a roasting pan large enough to accommodate them without touching each other. Place the roasting pan in the middle rack on the preheated oven, then add hot water to the pan about ⅔ all the way up the sides of the ramekins.

• Bake for 45 to 55 minutes until the cream is set but still a bit quivery in the center when the ramekins are shaken. Take them out from water bath, cool for 30 minutes. Refrigerate overnight, up to 2 days.
  

Cenci Dolci, Sweet Fried Pastry

Not your average fried dough. Flavored with dessert wine, rum and zesty lemon, making it more sophisticated and it really bring the humble fried dough to the next level. It is sweet of course, crunchy, and addictive, which is not a good idea for someone who can not control their portion. I was In Italy last year and met Cindy in Venize, she gave me a truly beautiful book, La Cucina Degli Affetti, written by Benedetta Vitali. The book is both written in Italian and English, the recipes are humble, unpretentious, simple, down to earth cooking, yet delicious. When I first opened this book, what she wrote immediately capture my heart, let me quote this for all of you ... because, it is worth sharing, and it is beautiful! "So please let's not give in to precooked food. Do cook. Let's cook. Let's do it to ourselves and for our kids. Let's do it because it is an eco-friendly choice; out of respect for those who are commited to providing us with good, fair, wholesome products. Let's do it because it gives us great satisfaction to choose, prepare, cut, cook, see living material change, watch it become a spesific texture and color, release aroma, and eventually ... hopefully, flavor". Cenci Dolci, Sweet Fried pastry Adapted from La Cucina Degli Affeti by Benedetta Vitali 500 g flour 150 g confectioner's sugar (Icing sugar) 100 ml vin santo (or passito, or any Italian dessert wine of your preference) 1 tsp rum zest of half lemon (I used whole lemon) 150 ml extra virgin olive oil 2 eggs 3 egg yolks pinch of salt Mix all ingredients together, add the wine a little at a time. Knead the dough until smooth and elastic. Roll out into 2 mm in thickness, then cut into desire shape. I cut it into long flat kind of rope. Fry in hot oil until golden brown. Place it directly on top of paper towel to get rid of excess oil. Place the cenci dolci on a serving plate, sprinkle with confectioner's sugar before serving.

Apple Rosette with Meyer lemon Cream

I needed a quick dessert to bring to our friend for unplanned dinner at his house the other night, my mind was quickly thinking about apple. I had some granny smith apples that a friend brought me earlier this week and had not use them for anything. I didn't want to waste such delicious apples, and thought of making a quick and simple apple tart. So, I created this in one afternoon and turned out to be quite delightful. As for the name of this tart? Well, when I took some photos, my husband came and said, "wow your apple rosette looks pretty delicious". I thought that was a pretty name. So, Apple Rosette it is, because it does look like one. Apple Rosette With Meyer Lemon Cream serve 8 ~elra~ 1 sheet of homemade or store bought puff pastry 4 medium size granny smith apples 1 cup sugar 2 eggs 2½ tbs butter, soften at room temperature 1 meyer lemon (take the zest out, and squeeze the juice) Preheat oven to 375⁰F. Butter a 9 inch size tart pan with ½ tablespoon butter. Roll out the puff pastry into 1/8 - inch thickness, transfer to prepared pan, trim off the excess. Peel and core the apples, cut in half, then slice them thinly. Arrange neatly and closely in circular motion directly on top of your puff pastry. Beat the eggs, sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy, add butter a tablespoon at a time (don't worry if the batter curdle), slowly add lemon juice, mix just enough to incorporate them. Slowly pour the batter on top of apple, make sure to pour slowly, or else your rosette arrangement will not look like one. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until the apple is brown, but not overly soft. I personally like to serve this after its cool completely, but this will also be delicious serve warm with a bit of vanilla ice cream or crème chantilly (my favorite).

Chocolate Macarons, Simpler and Quicker Recipe

I was happy to know that there is a simpler way to make a French macaron. I found the recipe from one of my favorite site, David Lebovitz. So far, all of his recipes that I tried, came out beautifully. My first one was the delicious, and sweet Kouign Amann, follow by the melt in your mouth Caramelized White Chocolate which I made recently. This macaron is no exception. Unlike any other macaron recipe I tried from different sources, David's uses much more simpler technique, and it is quicker as well, you don't need to age the egg white, and resting the batter after pipping, it doesn't seem necessary either. For those who still a bit shy away of making this sweet delectable treat, you might just give this recipe a try now. Chocolate Macaron adapted from David Lebovitz 1 cup confectioner's sugar (powder sugar) ½ cup almond flour 3 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch - process cocoa powder 2 large egg whites, room temperature 5 tablespoon sugar Preheat oven to 350⁰F. Lay a piece of parchment paper on each 2 baking sheets, have your pastry bag ready with a ½ inch size plain tip. Place the pastry bag on a tall glass. Set aside. Place confectioner's sugar or powder sugar, almond flour, and unsweetened Dutch - process cocoa powder in a food processor. Pulse a few time just enough to mix them together and to make sure there are no lumps. Set aside. Beat the egg whites until foamy, gradually add granulated sugar a little at a time, continue to beat until very stiff. Turn off the machine. Add half of the dry ingredients, gently fold with rubber spatula, then add the remaining dry ingredients, fold just until the batter is smooth and there are no white streak from the egg white. Transfer to prepared pastry bag. Pipe the batter to make 1 - inch circles, make sure to leave enough gap in between. Raps the baking sheet over the counter top a few times to flatten the batter. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes. Cool - remove from the baking sheets, then fill with your choice of filling, or simple vanilla buttercream (recipe).

Pan De Cioccolate, Chocolate Bread

I have made this chocolate bread before, but I didn't really write the recipe. I thought I'd share the recipe with you this time. To be honest, this is not the second time I made it, I probably make this chocolate bread at least once a month. Some people might think that it is the kind of bread that is rich, full of sugar and butter, like brioche, or dessert kind of bread. When I see this doubt in their face, I always try to explain that, this is a sourdough type of bread, but it has cocoa and a little bit of chocolate chips in it. Then, after a first bite, they always have the same reaction, surprise. It is not the kind of bread they imagine. Pan de Cioccolate, Chocolate Bread adapted from Advanced Bread And Pastry by Michael Suas yield 2 (1 lb) loaves Levain formula: yield 2¾ oz 1 ¹⁄₈ oz bread flour 1 tsp medium rye flour ⁵⁄₈ oz water 1 oz stiff wild yeast (starter) Mix all ingredients well, let it ferment at room temperature for 8 hours or over night. Final Dough Formula: 13 ⁷⁄₈ oz bread flour 8 ¾ oz water 2 ½ oz honey ¹⁄₈ oz vanilla extract ⁷⁄₈ oz cocoa powder ¼ teaspoon osmotolerant instant yeast ³⁄₈ oz salt 2¾ oz levain 2¾ oz chocolate chips Mix all ingredients but the chocolate chips in a mixer bowl, process on a medium speed until gluten is well develop, about 10 to 15 minutes depending how strong your machine is. Add chocolate chip, mix on low for another minute, just until incorporated. Take the dough out, place it in a large container with lid. Ferment at room temperature for 2 hours. Turn the dough out onto lightly floured counter top, divide into 2 (1 lb each), preshape each dough into light boule (ball). Let rest for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes resting, shape the dough into boule or batard, it's really up to you. Place each in proofing baskets for final proof, 2½ to 3 hours. Preheat oven to 400⁰F. Sprinkle baker's peel or cookies sheet with cornmeal. Carefully flip the dough over it, give a few slashes if you wish. Spray the oven wall with water prior to load the bread. Bake the bread for 35 to 45 minutes. Cool before serving. Worth sharing it with Yeast Spotting group at Susan's blog.

Black Plum and Pluot Croustillante

The original recipe for this cake is only using plum, but since I had pluot in hand, I thought it would be nice to use both. The original recipe make 4 individual size cakes, then serve them with plum wedges that has been saute in butter, and chocolate sabayon. I was having difficulty to cut the Feuille de Brick into small circles, after loosing a few sheets, I thought it was not worth the effort, so I decided to make one big cake instead. I also skipped the saute plum and the sabayon, although I can probably be much happier licking the delicious sabayon and eating a big chunks of buttery sauted plums. Perhaps, next time! Black Plum and Pluot Croustillante adapted from Charlie Trotter's Dessert make 1 - 11 to 12 inch cake 2 plumps, cut into half, pitted, thinly sliced. 4 pluots, cut into half, pitted, thinly sliced. ⅓ cup sugar 2 egg yolks ⅓ cup milk ½ tsp vanilla extract 1 cup cake flour 1 tsp baking powder ½ tsp baking soda ¼ tsp salt 4 sheets Feuille de Brick Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper. Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer set on medium speed until light and fluffy, add the egg yolk one at a time, beating well after each addition. Turn the speed to low, add flour in three addition, alternating with milk in two addition. Always begin and end with dry ingredient. Lay one sheet of Feuille de brick directly on top of parchment paper, spread about a quarter of the batter directly into the Feuille de brick leaving about a quarter inch border. Continue layering the Feuille de brick and the batter until you have about 4 layers of batter (end with batter). Arrange the plum and the pluot slices in circular motion. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350⁰F. Lightly sprinkle the plums and pluots with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.

Baguette

My 1st attempt

This month, I challenge my self to make baguette. I never really had difficulties on following a recipe, but to score the dough was different story. I practiced so many times, yet never got it right. I followed the instruction carefully, from how to hold the lame in a certain angle (yes, I bought this thingy so that I can make bread with beautiful ears), to how to visualize imaginary line in my dough. Unsuccessful!!!!!

Sharing my unsuccesful baguette with yeastspotting member.

My 2nd attempt. My husband called it a "fat" baguette.