Puff Pastry Test - does butter matter?

So, I was thinking.... which is usually dangerous and usually means I'm obsessing over something random.  This time, however, I was thinking about butter.  Not unusual.

I was about to make more puff pastry to make Apple Turnovers and had to go buy more European butter for the recipe.  Then I thought, how much difference does this fancy butter really make?  Well, I decided to make it my mission to find out.

What's the difference in these butters anyway?  That's a really good question.  Apparently European butter has more fat in it.  So, it has to be better right?  We shall see.

I made two batches of puff pastry, one with Kerrygold Irish butter and one with Store Brand Unsalted Butter.  Everything else was exactly the same.

I baked the pastry two ways:

1) a plain circle cut-out - no sugar, egg wash, nothing
2) as an apple turnover with apple filling and egg wash

CA was generous enough to help me do the taste test.  He really suffers for me.

• Visually, neither of us saw any difference.  Both versions puffed equally well and browned equally well.

• Texturally, we didn't see any differences either.  They were both equally light and flaky in texture.

• Taste, yep, this is where there were some differences.  We both agreed that the flavor was better in the European version of the plain circle but we detected no difference in the Apple Turnover.  Putting the filling in there added enough other flavors that we couldn't tell the difference between the European and Regular versions.  I actually think the difference I tasted was due to salt and not the butter itself.  The European butter did have salt in it and the Regular butter did not.

That said, I think in the future I'll use regular butter if I'm making something with a lot of other components and use European butter for more simple dishes.

Of course, now I'm really curious if I could tell the difference if I used Salted Regular Butter.  I may suffer through that experiment for you all, but only if you're nice.

Julie

Baking Bouchon - Recipe 25: Marshmallow Eggs

It's a wonder I can make actually function as a human being without severely endangering myself.  Seriously, some days I shouldn't be allowed to make adult decisions or be responsible for myself or anyone else.  I'm surprised my dog is still alive.

I've made marshmallows before and it was fine and to be honest, these marshmallows aren't actually bad (weird, but not bad), but the process to get there included a long moment of "really, Julie?  Did you really do that?"

I made these marshmallow eggs much earlier than my normal schedule dictated because Easter is in, like, 3 days and they're very Eastery.

There are a few ingredients in these guys that I had to hunt for.  The first was dehydrated raspberry powder which I never did find but I did find freeze dried raspberries which I ground up in my trusty mini food processor.  They worked pretty well and I was proud of my ingenuity!  I call attention to this because it's the only pride I have about what happened today and I could use a little lift.


 Another ingredient was citric acid (or sour salt) which we already had.  Not from me, but from CA.  He uses it in some random cocktail.  I'm pretty sure he used it once to make gin and tonic jello shots.  They were much classier than they sound.

The most difficult ingredient for me to find was silver leaf gelatin.  I actually didn't think it would be hard to find - gelatin sheets should be pretty easy, but for some reason I couldn't find them.  I called a small local store to see if they had it and they said "yes."  I ran right out to pick some up....

I didn't get silver leaf gelatin.  I got silver leaf.  Not the same.  Silver leaf gelatin is a sheet of gelatin, the "silver" refers to the strength of the gelatin (Olympic style - bronze, silver or gold).  Silver leaf is used to decorate food, it's actually made from silver.  I didn't notice that I bought the wrong thing, I just tried to use it.  I opened the package and thought "huh, silver leaf gelatin is actually silver, that's cool."  I soaked it in water like I was told and put it in a bowl over boiling water to melt.  It didn't melt (obviously, because it's metal, Julie).  I took a full 5 minutes of it being over heat for me to think "maybe there is something wrong here."  I actually tried to melt silver on my stove!  I shouldn't be allowed to drive or do anything a toddler isn't allowed to do.  Truly, it's dangerous for me and for society.

Once I FINALLY realized my mistake, I was well into the process of making these marshmallows and didn't want to waste all the time, ingredients, etc. that I'd put in so I threw caution to the wind and decided to attempt to make the marshmallows using a packet of powdered gelatin in place of the silver leaf gelatin.

I wasn't sure if it would work but thought it was worth a shot.

To make the marshmallows, I put my powdered gelatin in the mixing bowl with some egg whites and whipped those up while heating sugar, water and corn syrup in a pot on the stove to 280 degrees.  Once the sugar is cooked and the eggs are whipped, I poured the sugar into the egg mixture very slowly while still whipping.

I whipped and whipped and whipped and whipped until the mixture cools down and turns into marshmallow.  Ta Dah!

It's not actually that hard and I did end up with marshmallows despite my gelatin debacle.  Unfortunately, the powdered gelatin chunked up a little bit so my marshmallows weren't quite as smooth as I'd like, but I'll take what I can get at this point

To make the marshmallows raspberry, I added the ground up, freeze dried raspberries.  They probably weren't as smooth as true raspberry powder so my marshmallows, again, weren't as smooth as I'd like but they took on a pretty, light pink color and had a subtle raspberry flavor so, again, I'll take what I can get.

At this point the still warm marshmallows get piped into plastic Easter eggs that are sprayed with non-stick spray.

It's tricky to make sure you fill each side enough so that they stick together when you close them but also to not fill them so much that you can't close them.  I definitely overfilled the first one and couldn't shut it, so I ate it.

Once you get them all filled, they sit overnight to harden.

Once of the fun parts of these marshmallow eggs is that they are rolled in sour raspberry sugar.  You use sugar, citric acid diluted in water, raspberry powder and a little food coloring to make a really interesting sugar to decorate them.  The citric acid gives it a great sour taste - kind of like a sour patch kid.  It tastes pretty good.

Unfortunately, I think I used the wrong sugar which did NOT surprise me in the slightest.  It was too big so it didn't really stick to the eggs very well.  But, it still tastes good so I'll take what I can get.

The marshmallows popped right out of the eggs and were, for the most part, egg shaped.  Once last time, I'll take what I can get.

Rolled in the too big sugar, they're not hideous, but they definitely don't look like the picture in the book.  I'd show you, but I'm embarrassed.

As far as taste, CA liked them, but I think he's pretending.  I don't care for them.  They're just weird.  Plus, when I go through a lot of effort and stress to make something it better be damn good.  These are strange.  The marshmallow is ok, the sour raspberry sugar is tasty but together.... meh.  I found myself eating all the sugar off them first and then eating the marshmallow.

I'm not sure what to do with these.  I'll probably just stare at them for a few days while I re-evaluate my status as a responsible adult.

Julie

Baking Bouchon - Recipe 24: Apple Turnovers

If I hadn't made the puff pastry for these turnovers, this would have been a ridiculously easy.  Luckily, I made a bunch of puff pastry for a test I'm conducting (stay tuned, for that one!) so all I really had to do was make the filling.

Seriously, apples, sugar water and lemon juice.  That's it!  Truthfully, I didn't even use the lemon because you only need it if your sugar gets all crystally (crystaley, crystalley - don't you hate it when you can't decide out how to spell made up words?) which mine did not.  There's not even cinnamon, brown sugar or salt in this filling which gave me some pause.  I really love the cinnamon/apple combo.

I resisted the temptation to add extra stuff in here and followed the recipe for the filling.

I used pink lady apples for this because they're my favorite.  The recipe recommends Fuji or Golden Delicious but I'm not a fan of either of those.  I like that pink ladies are a little bit tart.

I first cooked the sugar with some water until it was thoroughly melted, then added the apples and cooked and stirred and cooked and stirred and cooked and stirred and cooked and stirred some more.

It took an awfully long time to cook the apples until they were "broken down and thickened".  I would have stopped cooking much earlier in some other context, but the recipe wanted me to pipe the filling onto the puff pastry with a piping bag (which I didn't actually do) so I figured it needed to be pretty darn broken down.

It was pretty amazing how much smaller those apples got after they were cooked for an hour.

Assembling the turnovers was pretty simple.  I rolled out the puff pastry and cut out circles, then rolled those circles a little bit more to create ovals.


There was a lot of refrigerating involved as you want to make the sure the puff pastry stays cold until it goes into the oven so the butter doesn't melt before baking time.  Otherwise you get no puff and puff pastry with no puff is just pastry.  (which doesn't actually sound bad, but after you go through all the work to make the puff pastry it better freakin' puff).

The ovals get some egg wash and a dollop of filling, then folded over, pinched to seal and egg washed again.  The egg wash ensures that you get a nice, pretty golden crust.  It's nice when food looks pretty but pretty doesn't always mean it tastes good.  I've eaten some nasty things that looked pretty and some delicious things that were hideous.  It's kind of like people, but that's a whole intellectual discussion I'm not going to get into today because we're talking about food.  Can you tell I'm easily distracted?



Once assembled, the turnovers get refrigerated again to make sure they're nice and cold before baking.

Once they're cold, you cut a few slits in the top of each one and bake.

It took about 45 minutes for them to be nice and puffed and golden.  It was quite satisfying to stare through the oven door and watch them puffing up.  My overarching thought was "thank God I didn't screw up all that puff pastry."  Considering the disaster that occurred the last time I baked puff pastry, I think my concerns were justified.

See, pretty!  Not only were they pretty, they were pretty tasty too.  The pastry was super light and flaky and the filling was a very classic apple filling.  I took some in to work today and some of my friends enjoyed them for breakfast.  I actually think they're a pretty good breakfast food because they're not too sweet.   I probably would have preferred a little brown sugar and some cinnamon but don't feel bad for me.  I'm about to heat up another one of these puppies and put vanilla ice cream on it.  It's cool if you're jealous.

Julie

Peep Topiary

Yes, this really happened.  I have no use for peeps in the context of actually eating them.  Gross.  It's like a fake marshmallow and store bought marshmallows are fake enough on their own (not that I've ever turned down a s'more, a rice krispie treat or some hot chocolate with marshmallows floating on top).  Plus it's kind of crunchy and who wants a crunchy marshmallow?  Not this girl.

I actually hid them in my cart at Target because I thought people might actually think that I eat these little guys.  I'm pretty sure the cashier was judging me.

I now know two people who eat peeps.  One is my brother in law who only eats them stale (not better).  The second is a friend who told me she eats them after I posted a picture of my finished craft on Instagram.  It's quite possible I know more people who eat them but I think they're ashamed and eat them alone in dark rooms.

 

This craft was not my idea.  I steal almost all my craft ideas and this one came from a blog called The Hungry Mouse.  I, of course, ran across it on pinterest.  I give her full credit, I couldn't make this up.

The process is easy, you basically stick the peeps to a styrofoam ball with toothpicks.  I struggled a little bit with the chicks on the bottom - they kept falling off, at one point I even considered hot gluing them but thought better of it - however, once the peeps got stale, they stayed on much better.  Still not better.

We're having an Adult Easter Party next week (another stolen idea, from a dear friend who hosted this party where we used to live) and this will make the perfect centerpiece for our brunch table.  You'll be hearing a lot about this party in the upcoming weeks as I'll be sharing the full menu, games and overall festivities.

Question of the day....  Do you eat peeps?  You can admit it, I won't judge you, much.

Julie

Baking Bouchon - Recipe 23: Demi-Epis

Bread is back!  Remember when I made my first loaf of bread from this cookbook?  No?  Well, go remind yourself here.

I was pretty excited because I got to use my water gun again.  The whole water gun, rocks & chains in the oven combo is used to create steam in the oven which was supposed to create a nice, crispy crust.  I had some success last time but I think these little loaves turned out even more crispy.  Unfortunately, I have no photos of that process for you this time because CA was not home while I was making my bread.  If he had been, not only would you have pictures but you might actually have demi-epis that look like demi-epis.

Straight up bread ingredients... flour, yeast, water, salt.

The term demi-epi refers to the shape of the bread.  This dough is essentially a baguette but it's shaped into a small (demi) wheat stalk (epi) shape.  Or, it's supposed to.  I didn't understand the directions on how to cut the dough to make the epi shape.  I ended up with something that looked like a ginger root, not a wheat stalk.

The photo on the right is my ginger dude and the demi-baguette I made with the other loaf when I realized my technique was incorrect (sometimes I'm persistent and try to do things 12 times until I get them right, other times I'm tired and just want it over with already.  Today was a tired day).  The photo on the right is from the cookbook showing me what the dough should look like.  Yeah, not the same.

When CA looked at the directions he completely understood them and told me that I should have cut it from the top of the loaf, not the side.  Hmmm.  I would like to blame this misunderstanding on the fact that men wrote this book and not on the fact that I tend to just plow through things without taking the time to contemplate them.  CA is a contemplater, I am not.  Too bad I didn't ask him for his opinion before I took out the scissors.

If I set aside the fact that I made demi-ginger roots, this bread was quite successful.  I think I did a better job trapping the steam in the oven which made for a crisper crust.  Hooray!!

I think CA liked it too because he ate so much bread that he declined dessert.  I never decline dessert.

Julie

Baking Bouchon - Recipe 22: Hot Cross Buns

One ha' penny, two ha' penny, hot cross buns!

I'm back!!!  Did you miss me?  I've been baking up a storm the last few days to catch up from being out of town and this was the first tasty treat I tacked.

This nursery rhyme was the extent of my exposure to hot cross buns until today.  In fact, I wasn't even aware that this was a real food.

I'm not going to complain about the dried fruit in these.  Y'all know how I feel about it by now and I didn't hate them but that's probably because they have icing.  I heart icing.

The bun dough is a brioche dough... flour, yeast, eggs, sugar, salt, milk and lots of butter.  I can't tell you how much butter I've bought in the last month.  It's frightening.  I think the cashiers at the grocery store think I have multiple personalities because my cart is full of butter, flour, sugar, eggs and vegetables.

The currants and cranberries get soaked in hot water to plump them up, drained and mixed with vanilla paste.

There are a lot of currants and cranberries in here.  A LOT.  I'm still not saying it...

The fruits get kneaded into the bun dough until it's all incorporated.  Then the dough gets separated into twelve bun balls.  They are supposed to rise for 1 - 1 1/2 hours until they touch each other.  Mine took over 2 hours to rise enough to get fresh with each other but honestly, I always find that dough takes longer to rise in my kitchen.

The buns really did bake up nicely with a great golden crust (due to the egg wash that gets brushed on before baking).

No hot cross bun would be without a cross and what better way to get blessed than by icing.  

This icing is a bit unique in that it's flavored with cinnamon and cardamon.  I was worried the cardamon flavor would be too strong (it was awfully strong when I tasted it), but since you just get a little cross on each bun, it didn't end up being overpowering.

One of CA's coworkers commented that the icing cross was not enough and he wanted the whole thing to be covered in icing.  I guess you'd call that a hot iced bun. (Yes, I'm aware that's cheesy but I warned you I'm a big dork)

Apparently CA knew all along that hot cross buns exist.  He thinks he's pretty smart.

Overall, I liked these despite the abundance of modified fruit.  Fine, I said it.  The bun itself is not very sweet which makes it a good breakfast food and I'm pretty much down with finding more ways to eat icing for breakfast.

Julie

Road Food - Panzarotti

Hello There!

We've been out of town for a few days so there hasn't been much baking going on around here.  I'm working on catching up now (the Hot Cross Buns are in the oven as we speak) but for now I wanted to share with you the amazeballs road food we got in New Jersey yesterday.

Panzarotti!!!!

I've never heard of these before but they're basically deep fried calzones.  Yep, as if you thought dough stuffed with cheese couldn't get any better somebody deep fried it.

I found this place by googling "food along new jersey turnpike".  Google tells me everything.  Franco's Place in Haddonfield, NJ was located about where we wanted to stop for lunch and was just a few miles off the road so off we went on our little adventure. 

The place was tiny but, to me, that's the sign of a good, local spot.  When we pulled up the sheriff was leaving with his to-go bag, also a good sign.

I got the Franco with Capicola, Salami, Provolone and Oregano.  CA got the Classic Everything with Mushrooms, Pepperoni, Hot and Sweet Sausage and Anchovies.  That man loves anchovies and he never gets them because, ewwww.

Doesn't mine look yummy and gooey?  They were super delicious and just the treat we needed to finish up our road trip home (even if I did go into a food coma in the passenger seat and abandon CA to the drive alone).  If you're ever traveling along the Jersey Turnpike, I recommend taking a little side trip to Franco's Place.

It might be a few days before I get more baking and writing under my belt.
Hold tight.
Julie

Baking Bouchon - Recipe 21: Toffee

Eventually I will make caramel without burning it.  I promise!  It's a good thing I overbuy ingredients and can make everything twice.  Sheesh!

I actually shouldn't have made this today.  I was scheduled to make Hot Cross Buns, Apple Turnovers and Demi-Baguettes before I made this so I skipped ahead A LOT.  However, we're going out of town tomorrow and could not have eaten any of that stuff before we left.  Plus, I needed a hostess gift to bring to the people we're staying with and this worked out just fine.

Making toffee is similar to making caramel so you've seen this stuff before... butter, sugar, water and corn syrup gets cooked together.

The recipe has you bring the toffee to 310 degrees, then add the baking soda and salt (which gives you some wicked foaming) and then continue to cook until 320 degrees.  Yeah, not so much.

I swear this time I was NOT multitasking, I did NOT get distracted and I did EXACTLY what the instructions said. 

The second I added the baking soda the temperature instantly shot up to 340 degrees and I had burnt toffee.




See... burned and icky.

Luckily, I realized something was wrong before I added the almonds to the toffee because I did not have extra almonds and if I have been forced to go back to the store in order to remake the toffee it very well might not have happened.  Going to the store multiple times is so very inefficient and I don't enjoy inefficient.

The second time I actually turned the heat off when the toffee hit 300 degrees and stirred in the baking soda and salt, then turned it back on until it hit 320 degrees.  This was a much more successful method (thank goodness because I was not going to make this a third time, not matter how much I needed a hostess gift.  Those people would have gotten a bottle of wine and liked it).

The cooked toffee gets a generous dose of chopped almonds stirred into it.  I was a bit skeptical about this as I've never had toffee with almonds inside of it but I really like the addition.  There are also almonds sprinkled on the outside so you really need to like almonds.

Once it's all mixed up the toffee is dumped out onto a silpat, topped with a second silpat and rolled out until it's nice and flat.

In theory I needed confectionary rulers (I didn't even look it up, I knew I wasn't buying them) to make straight lines out of the edges of the toffee but I didn't have those so it was more of an oval shape which was a non-issue.

I kept a little bit of the burnt toffee to compare to the good stuff.  See how much darker it is in the bottom photo?  Big difference.

Chocolate is an absolute must when it comes to toffee!  This recipe calls for a 70% chocolate, so not too sweet.  (The % in chocolate talks about how much actual chocolate there is in there compared to sugar, so 100% chocolate has no sugar in it)  I had a bunch of different chocolates on hand so I used 70%, 40% and 100% to get pretty close to that. 

I've never actually tempered chocolate before.  It's an interesting little process that is supposed to give the chocolate a shinier appearance and a better snap when it's broken.  You basically melt the chocolate, then cool it down to room temperature, then heat it up just a little bit more in order coat whatever you're coating.  I did it but I'm not entirely convinced it made a huge difference.

I have to say that the instructions to coat the toffee with chocolate on both sides are totally bogus.  There is no way this could possibly work.  For the first side you spread chocolate on parchment paper, then sprinkle almonds on it and set the hardened toffee on top of it.  It's hard to picture but because the almonds are sitting on top of the really thin layer of chocolate, the toffee doesn't even touch the chocolate.  Geez! 

So, I spread the chocolate on the top side, sprinkled it with almonds and then flipped it over, scraped the chocolate off the parchment paper and re-spread it on the toffee. 

So one side is not so pretty... whatever!

All in all, this toffee is awesome and I'll be very proud when I hand it over to my hosts in these cute mason jars.  My toffee standard is the toffee at Trader Joe's and this is just as good.  The problem is that I had to cut myself off from buying toffee at Trader Joe's because I have no self control.  Luckily, most of the toffee is prettily packaged in jars now so I can't do too much damage.

Julie