Vanilla Panna Cotta with Kumquat Gelée

The first time I had panna cotta was this summer when in Norway. Expressly for the purpose of tasting reindeer carpaccio, I ate at a restaurant that claimed to have an authentic Norwegian menu. As a bonus for the total local experience, the dessert menu listed a panna cotta topped with cloudberries. Panna cotta, is by no means Nordic, but I was more interested in eating those cloudberries. The guide book made them sound rare and special. As a maker of jam I was intrigued. The name alone connotes loftiness!

The cloudberries, served as a pretty amber-colored glaze on top the panna cotta, were nice. Distictly tart. They made for a good pairing with the creamy panna cotta, resulting overall in a light and refreshing summer-y end to a meal.

For those that don't know, panna cotta is honey-sweetened cream and milk, stabilized with unflavored gelatin. Though cream-based, it's really only a fancy Jell-O of sorts, that's very simple to make. In my version here, I top it with a season-approapriate, citrusy and spiced kumquat gelée, which also has a jello-like consistency due to the addition of gelatin. With the free-floating fruit, it is perhaps somewhat reminiscent of the Jell-O salad ubiquitous at retro potlucks. But I'd like to believe this is a slightly more sophisticated version.

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies. I attempted the florentine cookies as well, but gave them all away before photos could be taken.

Giada's Vanilla Panna Cotta

serves 6

1 cup whole milk
1 TBS (one packet) unflavored powdered gelatin
3 cups whipping cream (30+% butterfat)
1/3 cup honey
1 TBS granulated sugar
pinch of salt

Pour the milk into a chilled sauce pan and sprinkle gelatin evenly and thinly over the milk. Let stand for 5 minutes to soften the gelatin.

Place the saucepan over medium heat on the stove. Heat this mixture until it is hot, but not boiling, about five minutes, whisking a few times as it heats.

Next, add the cream, honey, sugar, and pinch of salt. Making sure the mixture doesn't boil, continue to heat and stir occasionally until the sugar and honey have dissolved, 5-7 minutes.

Remove from heat, allow it to sit for a few minutes to cool slightly. Then pour into individual glasses or ramekins.

Refrigerate about 6 hours or until firm. When firm enough to support the gelée layer (see recipe below), pour the room temperature gelée over the panna cotta, distributing evenly among all the glasses. Room temperature is important so as not to melt the panna cotta, which would disturb the distinct separation of layers. Chill several more hours to allow the gel to set up firm.

Kumquat Gewurztraminer Gelée
from Jamie Stachowski, Restaurant Kolumbia

1 pint kumquats

1½ tsp powdered gelatin

1¼ cup Gewurztraminer wine, divided

½ cup sugar
½ cup honey

1 small knob peeled ginger root

1 star anise clove

zest of ½ a lemon

1½ tsp lemon juice

a pinch of salt

In a saucepan, cover the whole kumquats with water and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer for 2 minutes, then drain. Repeat process twice until kumquats are very soft, don't worry if some begin to split. This process removes the bitterness. Slice into thin rounds and remove seeds. Set aside.

In a bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over ¼ cup wine. Set aside.

Set a pot over medium heat and mix the sugar with the honey. When the sugar dissolves, turn heat to low and add the ginger, anise clove, and lemon zest. Simmer for a few minutes until aromatic. Stir in the remaining cup of wine, then add sliced kumquats and simmer on low until the flesh is tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat. Take ¼ cup of syrup and whisk into gelatin/wine mixture, then stir the gelatin mixture back into pot of kumquats and syrup. Add the lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Stir to evenly distribute kumquats and whole spices. Cool until room temperature and then remove spices.

Matcha-Hazelnut Sponge with Lemon Curd & Matcha Marzipan Flowers

The January 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Astheroshe of the blog accro. She chose to challenge everyone to make a Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremets dessert.

A joconde imprime (French Baking term) is a decorative design baked into a light sponge cake providing an elegant finish to desserts/torts/entremets/ formed in ring molds. A joconde batter is used because it bakes into a moist, flexible cake. The cake batter can be tinted or marbleized for a further decorative effect.

Entremets (another French baking term) is an ornate dessert with many different layers of cake and pastry creams in a mold, usually served cold, much like a trifle but molded to be free-standing versus layered in a glass bowl.

All seems intimidating, but if you work through the layers in stages, it's really not that big of deal. I sketched out a plan in advance. The idea for mine started with wanting to use up some "leftovers" in my "pastry" fridge. Believe it or not I had on hand fresh lemon curd (recently made to use up 8 extra yolks), homemade marzipan (a gift I was working on for my dad), matcha tea (from my good friends at Arbor Teas), hazelnut meal (a bag that seems perpetually full no matter how much has been scooped from it), and crystalized lilacs (maybe only a dozen left from the original batch of 200).

I wasn't sure if the flavors of the dessert I was crafting in my head would meld well, but I was excited for the vibrant colors--a bolt of the tropics smack in the middle of a snowy and frigid winter. Since this dessert needed to travel to a weekend brunch, I took the safe route and layered them in juice glasses like a trifle. A true entremet with joconde is free-standing. Nonetheless, now having tasted the finished dessert, I can say yes, green tea, lemon, hazelnut, almond, butter and sugar all seem to work nicely together to put a warm smile in your belly.

Joconde Sponge

This Joconde/spongecake requires attentive baking so that it remains flexible to easily conform to the molds. If under baked it will stick to the baking mat. It over baked it will dry out and crack. Once cooled, the sponge may be cut into strips to line any shape ring mold.

YIELD: Two ½ size sheet pans or a 13” x 18” jelly roll pan

Ingredients:
3 large egg whites (90g)

2½ teaspoons (10g) white granulated sugar

¾ cup (85g) almond flour/or hazelnut meal - *omit the butter if using hazelnut
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons (75g) confectioners' sugar
¼ cup (25g) cake flour
3 large eggs (150g)
2 tablespoons (30g) unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

In a clean mixing bowl whip the egg whites and white granulated sugar to firm, glossy peeks. Reserve in a separate clean bowl to use later.

Sift almond flour, confectioner’s sugar, cake flour into the just emptied mixing bowl, no need to wash out egg whites.) On medium speed with the paddle attachment, add the eggs a little at a time. Mix well after each addition. Mix until smooth and light.

Fold in one third reserved whipped egg whites to almond mixture to lighten the batter. Fold in remaining whipped egg whites. Do not over mix. Fold in melted butter, if using.

Reserve batter to be used later.

Patterned Joconde-Décor Paste

YIELD: Two ½ size sheet pans or a 13” x 18” jelly roll pan

Ingredients:
14 tablespoons (200g) unsalted butter, softened
1½ cups plus 1½ tablespoons (200g) Confectioners' sugar
7 large egg whites (200g)
1¾ cup (220g) cake flour

Food coloring gel, paste or liquid (optional)

COCOA or MATCHA Décor Paste Variation: Reduce cake flour to (170g). Add (60 g) cocoa powder or Matcha green tea. Sift the flour and cocoa powder together before adding to creamed mixture.

Directions:

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add egg whites. Beat continuously until emulsified. Fold in sifted flour. Tint batter with coloring to desired color, if not making cocoa or matcha variation.

Preparing the Joconde- How to make the pattern:

Spread a thin even layer of décor paste approximately 1/4 inch thick onto silicone baking mat with a spatula, or flat knife. Place mat on an upside down baking sheet. The upside down sheet makes spreading easier with no lip from the pan.

Pattern the décor paste – Here is where you can be creative. Make horizontal /vertical lines (you can use a knife, spatula, cake/pastry comb). Squiggles with your fingers, zig zags, wood grains. Be creative whatever you have at home to make a design can be used. OR use a piping bag. Pipe letters, or polka dots, or a piped design. If you do not have a piping bag. Fill a ziplock bag and snip off corner for a homemade version of one.

Slide the baking sheet with paste into the freezer. Freeze hard. Approx 15 minutes.

Remove from freezer. Quickly pour the Joconde batter over the design. Spread evenly to completely cover the pattern of the Décor paste.

Bake at 475ºF until the joconde bounces back when slightly pressed, approx. 8-15 minutes. You can bake it as is on the upside down pan. This is a very quick bake, so watch carefully.

Cool briefly. Do not leave too long, or you will have difficulty removing it from mat.

Flip cooled cake on to a powdered sugared parchment paper. Remove silpat. Cake should be right side up, and pattern showing! (The powdered sugar helps the cake from sticking when cutting.)

Preparing the Jaconde for Molding:

Trim the cake of any dark crispy edges. You should have a nice rectangle shape.

Decide how thick you want your “Joconde wrapper”. Traditionally, it is ½ the height of your mold. This is done so more layers of the plated dessert can be shown. However, you can make it the full height.

Once your height is measured, then you can cut the cake into equal strips, of height and length. (Use a very sharp paring knife and ruler.)

Make sure your strips are cut cleanly and ends are cut perfectly straight. Press the cake strips inside of the mold, decorative side facing out. Once wrapped inside the mold, overlap your ends slightly. You want your Joconde to fit very tightly pressed up to the sides of the mold. Then gently push and press the ends to meet together to make a seamless cake. The cake is very flexible so you can push it into place. You can use more than one piece to “wrap" your mold, if one cut piece is not long enough.

The mold is done, and ready to fill.

Entremet- Filling:

Lemon Curd

makes 1 full cup

4 large egg yolks

1/2 cup plus 2 TBS sugar

3 fl oz freshly squeezed lemon juice

4 TBS, unsalted butter softened

pinch of salt

2 tsp finely shredded lemon zest

In a heavy, non-corrosive saucepan whisk the yolks and sugar until well blended. Stir in the remaining ingredients except the lemon zest. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and thickly coats the back of a wooden spoon and reaches 170 F. Do not allow it to boil or it will curdle. Pour immediately through a fine mesh strainer, pressing on any remains with the back of a spoon to extract as much curd as possible. Stir in the lemon zest and cool. Pour into an airtight container and press a piece of plastic to the surface of the curd before sealing. The curd will continue to thicken when refrigerated.

Matcha Marzipan

1 tsp matcha powder

6 TBS marzipan

On a wooden surface, knead matcha into Marzipan until completely incorporated. Roll out to desired thickness to cut shapes or sculpt into character. Keep tightly wrapped in plastic until ready to use, to prevent drying out.

Christmas Wreath Stollen

I told a few people I was making stollen. Their first response: "Have you ever had fill-in-the-blank's stollen?!!" Me: "Um, no. I didn't think I liked stollen, and so-and-so's is kinda pricey. I'm just making it for my baking challenge. I figured I'd send it to my Ome."

I didn't realize so many places in town sold it or that it had a bit of an exuberant following. The adult me was relying on the kid me's experiences of not liking the sorta dry and strangely fruity, rum-scented bread. I wasn't that excited to make it, so I was looking at this as an opportunity to hone my bread making skills, which need some work.

Since I've moved, getting yeasted doughs to rise has been a challenge. I was wanting more recipes to troubleshoot warm, non-drafty proofing zones, to figure out if my stash of instant yeast I've been storing in my fridge for several years was still viable, and to learn the cues of achieving a springy, well-kneaded dough.

To my relief this bread came together perfectly thanks to thorough directions, finding an ideal proofing spot in my oven, and using brand new packet yeast instead of the old instant stuff. I'm still learning the trick of kneading and adding appropriate amounts of flour so things don't stick to my hands. Right now, I still rely on my stand mixer and dough hook to do the messy, hard work. But success with this has given me a little more confidence to try more bread projects.

In my opinion this stollen is best eaten within a day or so that it is made. But I suppose it would still be good toasted several days after. Mine didn't last long enough to find out... After eating two good-sized portions on my own, I sectioned off the rest and packaged them to give as gifts to neighbors, coworkers and family. It was studded with Grand Marnier-soaked cherries and candied blood orange peels and limequats. Yes, limequats! Apparently kumquats are being hybridized with other fruits. My grocer had already sold out of mandarinquats. I'm hoping they'll be restocked soon. I think a medley of kumquat hybrids would make a lovely marmalade!

The 2010 December Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie’s Baking. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make Stollen. She adapted a friend’s family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart’s book.........and Martha Stewart’s

Stollen Wreath

Makes one large wreath or two traditional shaped Stollen loaves. Serves 10-12 people

¼ cup lukewarm water (110º F)
2 packages active dry yeast
1 cup milk
10 TBS unsalted butter
5½ cups (770 grams) all-purpose flour
½ cup (115 gms) sugar
¾ tsp kosher salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
Grated zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp rum extract
¾ cup mixed candied citrus peel (here's a link to make your own) I used blood oranges and limequats this time
1 cup firmly packed unsweetened dried cherries
3 TBS Grand Marnier
1 cup flaked almonds
Melted unsalted butter for coating the wreath
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting wreath

Directions:
In a small bowl, soak the cherries in the Grand Marnier and set aside.

To make the dough:
Pour ¼ cup warm water into a small bowl, sprinkle with yeast and let stand 5 minutes. Stir to dissolve yeast completely.

In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup milk and 10 tablespoons butter over medium - low heat until butter is melted. Let stand until lukewarm, about 5 minutes.

Lightly beat eggs in a small bowl and add the vanilla and rum extracts.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, orange and lemon zests.

Then stir in the yeast/water mixture, eggs and the lukewarm milk/butter mixture. This should take about 2 minutes. It should be a soft, but not sticky ball. When the dough comes together, cover the bowl with either plastic or a tea cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.

Add in the candied citrus peel, soaked cherries and almonds and mix with your hands or on low speed in the stand mixer to incorporate.

Sprinkle flour on the counter, transfer the dough to the counter, and begin kneading (or mixing with the dough hook) to distribute the fruit evenly, adding additional flour if needed. The dough should be soft and satiny, tacky but not sticky. Knead for approximately 8 minutes (6 minutes by machine). The full six minutes of kneading is needed to distribute the dried fruit and other ingredients and to make the dough have a reasonable bread-dough consistency. You can tell when the dough is kneaded enough – a few cherries will start to fall off the dough onto the counter because at the beginning of the kneading process the dough is very sticky and the cherries will be held into the dough but when the dough is done it is tacky which isn't enough to bind the outside cherries onto the dough ball.

Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling around to coat it with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Put it in the fridge overnight. The dough becomes very firm in the fridge (since the butter goes firm) but it does rise slowly. The raw dough can be kept in the refrigerator up to a week and then baked on the day you want.

Shaping the dough and baking the wreath:
Let the dough rest for 2 hours after taking out of the fridge in order to warm slightly. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Punch dough down, roll into a rectangle about 16 x 24 inches and ¼-inch thick. Starting with a long side, roll up tightly, forming a long, thin cylinder.

Transfer the cylinder roll to the sheet pan. Join the ends together, trying to overlap the layers to make the seam stronger and pinch with your fingers to make it stick, forming a large circle. You can form it around a bowl to keep the shape.

Using kitchen scissors, make cuts along outside of circle, in 2-inch intervals, cutting 2/3 of the way through the dough. Twist each segment outward, forming a wreath shape. Mist the dough with spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Proof for approximately 2 hours at room temperature, or until about 1½ times its original size.

Preheat oven to 350°F with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Bake the stollen for 20 minutes, then rotate the pan 180 degrees for even baking and continue to bake for 20 to 30 minutes. The bread will bake to a dark mahogany color, should register 190°F in the center of the loaf, and should sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.

Transfer to a cooling rack and brush the top with melted butter while still hot. Immediately tap a layer of powdered sugar over the top through a sieve or sifter. Wait for 1 minute, then repeat with another layer of butter and sifted sugar over the first. Wait a minute and then coat with butter and sugar for a final time. The bread should be coated generously with the powdered sugar.

Let cool at least an hour before serving. When completely cool, store in a plastic bag. Or leave it out uncovered overnight to dry out slightly, German style.

The stollen tastes even better in a couple of days and it toasts superbly.

Storage
The more rum and the more coatings of butter and sugar you use the longer it will store. Stollen freezes beautifully about 4 months, stores well for 2 weeks covered in foil and plastic wrap on the counter at room temperature, or for one month in the refrigerator well covered with foil and plastic wrap.

Apple Cider and Maple Cream Crostata with Maple-Cranberry Compote

The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.

Crostata is an Italian tart, the base of which is a sweet short crust pastry called pasta frolla. Pasta frolla is versatile. It can be filled with fruit preserves, pastry cream, fresh fruit, ricotta, and other ingredients, and, by itself, it makes very nice cookies. Made with butter, flour, sugar, and eggs, the technique to make this dough is a bit like making pasta though no harder to execute than any other type of pie crust.

I decided to make mine with whole wheat and hazelnut flours, and for the filling, I used this recipe from the October issue of Bon Appetit. Not traditional but definitely seasonal and highly amenable to local ingredients. The custard filling is made with no refined sugar. Instead, it is sweetened with maple sugar and a thick reduction of apple cider. Though humble in appearance, it's a decadent alternative to the usual apple desserts that show up this time of year.

Hazelnut Pasta Frolla

⅓ cup superfine sugar or ½ cup powdered sugar
¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
½ cup whole-wheat pastry flour
¼ cup hazelnut flour or meal
a pinch of salt
6 TBS cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten
¼ tsp vanilla extract

Put sugar, flours, and salt in the bowl of the food processor and pulse a few times to mix. Add butter and pulse a few times until the mixture has the consistency of coarse meal. Empty food processor's bowl onto your work surface.

Make a well in the center of the mounded flour and butter mixture and pour the beaten egg and vanilla extract into it. Use a fork to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients then use your fingertips. Knead lightly just until the dough comes together into a ball. Shape the dough into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill for at least two hours. You can refrigerate the dough overnight.

Roll out the crostata dough, on a work surface lightly dusted with flour. Roll the dough into a circle about ⅛-inch thick. If at anytime the dough becomes too soft to work with, chill in the fridge until firm again.

Ease the dough into the tart pan, centering it, and delicately press it all around so the corners are well covered. Trim the excess dough hanging over the edges of the pan. Press the remaining dough around the border into the sides of the pan making sure the border is an even thickness all the way around.

Roll out remaining scraps of pasta frolla and cut into lattice strips or desired shapes using a cookie cutter.

Cover and chill crust at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.

Maple Cream Filling

½ gallon fresh apple cider or cold-pressed apple juice
½ cup maple sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 large eggs
¼ tsp coarse kosher salt
⅛ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 drops maple extract

Bring apple cider or apple juice to rolling boil in large pot over high heat. Boil until bubbling thickly and reduced to generous ¾ cup, stirring occasionally, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Grind maple sugar to powder in spice mill, blender, or mini processor. Transfer powdered maple sugar to 4-cup glass measuring cup; add cream, eggs, ¼ teaspoon coarse salt, nutmeg, extract, and ¾ cup cooled cider reduction and whisk to blend well.

Place tart pan with crust on baking sheet; set on rack in oven. Pour in filling. Bake tart until filling is puffed and cracked around edges and gently set in center, about 35-40 minutes. Transfer tart to rack and cool to room temperature, 1 to 2 hours.

Push up pan bottom, releasing tart. Cut tart into wedges and serve with compote (recipe below) and if desired, freshly whipped cream.

Maple-Cranberry Compote

2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, picked over and rinsed
½ cup pure maple syrup (preferably Grade B)
¼ cup (packed) dark brown sugar
¼ cup apple cider
½ tsp finely grated lemon zest

Combine cranberries, maple syrup, brown sugar, apple cider, and lemon zest in heavy medium saucepan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to low and simmer until most berries pop and juices thicken slightly, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to small bowl. Chill until cold, about 2 hours. DO AHEAD Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and keep chilled.

Delicata Squash & Toasted Fennel Seed Doughnuts

I have fond childhood memories of doughnuts. Just ask me about “little girl” doughnuts and you’ll see my face light up about special, perfectly-portioned treats my dad used to bring us from a small neighborhood doughnut shop. It operated out of a trailer parked in the lot of a shopping plaza. (I suppose this was my early introduction to food carts.) The best flavors always seemed to sell-out before sunrise, and the shop never stayed open past late morning. Now that I'm older, for health-conscious reasons, I stopped eating such fried indulgences. And really, most places selling doughnuts around town just don't do justice to my flavor memory anyways.

Although lately, I've been justifying eating “junk food” if I make it myself AND if I turn it into something a little more “high-end”. About this time last year I became very interested in homemade doughnuts. I was inspired by this post from Cannelle et Vanille, and then as the doughnut trend took off, built up momentum in my doughnut-making repertoire trying several different recipes. The recipe below is adapted from Cannelle et Vanille, but it incorporates the flavors I’ve been drawn to this fall: roasted winter squash and toasted fennel seed; warm notes of caramel with cool notes of licorice. To me, that combination tastes like a decadent candy; satisfyingly sweet but not overly saccharin.

I’ve been sampling various squash from my farm share, trying earnestly to learn the differences amongst them. So far, my squash of choice is delicata. A well-ripened one will taste candied when roasted, but not cloying. A moderate-sized one (just under a pound) yields the perfect amount of puree needed to make these doughnuts. Expect about one cup of puree per pound of squash. Sure it’s an extra step of preparation to roast and puree a whole squash instead of mindlessly opening a can of solid packed pumpkin. But branch out a little in your “from scratch” abilities. Try a new flavor. Learn how to circumvent a pumpkin shortage, if the need again arises. Avoid the fallout from what BPA-lined cans might leech into your food. I'll stop. I think you get the point.

Farmer's Market photo by Sarijk.

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.

Delicata Squash & Toasted Fennel Seed Doughnuts
makes about 20 doughnut rings plus 20 doughnut holes

Pre-preparation of squash puree and fennel seeds:

1 medium delicata squash (about 12 oz or 350 grams)
1 TBS fennel seeds

Preheat oven to 350° F. Slice the squash in half lengthwise and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds. Roast the halves, cut side down, in a baking dish filled with enough water to come a ½-inch up the sides of the squash. Cook until ultra tender when pierced by a fork, 25-30 minutes.

When sufficiently tender, remove squash from oven and allow to rest until cool enough to handle. Scrape the flesh away from the skin and tranfser to the food processor. Puree until extremely smooth, like baby food. Transfer to a mesh sieve set over a bowl and strain for several hours to remove excess liquid.

Meanwhile, place the fennel seeds in a dry skillet set over medium heat. Toast the seeds for about a minute or two. Tossing the seeds often. When they have turned a few shades darker and begin to smell fragrant, remove from heat and transfer to a spice/coffee grinder. Grind the toasted fennel seeds to a fine powder.

To make the doughnuts:
3 cups (375 grams) all purpose flour
scant ½ cup (55 grams) hazelnut flour
10 grams baking powder
8 grams baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1½ tsp freshly ground toasted fennel seed
⅛ tsp ground cloves
10 grams salt
½ cup (110 grams) delicata squash puree
¼ cup (60 grams) whole milk at room temperature
2 TBS (40 grams) sour cream at room temperature
scant ½ cup (100 grams) sugar
2 eggs at room temperature
4 TBS (60 grams) butter, melted

Canola oil, for frying
2 cups (400 grams) sugar
2 tsp freshly ground toasted fennel seed
1 tsp ground cinnamon

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, hazelnut flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ground fennel seed, cloves, and salt.

In a separate bowl, mix the squash puree, milk, sour cream, sugar, eggs, and melted butter. Add this wet mixture to the dry ingredients and fold until it starts to come together. Knead lightly with your hands until a cohesive mass forms.

Dust your work surface with a bit of flour and turn out the dough on to this. Dust your hands and the top of the dough mound lightly with flour. Shape and pat the dough gently down into a circle about ½-inch thick. Using a doughnut cutter or two graduated-sized, round cookie cutters, cut out the doughnuts and place them on a sheet pan lined with parchment and dusted with flour.

To fry the doughnuts, fill a pan up to 2" of canola oil. Heat the oil until it reaches 375° F. Do not over-crowd the pan with doughnuts. Fry about 3 at a time (depending on the size of the pan). They will sink to the bottom but then float to the top. Turn them over and let them cook for an additional minute or so.

Drain them on paper towels and while hot, toss them in the cinnamon-fennel seed sugar.

These are best eaten the day they are made, but will last a day or more, loosely covered at room temperature.

two birds...

I might have a thing for owls...

so naturally, I was super excited when my friend Amanda asked me to make owl-themed sugar cookies for a baby shower. Coincidentally, the daring bakers challenged us to make September-themed sugar cookies. Owls are autumnal...right?

The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.

Below is my tried and true recipe for sugar cookies. I prefer the flavor and the dough is easy to work. Peggy's recipe doesn't use a leavener, which may be important if you wish to preserve a flat decorating surface or have cookie cutters with intricate edges.

Iced Sugar Cookies
Makes about 6 dozen cookies

3 cups flour
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 sticks plus 3 TBS unsalted butter, softened
1 scant cup of sugar
1 egg
1 TBS milk
2½ tsp vanilla
¼ tsp lemon zest

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat together butter and sugar until fluffy and well blended. Add egg and mix until combined. Mix in milk, vanilla, and lemon zest. Gradually stir in flour mixture until well blended. Refrigerate dough until cold (at least one hour or up to several days).

Preheat oven to 375° F.
Roll out dough on floured surface to ⅛-in thickness . Cut out desired shapes and place on parchment-lined baking sheets. Chill cut cookies for ~10 minutes in the refrigerator and then transfer baking sheet to the oven. Bake 8 minutes or until edges are golden. Allow cookies to cool completely before icing.

Royal Icing

4 - 6 cups powdered sugar
4 large egg whites
4 tsp lemon Juice
2 tsp flavored extract, optional

food coloring

Beat egg whites with lemon juice until combined. Sift the icing sugar to remove lumps and add it to the egg whites. Beat on low until combined and smooth. Add desired amount of food coloring and mix until homogenous. Use immediately or keep in an airtight container.

Two amounts of icing sugar are listed. The lesser amount is good for a flooding consistency, and the larger amount is for outlining, but you can add even more for a much thicker consistency good for writing. If you add too much icing sugar or would like to make a thinner consistency, add very small amounts of water, a few drops at a time, until you reach the consistency you need.

Baked Alaska from the Soul of the Earth

Toasted marshmallow. Fresh peaches. Honey. A butter-rich cake that hints at caramel due to a heap of brown butter. These are the flavors of my first Baked Alaska. It's preparation wasn't the disaster (i.e., torching ice cream) I always assumed it would be. But maybe my kitchen confidence has improved a bit since the first time I heard what's involved in making a Baked Alaska.

Having no disastrous stories with which to regale you, let's move topics to the world news. Did you hear the price of wheat is rising? Bad news for the state of our global climate and for everyone not abstaining from gluten. But good impetus if, like me, you want to explore alternative grains in their whole form. After reading Good to the Grain cover to cover, I'm ready to nearly wholly commit back to this way of baking. Though, it's not purely from a health or economic perspective. Really, it's driven by wanting to learn new flavors and new textures. Spelt and buckwheat have been my mainstays when I wander past the bin of all-purpose. I'm ready to push the boundaries a little further.

So in that vein...

Today's new-to-me flour is brought to you by the whole grain: kamut [pronounced ka MOOT]. When ground to a fine powder to be used as flour, the amber-colored grain has a buttery flavor and lends a crumbly, sandy texture. This makes it well-suited for baked goods and an especially perfect complement to those rich in butter. Compared to standard wheat, kamut is higher in protein, lipids, selenium, zinc and magnesium, making it a high energy food source that is rich in antioxidants.

Kamut's ancestry can be traced as far back as the wild grains that grew in the Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia and are claimed to have traveled on Noah's ark. According to legend, 36 kernels of khorasan wheat found in an Egyptian tomb made their way into the capable hands of an organic farmer in Montana. He named the seeds "Kamut" after the ancient Egyptian name for wheat, a word that also meant "soul of the earth". The name was trademarked and an organization was founded to promote research and production worldwide. Still to this day, the organization has protected kamut from being altered by modern plant-breeding practices. Any wheat sold under the name Kamut is guaranteed to be produced organically, free of GMOs. To me, that fact alone is a beautiful reason to incorporate kamut into your baking repertoire.

The cake recipe I'm sharing here is a simple way to showcase its flavor. Using browned butter goes even further to intensify the richness. Read the recipe at least once through before starting to mix the ingredients. The order of additions is quite unique compared to standard pound cake recipes. Also, care should be taken to disturb the batter as little as possible when mixing.

To complete the dessert, I'm sharing my favorite method to make meringue. I learned the technique from Martha Stewart. Like the pound cake, it too is less conventional in preparation as the egg whites are heated over a pan of simmering water just long enough to coax the sugar to melt. Standard meringue recipes skip this step, and as a result, at least to my palate, have a metallic taste. This method produces something more akin to the texture of a marshmallow without the stiffness from added gelatin.

The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”. Though both are excellent resources, I didn't use either for the following recipes.

Honey-Peach Ice Cream
from ezrapoundcake.com
who adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking: From My Home to Yours”

Makes about 1 quart

2 pounds ripe peaches, peeled and pitted
1/4 cup honey
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
3 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Coarsely chop half the peaches into 1/2-inch chunks, and combine with the honey in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the peaches are soft, about 10 minutes. Puree the mixture using a blender, food processor or immersion blender. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, bring the milk and cream to a boil.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk the yolks and sugar together. While whisking, slowly pour in about one third of the milk-cream mixture – this will temper the eggs so they won’t curdle. Pour the custard back into the pan, whisking continuously. Cook over medium heat, stirring without stopping, until the custard thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon. The custard should reach at least 170° F, but no more than 180° F.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla and peach puree. Refrigerate the custard until chilled (preferably overnight).

When sufficiently chilled, scrape the custard into the bowl of an ice cream maker, and churn according to manufacturer’s directions. While the ice cream is churning, finely dice the remaining 2 peaches, then, just before the ice cream is thickened and ready, add the peaches and churn to blend. Pack the ice cream into a container and freeze for at least 2 hours, until it is firm enough to scoop.

Brown Butter Kamut Pound Cake
adapted from Alice Medrich’s Pure Dessert

16 TBS unsalted butter
3 TBS whole milk, at room temp
3 large eggs, at room temp
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup cake flour (sift before measuring)
1/3 cup plus 1 TBS whole-grain kamut flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Position a rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Line a 8 x 4-in loaf pan with parchment.

Place the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Brown the butter until the milk solids are a dark toasty brown and the butter smells nutty. Pour into a shallow bowl and chill in the freezer until just congealed but still soft, 15-30 minutes.

In a medium bowl, combine the milk, eggs, and vanilla by whisking together.

Mix together and then sift the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of a standing mixer. In tablespoon portions, scoop 13 TBS of brown butter into the mixing bowl as well. To this add half of the egg mixture. Beat on low speed just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase the speed to medium and beat for just 1 minute longer. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add half of the remaining egg mixture. Beat for 20 seconds. Scrape the sides of the bowl again and add the final remaining portion of the egg mixture. Beat for 20 seconds.

Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Smooth the surface before transferring to the oven. Bake about 55-65 minutes, until golden brown and when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If excess browning occurs, tent the pan loosely with foil, after the first 30 minutes into baking.

Cool in the pan 10 minutes. Use the parchment overhang to transfer right-side-up onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely.

Meringue

4 egg whites
1 cups plus 2 TBS sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
salt

Just before serving, combine whites and sugar in a mixer bowl. Set over a saucepan of simmering water. Whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture is warm, about 3 minutes. Transfer bowl to a mixer, and add vanilla, cream of tartar, and a pinch of salt. Whisk on medium-high speed until shiny, stiff peaks form, about 7 minutes.

Assembly Instructions

Line a bowl with plastic wrap, so that plastic wrap covers all the sides and hangs over the edge. Fill to the top with ice cream. Cover the top with the overhanging plastic wrap and freeze for several hours, or until solid.

Level the top of the brown butter pound cake with a serrated knife. Cut out a circle of cake equal to the diameter of the rim of the bowl. Eat the scraps as a reward for your labor.

Make the meringue.

Unmold the ice cream and invert on top of a cake round. Trim any excess cake if necessary.

Pipe the meringue over the ice cream and cake, or smooth it over with a spatula, so that none of the ice cream or cake is exposed. Freeze for one hour or up to a day.

Toast the tips of the meringue with a culinary torch. Or, bake the meringue-topped Baked Alaska on a rimmed baking sheet under a broiler until lightly golden.

Serve immediately.

Swiss Roll Ice Cream Bombe

Confessions from my middle school lunch box: Little Debbie Swiss Rolls were my fav! And they tasted even better straight from the freezer. Oh how my leanings in consuming preservatives and packaged foods has changed nowadays. This doesn't completely rule out a place for Swiss rolls in my diet. It just means I'd make them myself now...from scratch...if I had a hankering.

Making this Swiss roll was the first time I've ever baked a rolled cake. Well, to be honest, this was my second time baking a rolled cake--the first attempt at this recipe was a crumbly, cracked mess. But the second time around, from those mistakes, I adapted a rolling technique that was much better (or one could argue was obsessive and constantly fidgety). Now I'm all set to put my skills to the test come yule log season or jelly roll craving.

To complete the bombe, two layers of ice cream separated by a layer of fudge lie beneath the cake. I wanted the ice creams to appear as swirled as the Swiss rolls, so I chose to mix in black currant curd to the vanilla-thyme layer and fudge ripple to the dark chocolate layer.

Homemade ice cream was a perfect way to use the 18 egg yolks I had leftover after taking their companion whites to make an exceptionally large batch of buttercream for my friends' wedding cake/cupcakes. Also, this was a great opportunity to try recipes from two of my newest cookbooks: Lola's Ice Creams & Sundaes and Perfect Scoop.

The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.

Swiss Roll Ice Cream Bombe

Vanilla-Thyme Ice Cream Swirled with Black Currant Curd

from Lola's Ice Creams & Sundaes

1 vanilla pod

fresh thyme sprigs, tied in a bundle

750 ml whole milk

450 ml whipping cream

12 egg yolks

240 g sugar

Put the milk and cream in a large sauce pan. Halve the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds. Add both the pod and the seeds and the thyme to the milk and cream. Heat to just below boiling. Cover, take off heat and set aside to steep. After 20 minutes of steeping, remove the vanilla pod and thyme bundle, but do not discard. Re-warm the mixture to just below boiling again.

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar. Add a third of the warm milk-cream to the egg-sugar mixture, whisking constantly. While continuously stirring, return this custard mix to the pan with the rest of the milk-cream. Slowly heat the custard stirring constantly until the temperature reaches 80° C. Maintain this temperature for 15 seconds. Do not allow the mix to boil or it will scramble.

Turn off the heat and continue whisking the custard for a few minutes to reduce the heat. Transfer the mixture to a container, add in the reserved thyme and vanilla pod. Chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours or ideally overnight.

Before churning in your ice cream machine, remove the vanilla pod and thyme.

Black Currant Curd

makes about 2 cups

1 pint black currants, rinsed

2 TBS water

½ cup sugar

2 TBS unsalted butter

2 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

Place the black currants and the water in a non-corroding saucepan. Cover and cook on a low-medium heat, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes or until the currants are mushy. Pass the currants through a food mill to produce about 1¼ cups puree. Stir the sugar and butter into the warm puree and heat, stirring constantly. Whisk the eggs and the egg yolk just until mixed, then whisk in a little of the hot currant mixture to heat the eggs. Return to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is well thickened and has reached 170° F. Pour into a container, cover and chill.

Mixing it in: The curd should be throughly chilled before using. Just before you remove the ice cream from the machine, spoon some on the bottom of the storage container. As you remove the ice cream from the machine, layer generous spoonfuls of the curd between layers of ice cream. Avoid stirring it in as it will make the ice cream muddy looking.

Deep Dark Chocolate Ice Cream with Fudge Ripple

from Lola's Ice Creams & Sundaes

500 ml whole milk

500 ml whipping cream

40 g cocoa powder

250 g dark chocolate (70% cacao)

3-4 fresh coffee beans (optional)

6 egg yolks

150 g sugar

Heat the milk and cream in a pan to just below boiling, then remove from heat. Make a paste with the cocoa powder by mixing it with a little heated milk and cream. Add the paste to the warm milk-cream and whisk continuously over a very low heat for 4-5 minutes in order to cook out the powdery taste of the cocoa.

Break up the chocolate into small pieces and place it in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir from time to time until the chocolate melts. Add the melted chocolate and coffee beans to the milk and cream. Stir until everything is combined.

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar. Add the warm milk to the egg-sugar mix and return the mixture to the pan. Heat the custard, stirring constantly, to 80° C. Maintain this temperature for 15 seconds. Do not allow the mix to boil or it will scramble.

Turn off the heat and continue whisking the mix for a few minutes to reduce the temperature.

Transfer the mixture to a container. Chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours or ideally overnight.

Churn in your ice cream machine.

Fudge Ripple

from David Lebovitz's Perfect Scoop

makes 1 cup

100 g sugar

80 ml light corn syrup

125 ml water

50 g cocoa powder

½ tsp vanilla extract

Whisk together the sugar, corn syrup, water and cocoa powder in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture begins to bubble at the edges. Continue to whisk until it just comes to a low boil. Cook for 1 minute, whisking frequently. Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla, and let cool. Chill in the refrigerator before using.

Mixing it in: The fudge ripple should be throughly chilled before using. Just before you remove the ice cream from the machine, spoon some on the bottom of the storage container. As you remove the ice cream from the machine, layer generous spoonfuls of the sauce between layers of ice cream. Avoid stirring the fudge ripple into the ice cream, as it will make it muddy looking.

Swiss Rolls

For the cake:
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup (225 grams) sugar, plus extra for rolling
6 TBS (45 grams) all purpose flour
5 TBS (40 grams) cocoa powder
2 TBS (30 ml) boiling water

For the filling:
2 cups (500 mls) whipping cream
1 vanilla pod, cut into ½ cm pieces (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
5 TBS (70 grams) sugar

Preheat the oven to 400° F. Brush a half sheet pan with a neutral-flavored oil and line with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and sugar and beat until very thick; when the beaters are lifted, they should leave a trail on the surface for at least 10 seconds. Sift together the flour and cocoa powder and gently fold into the egg mixture with a spatula. Then, fold in the boiling water.

Pour the batter into the prepared sheet pan, spreading it evenly into the corners. Place the pan in the center of the oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes or till the cake is springy to the touch.

Spread a kitchen towel on the counter and generously sprinkle it with sugar. Upon removing from the oven, immediately turn the cake onto the towel and peel away the parchment paper. Trim away any crisp edges and generously sprinkle sugar over the cake. Starting from the long edge, roll the cake along with the towel. Be careful not to apply too much pressure, as the cake will crack. Place the wrapped roll on a rack to cool, seam side down. Allow the cake to cool completely, about 30 minutes.

To make the filling, grind together the vanilla pieces and sugar in a coffee bean grinder until throughly mixed together. Skip this step if you are using vanilla extract. Combine the cream and vanilla-sugar mixture in a large bowl and beat until very thick.

When the cake has cooled completely, open the roll and spread the cream mixture evenly, leaving a ½-inch border. Roll the cake up again, this time without the towel. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge seam side down until ready to use.

Assembly

Line the bottom and sides of the bowl in which you are going to set the dessert with plastic wrap, leaving a generous overhang. Cut the Swiss roll into slices approximately 2 cms thick.

Arrange two slices at the bottom of the bowl, with their seam sides facing each other. Arrange the remainder of the Swiss roll slices up the bowl, with the seam sides facing away from the bottom, to cover the sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze until the slices are firm (at least 30 minutes). Meanwhile, set the first layer of ice cream out to soften.

When ready to proceed, remove the bowl from the freezer, peel back the plastic wrap cover and spread the ice cream over the cake slices and up the sides of the bowl. Replace the plastic wrap and freeze until firm (at least 1 hour).

Pour the fudge sauce over the frozen ice cream layer, cover with the plastic wrap and freeze until firm (at least 1 hour). Meanwhile, soften the second flavor of ice cream.

When ready to proceed, spread the second layer of ice cream over the fudge sauce. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4-5 hours until completely set.

When ready to serve, peel back the plastic cover, and used a serrated knife to level the bottom of the cake so that it is flush with the bowl. Place the serving plate on top of the bowl. Turn it upside down. Carefully lift off the bowl and peel off the plastic lining. If the bowl does not come away easily, wipe the outside of the bowl with a kitchen towel dampened with hot water.

Keep the cake out of the freezer for at least 10 minutes before slicing. Slice with a sharp knife, dipped in hot water.

Chocolate Pavlovas with Chicory Chocolate Mousse (and Juneberries!)

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.

I've never made a pavlova, so this was an exciting endeavor for me. Also, it's always nice (as a frequent ice cream maker) to include additional uses for leftover egg whites in your repertoire. What challenged me though was deciding what story to tell in this blog post...

I could have written about Anna Pavlova, whose airy tutu inspired the dessert, and the rivalry between New Zealand and Australia in claiming its invention. But I think most people have heard this before...

Or I could have gone on about the creole-inspired chocolate bar (New Orleans style chicory coffee + cocoa nibs + 70% cacao Sao Thome bittersweet chocolate) I used to make the chicory chocolate mousse (isn't that fun to say!), and the southern origins of the consumption of chicory root as an obstinate substitute for coffee during the Civil War. But others far more knowledgeable than me can give you that history lesson...

Instead, I rather introduce you to juneberries, aka serviceberries or saskatoons or sugarplums or shadberries or chuckley pear. That's a lot of pseudonyms for a wild fruit that is quite often overlooked and quite frankly under appreciated. These purplish red berries grow on amelanchier trees, small trees planted for their ornamental value in urban landscapes throughout North America. The berries taste similar to a blueberry but have an edible seed with flavors akin to an almond.

Sadly, most people look at you strange if you forage "suspect"-looking berries from a tree growing on a busy main street downtown. But for the adventurous, juneberries are a special treat. When ripe, they taste perfect out of hand or can be used in pies and jams or on top of ice cream or to garnish pavlovas, as they pair well with chocolate.

Unfortunately, with competition from the birds and a short fruiting season, they won't be available too much longer. I preserved the remaining berries from my foraging haul by incorporating them into a batch of strawberry jam. That makes for a little bit of June whenever I fancy, no matter the calendar month.

Chocolate Pavlova
makes about 2 dozen 3-inch rounds

6 large egg whites
1 cup plus 2 TBS (220 grams) white granulated sugar
½ cup (60 grams) confectioner’s sugar
⅔ cup (60 grams) cocoa powder

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 200º F degrees. Line two baking sheets with silpat or parchment and set aside.

Put the egg whites in a bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Increase speed to high and gradually add granulated sugar about 1 TBS at a time until stiff peaks form. (The whites should be firm but moist.)

Sift the confectioner’s sugar and cocoa powder over the egg whites and fold the dry ingredients into the white. (This looks like it will not happen. Fold gently and it will eventually come together.)

Fill a pastry bag with the meringue. Pipe the meringue into whatever shapes you desire. Alternatively, you could just free form your shapes and level them a bit with the back of a spoon. The meringues will expand slightly during baking, so keep this in mind when determining final shape.

Bake for 2-3 hours until the meringues become dry and crisp. Cool and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse

makes about 4 cups

1½ cups (355 mls) heavy cream
9 ounces (255 grams) dark chocolate, finely chopped
1⅔ cups (390 mls) mascarpone*
pinch of nutmeg
2 tbsp (30 mls) Cognac (I recommend Kelt. It has an interesting maturation process that involves a 3 month ocean voyage.)

*Here is a link to a recipe, if you are interested in making your own mascarpone from scratch. I recommend doubling this recipe to have enough mascarpone for use in both the mousse and the cream drizzle sauce below.

Put ½ cup (120 mls) of the heavy cream in a double boiler set over a pan of simmering water. Once warm, add the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and let sit at room temperature until cool.

Place the mascarpone, the remaining cup of cream and nutmeg in a bowl of a standing mixer. Using a whisk attachment, whip on low speed for a minute until the mascarpone is loose. Add the cognac and whip on medium speed until it holds soft peaks. (DO NOT OVERBEAT AS THE MASCARPONE WILL BREAK.)

Mix about a fourth of the mascarpone mixture into the chocolate to lighten. Fold in the remaining mascarpone until well incorporated. Fill a pastry bag with the mousse to pipe atop the pavlova.

Crème Anglaise
makes 3 cups

1 cup (235 mls) whole milk
1 cup (235 mls) heavy cream
1 tsp pure vanilla bean paste
6 large egg yolks
6 tbsp (75 grams) sugar

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale yellow.

In a saucepan, combine the milk, cream and vanilla and bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat. Take off the heat.

Pour about ½ cup of the hot liquid into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly to keep from overcoagulating (or curdling) the eggs. Pour the yolk mixture into the pan with the remaining cream mixture and put the heat back on medium. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens enough to lightly coat the back of the spoon. DO NOT OVERCOOK.

Remove the mixture from the heat and strain it through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until the mixture is thoroughly chilled, about 2 hours or overnight.

Mascarpone Cream (for drizzling)

makes about 1 quart

1 recipe crème anglaise (see above)
½ cup (120 mls) mascarpone
½ cup (120 mls) heavy cream

Prepare the crème anglaise. Slowly whisk in the mascarpone into the chilled crème anglaise. Put the cream in a bowl of an electric mixer and beat with the whisk attachment until very soft peaks are formed. Fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture.

**The quantity this recipe makes is more than sufficient for garnishing the pavlova. Freeze the remainder in the canister of your ice cream maker for a light and creamy, custard-style ice cream.**

Assembly:

Pipe the mousse onto the pavlovas and drizzle with the mascarpone cream over the top. Garnish with fresh fruit if desired.