Baking Bouchon - Recipe 58: Shortbread

Simple is sometimes quite wonderful.  These cookies are really very simple but also very delicious.  I've never been a huge shortbread fan but I could eat these every day.

Look at that!  Only five ingredients and I don't even think you should count salt or vanilla - so that's three.  What IS in here is a lot of butter.  That's just the way it goes, don't dwell on it or stress about it... it's just butter people. 

The butter gets whipped together with granulated sugar - add in some vanilla bean paste, then flour and salt and voila.  Shortbread.  You don't even have to refrigerate the dough overnight (just a couple of hours to make rolling it out easier), making this the easiest and fastest cookie to make in this book so far.

Shortbread is one of the few cookies that don't have any levener or eggs in them.  That makes them denser and crumblier in texture than other cookies.  This is generally not my cup of tea but for some reason I make an exception to my chewy cookie rule for shortbread.  Maybe because it's such a classic that I can appreciate that it's not meant to be soft.

One thing I love about these cookies is that you sprinkle a little granulated sugar on top of them before baking them.  It gives it a great added layer of sweetness along with a little crunch and sparkle on the top.  It's probably my favorite part... aside from the butter.

People were pretty ridiculously pumped about these cookies which I found surprising.  They're a little bit boring - but like me, my eaters seem enjoy a classic and these guys disappeared in the blink of an eye.  One of my friends even gasped when I told her I was making them so I made sure to set some aside for her.  I gave them to her husband (who is one of my coworkers) to deliver and almost all of them made it to her which says a lot about his character.  I appreciate boys who don't steal ALL the cookies.


 I took an unnecessary amount of pictures of these cookies... dozens really, but luckily I'm only posting the few best ones here so you don't have to endlessly scroll through cookie after cookie.  I'm trying to be better about taking prettier pictures of the finished product for this blog but I can't quite get the hang of it.  My camera is just OK and I'm not motivated enough to buy a really expensive one.  Not to mention that the camera is constantly caked with food - which is a hazard of picture taking while baking.  That is yet another reason I can't see investing in a super nice camera.

I struggle with the fact that I really want this blog to be about the process of baking and not just a site for food pics (aka food porn), but on the other hand I know that 90% of the time when I read blogs I scan through the pictures before deciding if I want to read the whole post.

What do you all think?  More pictures?  Better quality pictures?  Or would you rather I just burn more stuff or drop it on the floor so you can have a good laugh?

Enjoy!
Julie

Grilled Cardamom Naan

Cardamom is a spice that is popular in Indian cuisine.  I really like it and have been trying to figure out how to describe it to you.  Wikipedia says it's intensely aromatic - which is true because everything on Wikipedia is true.  The only thing I can think to say is that it is a very warm spice.

If you've never had cardamom you should try it - it's definitely a great spice and makes a great addition to a lot of Fall dishes (think pumpkin)... plus it's pretty awesome in this Naan bread.

If you've never had naan, you should try that too.  It's a flatbread that's popular in India and other parts of Asia.  Many cultures have their own versions of flatbread - like Greek Pitas and Mexican Tortillas - and I generally prefer them to regular bread.  Probably because they're generally used as a vehicle for other things like dip and tacos.  Regular bread is usually just a vehicle for butter which is not bad (I obviously have an affinity for butter) but I'll take some hummus, tzatziki or huevos rancheros any day.

The dough comes together like regular bread dough - yeast, water, honey, olive oil, bread flour, salt and cardamom get kneaded together, separated into individual naan and left to rise.

Traditionally naan is cooked in an oven, a tandoor to be exact, but these are cooked up in a cast iron skillet.  They cook up pretty quickly - just a minute or two per side.

I love the texture of this bread - it's like eating pizza crust.  I personally think it's a little aggressive on the cardamom flavor, particularly when you eat it by itself.  However, when you eat it with another food - like a tasty curry - the cardamom flavor blends in really nicely.  CA thought it had the perfect level of cardamom, so there's that.

You can find the recipe on Food and Wine.  It's pretty cardamomey so feel free to cut back on the spice if you want to.

I served this with a Beef Penang Curry, also from Food and Wine - the pairing was perfect.

I also served this with wine.... from the wine store...  a Gewürztraminer to be exact.  Which is a slightly sweet wine which is perfect with spicy foods.  It's also cool because it comes with an umlaut.  Google that.

Enjoy!
Julie

Chocolate Bar Bundt Cake

I've had eight Hershey's bars in my fridge for a month.  They stare at me and ask me what I'm going to do with them and then I shut the refrigerator door and forget about them. 

Treats don't usually sit around my house that long, I typically find excuses to wander by any idle treats and break off a little piece for myself.  That or I remove them from the house as quickly as possible to avoid the aforementioned wandering.  However, leftover candy is the exception to that rule.  I end up throwing out leftover Halloween candy (except Twix and those Peanut Butter Snickers which you can't throw away - they're too good).  I have a few bags of Gummi Bears that have been around for way too long - in fact, it's probably time to get rid of those.  I think this has everything to do with me being better at hiding leftover candy from myself so I don't just wander by it.  It's a bit more obvious when I "wander" past the china cabinet in the dining room and reach all the way into the back than it is to "wander" past the cookies sitting in that see through container on the kitchen counter.

There is another exception to the candy exception and that is mellowcreme pumpkins.  They are the reason I can't walk down the candy aisle during the entire Fall season.  I swear if those enter my house, they are GONE in about sixty seconds.  These are entirely different than candy corn which I don't like and people try to tell me are the same but they are not.

That was quite a digression to tell you that I made this cake on a random Wednesday night when I opened the fridge and saw those eight candy bars staring at me.  This particular Wednesday also happened to be a day when CA's coworkers had asked him if he brought in any treats (please note, they got treats on Monday but were ready for more on Wednesday).

This recipe happens to call for exactly eight candy bars which is exactly the number I had which is exactly amazing.  The batter comes together really easily - you cream butter & sugar together, add eggs, add melted chocolate and vanilla, add some flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda, then add buttermilk and some walnuts.  I didn't have buttermilk - but made it myself with regular milk and a little bit of vinegar (you guys know you can do that right?  You can do it with either vinegar or lemon juice - just go here and Emeril will tell you how).

I haven't busted out my bundt pan in a while so I was excited to dig it out.  Unfortunately, this cake made a giant mess when it oozed all over my oven because it overflowed the edges of the pan while it baked.  Oops.  Halfway through I stuck a sheet pan under it to catch the remaining overflow which worked OK.  I may have also scraped the overflow off the sheet pan and eaten it.

I had a hard time getting it out of the pan even though I sprayed and floured it.  Once it did let go, it looked like it was molting. 

My solution to that was to pick off all the outsides that it was trying to shed and eat them.  Once the evidence was disposed of, I sliced it up and no one was the wiser... except CA because I always yell at my baked goods when they don't cooperate.  I know he can hear me even if he does generally ignore me.

Despite the mess and slightly hideous appearance, this cake was actually pretty delicious.  It was like a giant brownie, especially with the nuts mixed in.  CA liked it and so did his coworkers who received it on Thursday.

I got the recipe on Food.com and followed it exactly - except for the milk substitution.  I would recommend using two loaf pans instead of the bundt pan to avoid making a giant mess in your oven.

Enjoy!
Julie

Baking Bouchon - Recipe 57: Plum Tarts

This has to be the easiest tart in the cookbook.  Actually, it IS the easiest tart in the cookbook - I peeked.

3 components make up this tart...

1.  Pate Sucree (for the crust)
2.  Almond Cream
3.  Plums

Easy right?  I guess you do actually have to make the crust and the almond cream but luckily I had crust made up and waiting for me in my freezer and almond cream is super easy to make.

If you remember, pate sucree is a crust that is pretty much like a sugar cookie.  Almond cream is just a mixture of flour, almond flour, butter, powdered sugar and eggs.

I ended up making these tarts more difficult that necessary because I made them miniature.  As I've mentioned a thousand times before I want to share my treats with others and things that are miniature are easier to share.

To assemble the tarts you layer crust, followed by almond cream and then sliced plums.  Bake. Done.

These were pretty good.  They weren't particularly exciting but they were good.  They certainly disappeared quickly when I took them to work so I guess other people liked them too.

Sometimes things that are easy surprise you and taste super amazing - sometimes things that are easy and taste like they're easy.  I think the latter is where I'd stick these.

Enjoy!
Julie

Baking Bouchon - Recipe 56: Cherry Whipped Cream Doughnuts

I'm so sad that this is the last doughnut recipe in this book.  I clearly remember the first time I made doughnuts and how terrified I was of frying them.  After the third iteration I feel like an old pro.

The dough for these doughnuts is the same as for the last two sets (vanilla-sugared doughnuts and chocolate-glazed diplomats) so I didn't take any more photos for you.  Sorry.

Everyone of these fried up perfectly!  No burning, no doughy centers.  Yeah for me!

These doughnuts were filled with the cherry jam we talked about a few days ago.  As far as jams go, the cherry was pretty good.  I've never had cherry jam or jelly before (since I don't actually like or eat it) and it wasn't bad.  What I did NOT like is that it looks like my doughnuts have been stabbed and are bleeding out.  The jam was probably a little too thin so it struggled to stay inside the doughnuts.

After filling the doughnuts with cherry jam, they get topped with sweetened whipped cream and a cherry on top.  Let's be clear that it was not my idea to pipe the whipped cream on top like this.  I was trying to match the photo in the cookbook (and did a pretty darn good job) but this is completely impractical.  You can't possibly eat this without snorting a bunch of whipped cream up your nose because you're laughing at the fact that you tried to pick it up and eat it and your husband is watching you because he knows exactly what is going to happen.  Snorting stuff up your nose hurts - don't do it.

My doughnut verdict is that I liked the vanilla-sugared doughnuts the best - to be specific I liked the doughnut holes.  Yes, they're simple, but you really get to appreciate the flavor and texture of the dough without getting distracted by miscellaneous creams and jams.

Enjoy!
Julie

Baking Bouchon - Recipe 54 & 55: Olive Oil Cake & Parfaits

Did you hear me gasp?  I just realized that I skipped over a cake in the cookbook and went straight from Coffee Cakes to Olive Oil Cake.  Normally, this is not a big deal but I skipped RUM cake.  I'm pretty sure I need to rectify this pronto.

I'm combining the post for the Olive Oil Cake and the Parfaits because the cake itself is awfully simple and I'm not sure I'd be able to talk about it long enough to make a whole post on it.  Plus, the whole reason it's in the book is to make the parfaits.

This cake is a traditional butter cake with the butter replaced with olive oil.  Otherwise it's pretty simple - flour, baking powder, salt, eggs, sugar & milk which get baked in a quarter sheet pan.  You don't even have to refrigerate the batter!!!  Of course, once you bake it you have to freeze the cake in order to cut it out to make the parfaits.  You can't have everything.

As simple as the cake is, there are a lot of components to the parfait.

1.  Raspberry Jam

2.  Olive Oil Cake

3.  Strawberries

4.  Pastry Cream

5.  Buttercream (which gets combined with the pastry cream)

6.  Creme Fraiche (which I didn't have and substituted Plain Greek Yogurt)

These suckers are really pretty!  I made two of these in the original size for CA and I to enjoy for dessert.  As you know, I give away most of my baked goods and I had a hard time figuring out how to dispense of these.

The obvious choice was mini parfaits, but I wasn't sure how to package them the until I remembered that I had a bunch of disposable plastic shot glasses which someone brought to a party we threw a couple of years ago with a bottle of Jagermeister (don't ask).  They were the PERFECT!

CA was totally skeptical and kind of grumpy when I told him he was taking these to work.  He thought people would think they were weird and not eat them.  However, I made him take them anyway and also sent in plastic spoons to make it easier for his coworkers to enjoy them.  The feedback was unanimous - they loved them!  A couple of people commented that they were one of the best things he's ever brought in to share.

I agree that they were pretty awesome and would definitely make them again.  Of all things, I really liked the raspberry jam in the bottom of the cup.  It was nice and tart and balanced out all the cake and sweet pastry cream.

Enjoy!
Julie

Baking Bouchon - Recipe 53: Raspberry & Cherry Jam

I've been singing more Prince today that I did in December of 1998.  Are we still calling him Prince?  I read enough people.com to know what to call Diddy these days - but they don't talk about the artist formerly known as that symbol often enough for me to know what we're calling him.

Whatever his name is these days, I've been singing "Raspberry Puree" all day.  Yes, I'm well aware that the actual song is about a hat, not a fruit puree but it works so well that I've traded it in.

I've used this raspberry jam recipe before but the cherry jam is new.  I was supposed to use the raspberry jam when I made Palmiers back in March.  It was early in my experience with this cookbook and I had some issues (not with the jam - it was the stinkin' puff pastry).  I did think the jam was too sweet so I changed up my approach this time.

These jam recipes call for commercially packaged fruit puree which I still haven't been able to find.  Last time I used fresh fruit and cooked it with sugar to re-create the packaged puree.  Unfortunately, there were no fresh cherries in the store and the raspberries were really expensive so I opted for frozen fruit this time.  Also, instead of cooking it with sugar, I simply defrosted it and whizzed it around in my blender. 

Not adding the extra sugar solved the problem I had last time with the jam which is that it was too sweet.  The pureed fruit is then cooked with sugar and fruit pectin to gel it all together.

I think both jams turned out really well - even considering that I don't particularly like jelly or jam or fruit outside of its natural state.  I wish they were a little bit thicker (I think I should have cooked them a few minutes longer), but I can deal with that.  Unless there's a big fruit sale going on, I will definitely use frozen fruit again instead of fresh.  I love that they're not so sickly sweet especially considering where they're going to end up.  Unfortunately for you, you have to wait for tomorrow and Thursday to figure out how they get used.  I promise you - it's delicious!

Enjoy!
Julie

PS - I apologize that the song is stuck in your head now too.