Wednesday, December 9, 2009

FINANCIER-STYLE VANILLA BEAN POUND CAKES: A gift from my kitchen!

December is the month of giving, and there is nothing better than a gift that you make by yourself ^ ^. Because the gift from the kitchen always make the people smile, so this one will be great for giving too.

This recipe is very easy to make and it's a great way to use the egg white (if you have a lot of it in the fridge like me, haha, because I often make the ice cream so I love to find the recipe that use only egg white).
This little cake is the composition of delicious ingredients, vanilla bean and butter (well, a lot of it ^ ^), the fragrance of the cake can fill your kitchen when baking. The texture of the cake is soft and moist but it's quite different from the traditional financier because the cake doesn't contain the almond powder.
If you don't have the same mold, don't let it be the problem, you can use other kind of mold like mini muffin or other miniature mold too. If using metal mold be sure to butter and flour the molds well, because the finish cake can be very sticky.
I use the recipe from: ......................(this book is very good, I think I will show you the inside of the book real soon, ^ ^).

I really fall in love with this book, and highly recommend that if you love to bake cake this is the one that you should have ^ ^. I have to admit that I love it more than her other book : ............. because it's more beautiful and modern (actually both of them are good, the old one has more detail on the ingredients and the science more than the new one, so it's good for basic knowledge). And most of the recipe comes with a beautiful picture too.

I believe that anyone who receive this gift should be happy, imagine when you open the box that full of delicious, and fragrance cakes, even you will have a smile on your face too.



FINANCIER-STYLE VANILLA BEAN POUND CAKES
MAKES: 10


BAKING TIME: 18to 20 minutes
½ vanilla bean
75g superfine sugar
3 (90g) large egg whites, at room temperature
1½ tablespoons milk
¾ tsp pure vanilla extract
75g cake flour
3/8tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
85 g unsalted butter

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT Financier mold(s), preferably silicone, 8x3x3 cm, set it on a wire rack and then on a baking sheet. Pastry bag fitted with a ¼-inch round pastry tube (optional)
PREHEAT THE OVEN Twenty minutes or more before baking, set an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C.


MIX THE VANILLA BEAN WITH THE SUGAR With a small sharp knife split the vanilla bean lengthwise in half.
In a medium bowl, scrape the vanilla seeds from the vanilla bean into the sugar and rub them in with your fingers. Remove the vanilla pod and reserve for future use. In a food processor, process the vanilla seeds and sugar until the seeds are evenly distributed throughout the sugar.


MIX THE LIQUID INGREDIENTS In a medium bowl, whisk the egg whites, milk, and vanilla extract just until lightly combined.


MAKE THE BATTER In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, mix the vanilla sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and half the egg mixture. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Raise the speed to medium and beat for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Starting on medium-low speed, gradually add the remaining egg mixture in two parts, beating on medium speed for 20 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Don’t be concerned if the batter seems to curdle. It is very high in butter and will bake out to a fine, even crumb.


FILL THE MOLDS Scrape the batter into a pastry bag, if using, or freezer-weight resalable plastic bag with one corner cut. (Alternatively, you can spoon the batter into the molds, but piping is quicker.) Pipe the batter into the cavities, filling them about three-quarters full (1 ounce/32 grams in each).
BAKE THE FINANCIERS Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the financiers spring back when pressed lightly in the centers. The financiers should start to shrink from the sides of the pan only after removal from the oven.
COOL AND UNMOLD THE CAKES: Let the financiers cool completely in the silicone molds on a wire rack before unmolding. To unmold, push out each financier with your finger pressed against the bottom of the mold. If using a metal mold, set it on a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes before unmolding. Run a small metal spatula between the sides of the molds and the financiers, pressing firmly against the molds. Invert them onto a wire rack and reinvert them onto another rack. Cool completely. The financiers keep, wrapped airtight in plastic wrap in an airtight container, for 3 days at room temperature or for 5 days refrigerated.

FINANCIER-STYLE VANILLA BEAN POUND CAKES: A gift from my kitchen!

Monday, December 7, 2009

Coffee Crunch Cookies: Easy cookie for coffee lover!

Coffee is the favorite flavor for my family member, you can see from my blog that there are a lot of sweet with a coffee flavor.
And this cookie is one of them, the combination of nut and the coffee turn into a delicious cookie.

First I made this cookie when I don't want to eat an egg, so I just browsed through the book:  It looks like a textbook than a cookbook, with a lot of recipes (but some of them are look alike, haha) anyway this book will give you a wide range of cookie recipes, and all of them have a picture to show you how they will be like.

This cookie is very easy to make. Because there is no egg in this cookie so the texture of the cookie is more crumbly not cake like.
This cookie is best served with a cup of milk or coffee, because when eating together the cookie will melt by the milk and turn into delicious flavor in your mouth.It's better to use the instance coffee with a small granule or ground it before adding it into the flour mixture.


Coffee Crunch Cookies
Makes 13-15 cookies


125g
All purpose flour
½ tsp
Baking powder
¼ tsp
Salt
125g
Unsalted butter
50g
Granulated sugar
70g
Walnuts
2tsp
Instant coffee granules
1-2 tbsp
Milk

Preheat the oven to 190°C
Line sheet pans with parchment.

Coarsely chop the walnut, and set aside.

Sift the flour, baking powder, instant coffee granules and salt together, set aside.
Beat the butter and sugar together until light, and pour the flour mixture and walnut into the butter mixture. Add the milk and mix well.
Use a 2-ounce self-releasing ice-cream scoop to measure out the cookie dough.

Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Coffee Crunch Cookies: Easy cookie for coffee lover!

Friday, December 4, 2009

Macarons de poivre et saumon fumé: Pepper macarons with smoked salmon

December is a month of parties, or you can say a lot of ^ ^. So, the recipe for this month has to be great for party too. I had made a sweet macarons before, but I think there will be great to try the salée variety too.

I choose to make the pepper and salt macaron from the idea that the pepper and salt will bring the sweet macaron the hot and salty flavor.

I made 3 batches of it, the first because I want to test the recipe, I made only half the recipe but used the water for the full recipe, you can guess the result, >*<. My macaron turn out to be a cracking meringue haha! For the second time, I made a mistake from the fact that when sprinkle the salt over the macaron before letting it dry, the salt absorb the water from the air and turn the surface of the macaron into the moon surface, -*-. I don't know why I always have all this silly problem. I have a suggestion for anyone who have a problem of cracking macaron, you have to remember that the key for baking the macaron is the top of the macaron should dry and firm before the bottom of the macaron is cooked. So, when the top is dry, it won't crack but the bottom still wet and the air can escape from the bottom and create the epi (or the skirt). Many books told to use the heavy pan or double layer it, and I think it's good idea, but if you have another problem like the macaron undercooked after using the double pan (may be your pan is very heavy like me, haha), just take the second pan out after baking for 3-4 minutes. This macaron is not kept well, because the salt will absorb the water from the air and make the macaron wet.


Pepper macarons with smoked salmon
Makes about 30



Macaron

For the macaron base

75 g
almond powder
75 g
icing sugar
30 g
egg whites

Freshly grounded black pepper

Salt for sprinkle
For Italian Meringue

75 g
caster sugar
30 g
water
30 g
egg whites




Salmon cream cheese filling



200 g
Cream cheese
1 tsp
Lemon juice
1 tsp
Dill (chopped)
1/2 tsp
Lemon zest

Freshly grounded black pepper

Salt
15 g
Smoked salmon


Preheat the oven to 140°C.
Sift together almond powder and icing sugar into a bowl, put egg white into the bowl. Use a pastry scrap to bring everything together. Set aside.

Make the Italian meringue:


In a sauce pan, put the sugar and water and bring to boil over medium low heat.
When the syrup reaches 100°C, start whisking the egg whites.
The syrup is ready when it reaches 110°C; pour it over the egg whites and continue whisking until cold.

Mix together the base and Italian meringue.
The mixture should be softer and very glossy, a little stiffer then cake batter.

Spoon mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm nozzle. Pipe or spoon mixture into 3 cm rounds onto baking paper-lined (or Silpat) oven trays. When you’ve pipe out all the macarons lift each baking sheet with both hands and then bang it down on the counter (you need to get the air out of the batter). Sprinkle the macaron with the black pepper. Let the macarons rest for 1 hour, and sprinkle with the salt before baking.

Bake for 9 minutes to 15 minutes depend on your oven. Remove from oven and cool on trays. Slide a knife under each macaron to release.

Make the filling:

Beat everything together except the salmon.
Pipe the filling into the macorons, place the salmon and sandwich macarons together.
The macoron is ready!



Macarons de poivre et saumon fumé: Pepper macarons with smoked salmon

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