Tea time!

I am not a fan of Matcha, actually I can hardly drink green tea and think mmm yummy. But I was so curious to taste this recipe, it was out of ordinary and you never know how some unusual flavors can actually become the perfect mariage! 
I am happy I tried it out. I did like it. The Matcha flavor is counterbalanced by the lemon curd.I also liked that it was not too sweet. Perfect to go with tea!

This recipe is from Marabout Gateaux Roulés. 

Pre-heat oven to 180 C °
Ingredients: 6-8 persons

Genoise

4 eggs

120 g sugar

120 g flour

3 tsp Matcha 

Filling

125 g butter -unsalted

1 jar of lemon curd - I prepared the lemon curd from October lemon tarts. 

Preparation

Genoise : 

a-Whisk the yolks, with sugar until you it is white and foamy. Add by batches the flour and the matcha.

b-In another bowl,  whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt till they form firm snow peaks. Add this mixture to step "a" with a spatula. Careful not to deflate whites.

c- Spread batter evenly on lined baking sheet. Bake until cake is cooked through, about 12-15 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack, and let cool slightly, about 10 minutes.

Filling
whip butter till it is white, and has reached a Crème Chantilly consistency, it will take you around 5 to 10 minutes, depending on your machine. Once you've reached this point, start adding slowly the lemon curd . Your lemon curd must look smooth.

Spread the lemon curd on the genoise and roll it. Wrap it very tight using cling film and place it on refrigerator between 2 to 3 hours before serving.

Brownies

One of my recent acquisitions is from  Baked: New Frontiers in Baking. There are many recipes that I want to try : Butterscoth pudding tarts, Sweet and Salty cake, German cake, baked tricolor cookies, brownies , etc...

This weekend I was browsing the book, trying to decide which one I should try and the winner was BROWNIES.

Yes, I know, you might say what's new about brownies. The Brownies from Baked have been awarded best brownies by America's Test Kitchen, the Today show and have been featured on the O magazine. I just had to try it!!! Before today, I've tried 3 different types of recipes and I kept using Nigella's brownies recipe. 

 This was my favorite! They were fudgy, dense, chocolatey... all the adjectives that I associate when I think about brownies.

But now, let's talk about "baked brownies": these are intense, fudgy, with a hint of salt that intensifies the chocolate flavor melting on your mouth. Mr. D really liked them! He said: "they are fantastic" and suggested adding a little bit of alcohol

Making brownies is not difficult, no special technique, no special mold. But something that is very important to make them right as they should be is:  to use very good quality of dark chocolate and unsweetened cocoa powder, your eggs being at room temperature and not overbeating the batter.

The recipe for 9 by 13 inch metal baking pan or glass.  According to the book, it yields: 24 portions. I cut 18 portions only.

Ingredients

• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder
• 11 ounces dark chocolate (60 to 72% cacao), coarsely chopped
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
• 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preparation:

Whisk the flour, salt, and cocoa powder together in a medium bowl

Over simmering water, melt the chocolate, butter, and instant espresso powder. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water and add the sugars. Whisk until completely combined, then remove the bowl from the pan. Let the mixture cool down till it is at room temperature.

Add 3 eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Add the remaining 2 eggs and whisk until combined. Add the vanilla and stir until combined. Do not overbeat the batter.

Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture. Using a spatula, fold the flour mixture into the chocolate until just a bit of the flour mixture is visible.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake in the center of the oven for approx 30 minutes - rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it. 

Sorry Nigella, but I will use this recipe from now on! 

Last weeks

I know, I know, I have not been posting lately... what a way to start a blog, uh? But no, I didn't stop baking just busy with everything else. But now, back to tell you what I've done lately.

Two weeks ago, we finally moved away from the "pâte grasse at my pastry class and started to work with "pâte brisée" .  The first dessert made with the "pâte brisée" was the Carré à la frangipane and the Carré à la confiture. I must admit that I am a bit tired of the "corin" and frangipane. We've been using it almost in every class for the last month! So when the pastry Chef said it is only filled in with corin ... I was not excited!, but the Carré à la Confiture was surprisingly good.  The dough was delicious and the "corin" balance perfectly ...a simple dessert but very tasty.

The Carré à la frangipane was filled with frangipane, decorated with bandellettes and sliced roasted almonds and glaced with abricot syrup.

 This week, we continue working with the pâte brisée and prepared yesterday Anglaises aux fruits and Carré Sucré!  Tellement bon! 

Les Anglaises aux fruits

This is a delicious treat, fresh, crispy... The dough here was close to pâte feuilletée because of the tournage ( 4x4x3) . The base was covered with a layer of pastry cream top with fruits. I used slices of mandarines, peaches and ananas. Then, it's glaced with abricotage and decorated with chantilly . It does not appear on the picture - they were just out of the oven to add the chantilly.

Anglaises aux fruits

Les Carrés Sucrés

This is simpler and equally good pastry, filled with pastry cream and pieces of ananas. The coat you see is because of the cristalized sugar.

Carré Sucré

Blackberry and Raspberry Chantilly Tart with Italian Meringue

 Today, I tried to re-create the tart I tasted at my friend's party.

I made a thin crust with speculoos and unsalted melted butter which I baked at 150 for 10 minutes. Once cold, I placed it in the fridge.

Then I beat 250 ml cream with a bit of sugar ( 50 gr) until it was like chantilly. I should have added gelatine  but when I realized this, I noticed I didn't have any in my pantry. 

The last part was the Italian meringue! For this, beat 2 egg whites and then dribble the syrup . Be carefull to dribble the syrup directly to the wires of the whip. Increase speed to moderately fast and beat until cool and the egg whites form stiff, shining, upstanding peaks.

For the syrup, you need to dissolve completely 120gr of sugar and 50 cc of water and bring to boil in a pan. When it reached 118°C is ready to be added to the meringue.

And finally, the best part put all the pieces together!

Add half chantilly to the crust, then add the fresh berries. I used blackberries and raspberries. Then cover with the other half of the chantilly.

Finally, cover with the meringue and then with a torch carefully finish off the meringue to give it an even, golden color. I don't have a torch, so I use the grill of my oven. The problem is the chantilly melts, so be fast!

The result was not bad... at all!

PS: I used a 20 cm. ring. 

Doesn't feel like Autumn

In all my 6 years living in Belgium, I've NEVER seen an Autumn like this year. It is so beautiful! Autumn is one of my favorite seasons together with summer.
Close to where I work, there is a little park that I pass by almost everyday. This week, there were hundreds of leaves forming a yellow road and it really looked closed to the picture in intensity of color. The trees around seemed golden yellow highlighted with the sunlight!



Now, let's be serious. How the cupcakes turned out?
I prefer my cupcakes lighter, bit on the fluffy side. So if you are like me, that is not your recipe. That recipe gives you a heavy cupcake!

What's the baking plan for this weekend? Re-create the delicious dessert of last Monday dinner! Everything was delicious and my friend finished by spoiling us with 2 desserts!
My favorite was the tart made of "speculoos" base filled with fruits du bois and chantilly, and covered with Italian meringue to die for. It was the perfect balance : light, not too sweet; a bit citric, crunchy and then a velvety meringue that melted on your mouth.
I was looking for the recipe on line particularly related to the fruits du bois and the chantilly. But just couldn't find it. So I am left with two questions:
Question one: Is the fruit treated in any way so they don't lose water ?
Question two: do you add gelatine to the chantilly so it holds up, if not consume the same day?

Let's see what happens! I tell you what I do at the end !