I've just finished Pierre Hermé's éclairs for the monthly daring bakers challenge!
It was my first DB challenge and I'm over-excited about all this!
As I have Pierre Hermé's book that features this recipe, I've followed the original PH's recipe instead of that on Dorie Greenspan's book.
After seeing lots of images from other participants, now it's time to share mine...






Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Éclairs
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• Cream Puff Dough (see below for recipe), fresh and still warm

1) Preheat your oven to 190 degrees C. Divide the oven into thirds by
positioning the racks in the upper and lower half of the oven. Line two baking sheets with
waxed or parchment paper.

2) Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 1,4 cm plain tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough.
Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long, about 11 cm chubby fingers.
Leave about 5 cm space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff.
The dough should give you enough to pipe 20-24 éclairs.

3) Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes, slip the
handle of a wooden spoon into the door to keep in ajar. When the éclairs have been in the
oven for a total of 12 minutes, rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Continue
baking for a further 8 minutes or until the éclairs are puffed, golden and firm. The total baking
time should be approximately 20 minutes.

Notes:
1) The éclairs can be kept in a cool, dry place for several hours before filling.

Assembling the éclairs:

• Chocolate glaze (see below for recipe)
• Chocolate pastry cream (see below for recipe)

1) Slice the éclairs horizontally, using a serrated knife and a gently sawing motion. Set aside the
bottoms and place the tops on a rack over a piece of parchment paper.

2) The glaze should be barely warm to the touch (between 35 – 40 degrees C, as measured on an instant read thermometer). Spread the glaze over the tops of
the éclairs using a metal icing spatula. Allow the tops to set and in the meantime fill the
bottoms with the pastry cream.

3) Pipe or spoon the pastry cream into the bottoms of the éclairs. Make sure you fill the bottoms
with enough cream to mound above the pastry. Place the glazed tops onto the pastry cream
and wriggle gently to settle them.

Notes:
1) If you have chilled your chocolate glaze, reheat by placing it in a bowl over simmering water,
stirring it gently with a wooden spoon. Do not stir too vigorously as you do not want to create
bubbles.

2) The éclairs should be served as soon as they have been filled.

Pierre Hermé’s Cream Puff Dough
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

125g whole milk
125g water
115g unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
140g all-purpose flour
5 large eggs, at room temperature

1) In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to the
boil.

2) Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium
and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together very
quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. You
need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough
will be very soft and smooth.

3) Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using your
handmixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time,
beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough.
You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again do
not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again by the time you
have added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it
should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.

4) The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs as directed above.

Notes:
1) Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately.

2) You can pipe the dough and the freeze it. Simply pipe the dough onto parchment-lined baking
sheets and slide the sheets into the freezer. Once the dough is completely frozen, transfer the
piped shapes into freezer bags. They can be kept in the freezer for up to a month.

Chocolate Pastry Cream
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé

500g whole milk
4 large egg yolks
75g sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted
200g bittersweet chocolate, preferably Velrhona Guanaja, melted
40g unsalted butter, at room temperature

1) In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy‐bottomed saucepan.

2) Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture.Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.

3) Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat).Stir in the melted chocolate and then remove the pan from the heat.

4) Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice‐water bath to stop the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it remains smooth.

5) Once the cream has reached a temperature of 140 F remove from the ice‐water bath and stir in the butter in three or four installments. Return the cream to the ice‐water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completely cooled. The cream is now ready to use or store in the fridge.

Notes:

1) The pastry cream can be made 2‐3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.

2) In order to avoid a skin forming on the pastry cream, cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the cream.

3) Tempering the eggs raises the temperature of the eggs slowly so that they do not scramble.

Chocolate Glaze
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 300g)

80g heavy cream
100g bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
20g unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature
110 g Chocolate Sauce (recipe below), warm or at room temperature

1)In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and slowly begin to add the chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.

2) Stirring gently, stir in the butter, piece by piece followed by the chocolate sauce.

Notes:
1) If the chocolate glaze is too cool (i.e. not liquid enough) you may heat it briefly
 in the microwave or over a double boiler. A double boiler is basically a bowl sitting over (not touching) simmering water.

2) It is best to glaze the eclairs after the glaze is made, but if you are pressed for time, you can make the glaze a couple days ahead of time, store it in the fridge and bring it up to the proper temperature (95 to 104 F) when ready to glaze.

Chocolate Sauce
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 525 g)


130 g bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
250 g water
125 g crème fraîche, or heavy cream
70 g sugar

1) Place all the ingredients into a heavy‐bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure to stir constantly. Then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens.

2) It may take 10‐15 minutes for the sauce to thicken, but you will know when it is done when it coats the back of your spoon.

Notes:
1) You can make this sauce ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for two weeks. Reheat the sauce in a microwave oven or a double boiler before using.
2) This sauce is also great for cakes, ice-cream and tarts.





My changes:

Before I bake the éclairs, I've brushed them with a mixture of egg yolk and water.
I've made a caramel custard with dark chocolate and another one with white chocolate.
Instead of spreading the glaze over the tops of the éclairs using a metal spatula i've preferred to put the éclairs upside down into the glaze.


Caramel custard:

300 ml cream
600 ml milk
200 g sugar
80 g cornstarch
3 egg yolks

In a bowl mix together the egg yolks, cornstarch and a bit of milk (enough to dissolve the mixture).
In a saucepan prepare a caramel with the sugar sprinkled with water.
Slowly add milk and cream and bring to boil.
Pour the milk into the egg mixture stirring constantly.
Place the pan over the heat again and stir constantly to thick (without boiling).

I've divided the custard in two equal parts. I've added 80 g of dark chocolate to one of them and 240 g of white chocolate to the another.

While the custard is still hot, I've added the chopped chocolate and stirred well until perfectly combined.

Labels: caramel, daring bakers, eclairs, recipes, white chocolate

Typically from Palma de Mallorca, cuartos are served with hot chocolate or a cup of sorbet.
Tender, light and soft, directly from my oven...






Cuartos

serves 18:
12 eggs
200 g icing sugar
200 g cornstarch

Pre-heat the oven to 180º C.
Prepare small paper boxes (10x6x3 cms).
Whisk the egg yolks with sugar until it doubles its size.
Add the whipped egg whites and the sieved cornstarch.
Pour the batter into the paper moulds.
In a baking sheet bake for 12 minutes.
Remove from oven and hit with the baking sheet on a table to avoid wrinkles on the surface.
Sprinkle with icing sugar.

Note: you can see a picture sequence of the process of making the little paper boxes here.

Labels: cakes, recipes

Crepes wake up… and washed by the morning light the tablecloth stretches itself over the table.






Crepes

Serves 20:

140 g wheat flour
2 eggs
200 ml water
200 ml milk
30 g melted butter
25 g sugar
a pinch of salt
Vanilla

Blend everything until smooth, strain if necessary.
Dip a piece of paper towel in melted butter and use to brush base of a 16cm non-stick crepe pan over medium heat.
When hot, pour in just enough batter to cover the base.
Cook on both sides until golden brown.


Serve with jam, fruit, custard, ice-cream, cheese, chocolate, caramel...

Labels: crepes, recipes

Labels: cakes, chocolate, recipes

Yesterday I thought it would be the end of Augusts' recipes.
I've washed so well ("extensively well") my scale that it started to hallucinate with very strange reads... I even thought to write them down as a secret revelation of some lost recipe, but between ounces and grams at full speed I thought it was better to take it to an exorcism and I've put the hairdryer in action.
Without any visible results and with my blown budget I couldn't afford another till next month...
Early this morning it was alive... and with an enormous happiness and a soft kiss we're back to hard work!




Banana rolls with mango custard

8 rolls (12 cms diameter):
Brick pastry
2 bananas
60 g sugar
12 g butter
Rum

Mango custard:
300 g cream
200 g milk
5 egg yolks
100 g sugar
175 g mango pulp, sieved

To the custard:
In a bowl mix egg yolks, sugar and enough milk to combine all the ingredients.
Bring the remaining milk and cream to boil and pour over the egg yolks mixture stirring constantly.
Sieve and bring to low heat (without boiling) to cook the egg yolks and the custard stays at the back of a spoon.
Remove from heat and add the pulp.
Refrigerate.

Prepare a caramel with the sugar and butter.
Sauté sliced banana.
Add rum to flambé.
Remove from heat.
With a spoon place the banana on a corner end of the brick pastry. Fold bottom brick pastry over filling, fold in sides, brush the end part with a thick mixture of water and flour and roll over to enclose its contents.
Deep-fry until crisp and golden.
Serve hot with cold custard.

To make this small rolls I've cutted 12 cms circles of brick pastry.
I've sprinkled the custard with some mango pulp.

Labels: banana, brick pastry, caramel, custard, mango, recipes, rum

"O prazer de nos elogiarmos a nós próprios..."*

Fernando Pessoa, O Livro do Desassossego


... Today I celebrate!!


*["free" translation: "The self-appraisal's pleasure..."]

Sachertorte

Serves 10-12:

200 g 70% dark chocolate, chopped
125 g butter
8 egg yolks
10 egg whites
16 g vanilla sugar
120 g caster sugar
125 g wheat flour
200 g apricot jam
100 g apricots, diced

Prepare the cake the day before:

Pre-heat the oven to 180º C.
Grease a pan (28 cms diameter).
Melt the chopped chocolate in a double boiler.
In a pan melt the butter in low heat.
Add the butter to the chocolate stirring gently.
Add the egg yolks stirring constantly.
Whip the egg whites and the sugars until the mixture form firm peaks (meringue).
Seive the flour.
Add 1/3 of the meringue to the chocolate mixture.
Gradually and gently fold the flour.
Add the remaining meringue.
Pour the mixture into the pan.
Bake for 40 minutes
Let cake cool a few minutes then carefully remove onto a cake plate and set aside for one day.

Chocolate glaze

Chocolate sauce:

50 g 70% dark chocolate, chopped
100 ml water
30 g caster sugar
50 ml heavy cream

Chocolate icing:

100 g 70% dark chocolate, chopped
160 ml cream
40 g de butter, softened

Start with the chocolate sauce:

In a pan bring to boil in low heat the chocolate, sugar and cream.
Stir constantly until it gets creamy
Remove from heat and set aside.

To make the chocolate icing:

Bring the cream to boil.
Pour the cream over the chocolate, stirring gently in an outward movement.
Let it cool down for a couple of minutes and add the softened butter, stirring as less as possible.

Fold the chocolate sauce into the icing.

Carefully cut the cake twice making three layers.
Whisk the jam and bring to boil.
Spread the jam between layers and add the apricot.
While the glaze is still slightly warm glaze the cake by gently pouring and spreading on the top and sides.
Refrigerate for 3 hours.
Keep the cake for 2 hours at room temperature before serving.

Serve with semi whipped cream, chocolate glaze, apricot jam and chocolate.

Note: I had an hard time trying to figure out the english terms for "chocolate sauce" and "chocolate icing" (frosting?)... If this doesn't sounds correct please leave me a comment or send me an e-mail. Thank you!

Labels: apricot, chocolate, glaze, recipes, sachertorte

Between the green leaves of our tree on the window, light fills the house in small living shadows...
Tea and cake get involved in the complicity of a warm kiss.

Sour cream streusel cake

Serves 8:

Cake:

4 egg yolks
1,5 dl sour cream
175 g melted butter (at room temperature)
200 g wheat flour
200 g sugar
1 ts. baking powder
1 ts. baking soda
vanilla
salt

Streusel:

100 g brown sugar
25 g sugar
63 g walnuts
63 g hazelnuts
Cinnamon powder
65 g wheat flour
60 g butter, diced
1 apple, diced

Pre-heat the oven to 180º C.

Streusel:

Chop the nuts and combine with brown sugar and cinnamon.
Combine flour and butter with your hand until crumbly.
Add half of the nuts mixture.
Set aside the other half.

Cake:

Mix the egg yolks with 1/4 of sour cream and vanilla. Set aside.
Combine together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Add melted butter and stir well until it gets spongy and creamy.
Combine with the egg yolks mixture.

Pour half of the batter on the pie pan.
Spread the sugar mixture, nuts and apple on top.
Pour the remaining batter.
Finish with the streusel.

Bake for 1 hour, covering the cake with aluminum foil at 45 minutes.


Serve with more streusel, fruit or nuts.

Labels: brunch, nuts, recipes, sour cream

Today I had my first dinner in two days... The raviolis tasted like the exhaustion of the culinary school days' when my back and my legs asked for rest.
On the other hand, my refrigerator looks like a true patisserie full of desserts and as much as I try, they seem to last forever... I even lost 2 pounds... wasn't supposed that all these things had sugar on them? wasn't I supposed to gain weight?
I'm so excited that I don't have any time to think about it:

"- It's a miracle!"

Passion fruit cold soufflé

Serves 4:

200 ml passion fruit pulp, seived
5 eggs
5 gelatin sheets
350 ml cream
130 g caster sugar


Cut 4 strips of aluminum foil with a sufficient length to cover the perimeter of the ramekins.
Put the foil around the ramekins and tie with a string.
Grease the ramekins with vegetal oil and sprinkle with caster sugar.
Hydrate the gelatin with some pulp.
Whisk the egg yolks with sugar until the mixture gets white and thick.
Heat the pulp with the gelatin, until it dissolves.
Add the gelatin to the egg mixture, stirring constantly and the remaining passion fruit pulp.
Refrigerate to slightly thicken the mixture (10 minutes).
Combine with the semi whipped cream, then with the whipped egg whites.
Pour the mixture into the ramekins and refrigerate ( hours minimum).
Sprinkle with powdered rose sugar before serving.

Labels: cold souffle, passion fruit, recipes

Mango and coconut flognarde.

Serves 6-8:

80 g sugar
60 g flour
15 g butter
250 ml coconut milk
3 eggs
400 g mango, diced
Icing sugar to sprinkle

Pre-heat the oven to 180º C.
Grease with melted butter a pie pan (22 cms diameter).
Put the mango on the pan.
Combine flour and sugar while adding the coconut milk and melted butter, stirring until mixture is uniform.
Pour the batter over the mango.
Bake for 45 minutes.

Serve warm and sprinkled with icing sugar.

Flognarde is a variation of the typical french clafoutis.

The difference is on the kind of fruit used:
- The clafoutis is made exclusively with cherries;
- The flognard is made with any other kind of fruit.

Labels: coconut, mango, recipes

Elegantly dressed... ceremoniously eccentric...
My exquisite wish:

- Delicious blini with the taste of the best "caviar"...





Blinis

Serves 8:

3 egg yolks
½ tbsp olive oil
3 dl warm milk
20 g yeast
2 g salt
75 g melted butter
250 g AP flour
3 egg whites
6 tbsp sugar

Dissolve yeast with warm milk.
In the mixer, with the dough hook attached, mix the flour with egg yolks, olive oil, warm milk, salt, butter and at last the previously dissolved yeast.
Whisk well until you have a thick batter, then cover the bowl with a clean cloth and leave it in a warm place for about 1 hour.
Whisk up the egg whites until they form stiff peaks and add the sugar.
Gently fold the meringue into the batter.
Cover with the cloth again and leave as before for another hour.
In a heavy-based pan in low heat with a bit of melted butter pour 1 tbsp of batter and let the blinis get golden brown on both sides.

…the first one usually doesn't come up very well!

There are special blini pans that makes this process a lot easier, but a normal pan is also pretty good for this.

Traditionally, this russian "pancakes" are served with crème fraîche and caviar or smoked salmon. These I serve with red currants and sweetened greek youghurt.

Labels: greek youghurt, recipes, red currants

Labels: caramel, grapefruit, mint, orange, recipes

A spirals' coreography cheers the small meringue discs.
At the oven's compass, chocolate comes for a solo.
Dacquoise stands up between the ganache and the play ends with an hungry standing ovation…




Hazelnut Dacquoise with chocolate


To make 22 meringue circles:

215 g skinned hazelnuts: 80 g in small pieces + 135 g powdered
150 g Icing sugar
5 egg whites
50 g extrafine sugar
Icing sugar to sprinkle


Pre-heat the oven to 170º C.
Combine icing sugar with the powdered nuts and seive.
Whip the egg whites and add sugar until the whites form firm peaks.
Slowly fold the nut mixture into the whites with a rubber spatula until thoroughly combined.
Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a small plain round tip.
Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
Pipe the meringue on the prepared pan into spirals starting at the center of each circle (12 cms diameter).
Sprinkle the hazelnuts in small pieces over the meringue circles.
Sprinkle with icing sugar and wait 10 minutes. Repeat this process and wait 10 minutes more.
Bake the dacquoises until they're golden and firm (20 minutes).
Cool on racks.



Chocolate ganache

To make 320 g:
150 g butter
160 g 70% dark chocolate, chopped
110 ml whole milk

Soften the butter with a fork until it gets creamy. Set aside.
Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl.
Bring the milk to boil over medium heat.
Slowly pour the milk over the chocolate and gently stir in circles.
When the mixture is below 60ºC add the butter.
Stir gently and as little as possible to keep the soft texture.
Let it cool until it gets a creamy texture.
Transfer the ganache to a pastry bag fitted with a small plain round tip.


To assemble:

Place one meringue circle hazelnuts-up and make small ganache balls next to the edge. Top with another meringue circle.
Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Sprinkle with icing sugar to serve.

Labels: chocolate, dacquoise, hazelnuts, meringue, recipes

While on my way from bed to the kitchen I mix everything, I go, went, return... It's Sunday's breakfast.

Labels: bread, recipes, spices

A nostalgic feeling comes from the west mixed with the oriental cinnamon scent.
The confort of a familiar easy flavour in the total acceptance of the senses.
This way I fly home. From my kitchen I conquer the world...

Labels: cinnamon, lecithin, portuguese desserts, recipes, rice pudding

Two seats, white tablecloth, palmiers and a cup of coffee, in a humble invitation to a warm conversation.



Palmiers

Puff pastry
Superfine sugar
Icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
Slightly moist a parchment paper sheet.
Unfold or unroll the pastry to make a 15x25cms rectangle.
Sprinkle some sugar on both sides of the pastry. Roll it slightly to help sugar adhere to the pastry.
Starting at one large side of the rectangle, roll the pastry toward the center of the sheet, stopping at the middle. Repeat with the opposite large end, so the rolls meet.
Refrigerate to stiff pastry.
Cut into half-centimeter-thick slices and place flat on a baking sheet lined with the moist parchment paper.
Press with thumb each of the palmiers.
Sprinkle generously with icing sugar.
Bake until golden and puffed (8 minutes).

Labels: puff pastry, recipes

Strawberries, clouds and yoghurt in deep blue: the lightness of a far away horizon.




Strawberry and youghurt mousse

Serves 8:

250 g strawberry pulp
250 g yoghurt
120 g caster sugar
½ l semi whipped cream
4 gelatin sheets

Hydrate the gelatin.
Heat a portion of the pulp to dissolve the gelatin.
Add the remaining pulp, yoghurt and sugar.
Mix with cream.
Refrigerate.

Serve with strawberries and a strawberry coulis.

Labels: mousse, recipes, strawberries, youghurt

Petite Tatin…
Petit plaisir…
Petit four...
Gran délice!...




Tarte Tatin

serves 10:

10 pears (1,5 kg)
200 g sugar
100 g butter
½ kg puff pastry


Pre heat oven to 200ºC.
Peel and cut the pears as desired. Set aside.
In a pan, cook together butter and sugar at med-high until it turns into a brown caramel.
Add the cut pears, filling any holes as much as possible.
Roll the puff pastry and cut a disc slightly larger than the pan.
Cover the pears with the pastry folding in inside the pan.
Cook for 30-40 minutes.
Un-mold while the pie is still hot.
Serve with ice cream, cream or whipped cream with a little bit of sugar.

Labels: caramel, pear, puff pastry, recipes

Italy returns to her seat for dessert... this time with Malevich, Anna Wright and blackberries.
The suprematism in only one spoon turned everything abstract.





Panna Cotta

serves 10:
250 ml milk
250 ml cream
70 g sugar
1 vanilla bean
2,5 gelatin sheets

Grease 10 individual moulds with oil.
In a pan, stir together milk and cream, setting aside a small portion to hydrate the gelatin.
Add sugar and vanilla.
Bring to boil and remove from heat.
Dissolve the gelatin in the hot mixture.
Pour into individual moulds.
When cool, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight before serving.

Unmould carefully.

Blackberry jelly:
250 g balckberries
70 g sugar

Mash berries and strain through cheesecloth, wire mesh strainer or seive.
Add sugar and bring to boil in low heat.

Labels: blackberries, cream, jelly, recipes, vanilla

Due to the enormous amount of english speaking visitors of the past week I'm currently working really really hard on the english version of my blog. I guess it will take a couple of days until I can manage to set this up...

If you're interested please feel free to send me an e-mail and I'll drop you a line as soon as this is finished!

Thank you!

Labels: web