Not everything is sweet

My daughter loves a simple good orange cake and I decided to make one yesterday, a simple recipe that I know works well and I like to do when I want something quickly done plus it's easy to remember:

Cream 250 gr of butter with 250 gr sugar (though I put 175 gr if not too sweet) and 4 eggs (one by one till mixed well), then add 250 ml liquid (orange juice or if vanilla cake - milk with vanille essence) alternating with flour  that has a bit of orange zest if orange cake and 1 coffee sp of baking powder. End with flour.
Bake at 175 C till done... 45 to 1 hour, depends on your oven .

So yesterday, I did all the steps above, but at the end I noticed the mixture didn't blend well. I didn't give it much importance, though I should have, but I was in a hurry to finish and I put all in the mold, direclty to the pre-heated oven.

Ten minutes have gone by and I went to check on the cake to see how it was doing that I saw it bubbling... liquid butter.. yeap.

And then it hit me, after a split second I just knew why.

Last week, a friend of mine was over at my place and we were in the kitchen and she commented about the amount of butter I had bought and I said it was because I was going to make some cookies and bake a cake.
However, I forgot about the cookies that I was going to use that butter for, and in my mind I had bought only 250 gr, not the 500 gr of butter that I put in the cake.
Yes, I put 500 gr of butter and what's worse is that I didn't notice.  Obviously,  my mind was somewhere else...

Despite all, I was curious to know what it would turn out, what consistency it'd be; so I let it baked till done. The baking process was much faster, less flour obviously more "liquid",  got very tanned due to the butter, as you see the result. ...
I must admit my curiosity ended there since I was not brave enough to taste that.

My daughter was and I was expecting another spitting act like the caramel creme but she didn't, she ate it all, well ... a small piece. But still! I was so astonished that she would not only swallow it but would want more which of course I didn't let her  since I was afraid she would have a tummy-ache.

Though I hate throwing food to waste, I do not think it's safe to eat it either.

Now it's Sunday... and definitely not everything is perfect...all shops are closed, and I don't have any more butter to bake...

maybe that's a good thing till I get my head back where it should be :)


till then !

Creme Caramel

Yesterday afternoon all the perfect conditions to bake were there. It was dark, humid, rainy, windy and cold. Yes, it's November, my favorite month of the year in Belgium, together with December , January and February!  Sorry, didn't take my sarcasm pills this morning.

Anyhow, I thought it was about time to give a try to that new French oven I have in this appartment, not that is new but it's new to me hihi. The measurements go from 1 to 9 and I'm used to Celsius and Farenheits.

So I made an "easy" desert, creme caramel. I say easy because it's not too complicate and doesn't have zillions of ingredients.
I divided the original recipe in 3 and made 2/3 of it, thinking that since my daughter is with me, between her and myself we could finish that up...and on top who doesn't love creme caramel!!! 

Ingredients
2 cans of concentrate milk _ full fat please :)
2 cans of condense milk
1 little spoon of vanille
8 eggs

For the caramel
1 cups of sugar
3/4 cups of water

Preparation
Caramel
Put in a baking mold the sugar and water, with a wet brush , brush off the sides of the mold, so sugar doesn't burn. Let it be, medium high, keep an eye and above all DO NOT STIR. When it has gotten to that delicious caramel color or  better, before it does, remove from it. It will continue to brown so do not get it too dark or it will burn.
Once your caramel is done, let it cool.

Creme Caramel
In a pot, put together the 2 types of milk to low_ medium heat. It shouldn't boil. Once it's well mix, set aside.
Mix the eggs on a separate bowl, do not beat them. No foam should form.
Add a little bit of the milk preparation to the eggs, just a tiny bit, and stir, continue like this, till all your milk preparation has mixed with the eggs. Take your time! And remember always the milk preparation to the eggs, no the other way around , if not you'll end up with scramble eggs.
Then sieve this mixture around 10 times to allow all ingredients to mix well.
Add the creme caramel to your baking mold which has now caramel on the bottom.

Then place your baking mold on a tray full with water and take to cool oven at 100 C or 200 F for 2 hours _ according to the recipe. In my case, I put it at number 3 and was checking constantly, and it got a bit overcooked at 45 minutes of baking.
Important: do not pre_heat your oven and do not let the water of your tray (bain marie) boil.

How you know it's done? Insert a cooking needle to see if it's done. It should be wobbly, not hard , it will finish up hardening afterwards.
Let it cool and take to the fridge for a couple of days, me I couldn't resist not flipping  it upside down the following day.
To flip it upside down, with a clean knife pass it on the borders and then turn it :)... if it doesn't fill in a tray with hot water and pass the mold for a few seconds so the caramel melts a little bit . Repeat the process if necessary.
Foresee a deep serving plate, there is plenty of caramel coming out .

Now, how did mine turn out? Bit overcooked. And unfortunately, my daugther who's the one I made this for, didn't eat it, and refuse to eat it. Actually it tasted so bad for her that she spit it out.
Who would have thought a kid didn't like creme caramel? OK, I've tasted it and it's not bad, I don't recall being this picky when I was a kid, sweet was sweet and it was enough for me....

The pleasure of baking is for others to enjoy ....

No baking

It's been a while since last time I baked but I must say on my defense that lot of things are happening this year, so many changes that it's hard to keep up with everything else.

Already half year through, and oh boy what a year! People say change is good, and I think at the end is true, but how unsettling can be when you are going through it. Universe always shows us the way.

It's a time where I've learned who my real friends are, and the others do not form part of my life anymore which is always sad and sometimes dissapointing.


Beginning of the month of August I took some holidays, to Lanzarote with my daughter.It was great!

And now back to reality here in Belgium, not a smooth process to come back to work and the changes in my life.
The positive is that it's delicious hot, summer finally arrived to Belgium. Yes, I love when it's hot, and I feel the Sun caressing my skin and from time to time refreshed by a gentle stroke of fresh air. Everything else seems to dissapear, and I'm just there enjoying the moment of feeling alive and feeling part of the world and I admire this world and how lucky I am to be part of it.
The negative is that I am struggling to get back to working mode at work, you see, I'm indulging carelessly on my own pleasures...

All this to say why I haven't been baking. I will though soon, when it's rainy or my daughter is back from holidays to welcome her.

Till then, take care

Claudia

Anglaises aux fruits

The anglaises aux fruits are pastries with a base of pate brisée and filled with pastry cream and fruits and decorated with chantilly

.

La pate brisée is a very delicate dough that can replace in some cases the milfeuilles.

Pate brisée:
500 gr flour
1/4 L Water (2°C)
350 gr Butter
10 gr Salt

Place the butter on the flour and cut them in little cubes of 2 cm³ approx. . Make a fountain with the mix of flour butter and place the salt on the outside of it. Inside the fountaine place the water. With your hand start mixing the flour/butter mix without destroying the butter. Form a roll and set in the fridge for around 20 min. Do not skip any of the steps!!!!

3x3 Tourage
With a Rolling pin, make a rectangle of +/- 50 cm by 30 cm. Brush and relax the dough. Fold the dough in 3. This will be your first tour. Place it in a plastic bag and let it rest in the fridge for about 10 minutes.
Again with a rollin ping, make a rectangle of 50cm by 30cm, brush and relax the dough. Fold it in 3. This will be your second tour.Place it in a plastic bag and let it rest in the fridge for about 10 minutes.
Again with a rollin ping, make a rectangle of 50cm by 30cm, brush and relax the dough. Fold it in 3. This will be your third tour.Place it in a plastic bag and let it rest in the fridge for about 10 minutes.
After this, you can freeze it for a couple of weeks if not used inmediately. If frozen, take it out the night before you will use it and let it in the fridge to get back to consistency. It is important to work the dough at room temperature.

Once you have your dough ready, make a rectangle of around 3mm thick with your rolling pin. Relax the dough when needed. Make a big rectangle and cut into small rectangles . Sprinkle some water on the baking sheet and place the rectangles as in the picture below. Then , wet your index and your middle fingers and press the middle of each rectangle, in there you will place the pastry and lay the fruits on top. Bake till done, around 15 to 25 minutes depending on your oven.

When cool, brush with abricotage and decorate with Chantilly.

coming up! Christmas Cake

This was a wonderful discovery... yeap, all for Christmas!

Here are the pics and later on will post the recipe ... full of fruits, delicious!!!

Terrine au dark chocolate et soupe de framboise

For Christmas, I made this terrine au dark chocolate for the first time. I wanted a light dessert, thinking that after a Christmas meal, something light and refreshing would be best.

But , this was not the dessert I thought. It was dense and rich. If you are a chocoholic, this one is for you.
I on the other hand, needed a bit of contrast. So I made a soupe de framboise to balance it out.

Recipe
700 gr of dark chocolate. Use a good quality chocolate, min 55% cacao content.
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 cup of cream
3/4 cup sugar
 5 egg yolks
4 feuilles of gelatin/colapez
1 3/4 cups of cream shipped to chantilly consistency
fruits

Preparation
First, melt the chocolate, then in a bowl warm the cream and milk.  Beat sugar and egg yolks, and add slowly little by little the warmed milk and cream, keep whisking. You don't want the eggs to cook.
Add this preparation in a pot and until it thickens like -creme anglaise, keep stirring!
In the meantime, place the gelatine in a little bit of water and squeeze the water out , and take them to the microwave for couple of minutes so they melt. Do not let them boil!
When you preparation is ready, add the gelatine. Add the melted chocolate, and stir.

Once cool, add the chantilly with your hand - yes, the recipe says so, up to you :)
Put in a mold 29X12X7 cm and cover with a plastic film and take it to the freezer and then to the refrigerator.
to unmold, place the terrine in  hot water for half minute and pray it unmolds well... at least that's what I did !!!

Terrine aux fruits rouges au vin de Sauternes

I saw this spectacular terrine in the book I received as gift called "Mis 100 mejores recetas" by Sandra Pierantoni de Plevisani (Peruvian pastry chef) .
It takes around 1 hour to make.

Ingredients
2 oranges
175 gr of "small" green grapes
125 gr of "small" strawberries
125 gr of framboise
125 gr of blueberries
125 gr of dark grapes- again small :)

Sirop
150 ml of water
1/2 cup of sugar
9 feuilles of colapez (gelatine)
1/2 limon
2 cups of Moscato D'Asti or Sauternes


Preparation
Making the sirop: put in a pot, 90ml of water with the sugar and bring to boil, once it boils, take aside and let the sirop cool.
On another bowl, put the gelatin in the remaining water (60ml). Get rid of the water and strain, put in the microwave for about 2 minutes. Recipe calls for 2 minutes, but I guess it really depends on how high is your microwave at. Mine it took less than one minute.Do not let it boil!
Add the gelatin to the sirop, add the lemon juice and the wine.

Putting all together !!!!
Take a rectangular mold and fill it with 1/3 of the preparation. take to the freezer and let it set for about 15 minutes.
Put all the fruit in one bowl and start placing it on top of your terrine, once your placed it, add more gelatine and let it set.

now the tricky part or more nerve racking , take it out of the mold!
Place your mold for one minute in boiling water so the gelatine loosens up. Unmold it in a plate, and decorate with oranges and fresh fruits.