Thursday, May 20, 2010
Summer is finally here! Well, supposedly. Finals are through, school is out, and I'm still alive. However, this temperamental Bay Area weather indicates anything but. Add in the fact that few other colleges let out this early and that I started working a full time job two days after my vacation started and you've got the perfect formula for the anti-summer.
The only way I could convince myself otherwise was to make key lime pie. I few months earlier I spotted bags of key limes being sold at Food Max and I took this as a sign that it was finally time to try my hand at this iconic dessert. Of course, this was in the dead of winter and on top of being buried in weekly exams and hospital clinical days, I was still craving the comfort of warm, cozy baked goods.
Only a few minutes into my undertaking I realized that it was a good idea that I had decided to wait until my vacation to try this recipe. Although I halved the recipe and needed only half a cup of key lime juice, it took over thirty minutes just to squeeze out enough juice from those tiny little buggers and they left my fingers stinging. Fortunately for me, the rest of the recipe is cake, well you know what I mean. Some people bake their key lime pies with zest in the filling, which I'm sure adds even more delightful tartness. However, I just couldn't bring myself to blemish the pristine, marble-like custard. Instead I opted to add zest to the graham cracker crust, which I enjoyed just as much. The bright, green flecks of zest added just the right amount of zing and quirk to the pie. Key lime pie is notorious for being deceivingly light, yet calorie laden so I spared myself a fraction of the guilt by making it in tart form. I'll post the amounts that I used and if you'd like to make a full size pie you could easily double the ingredients--note though that you might end up with a little more filling than you need, but I'm sure you can find something to do with that.
Key Lime Pie (adapted from Allrecipes.com)
makes one 8-inch tart
4 egg yolks, beaten
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup key lime juice
1 cup finely ground graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
zest of a few key limes
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, butter, and zest until well blended. Press mixture into an 8-inch tart plate.
Combine the egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk and lime juice. Mix well and pour into unbaked graham cracker shell.
Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Allow to cool and refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight before serving.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
The only thing that makes a great recipe better is when it carries over into another great recipe. This greatness is applicable to the Apple Frangipane Tart that graced my Christmas dessert spread. Case in point, Raspberry Bakewell Tartelettes made from the irresistibly fragrant vanilla bean frangipane left over from the apple tart. I've wanted to make a Bakewell tart ever since the Daring Bakers flooded Tastespotting with their beautiful tarts (er, puddings?) and I finally got my chance, albeit months later. But more importantly, none the less delicious. This was also a chance to use the precious raspberry preserves I brought back with me from my recent trip to Paris that I feared I treasured so much that I could never get myself to use it. Worth it? Yes indeed.
Makes one 23cm (9” tart)
225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water
Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.
Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.
Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes
Assembling the tart:
Preheat oven to 200C/400F.
Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish.
The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.
When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
I have been dying to try my hand at frangipane ever since I purchased almond meal from the Ferry Building in San Francisco in the middle of autumn. When I started planning my Christmas baking lineup I was faced with the difficulty of creating desserts that would not only satisfy my ambitions as a baker but would also be accessible to people of different ages, with tastes ranging from simple to adventurous. As suggestions started pouring in, I started to see that apple would have to make some sort of appearance. But I was determined to present it in a not so traditional way. That's when an apple frangipane tart came to mind and I was instantly sold on the idea, the days approaching Christmas Eve were filled with images and days dreams of a beautiful, seemingly intricate, yet deceptively simple tart in bloom. If dessert is my life, would it be appropriate to say that, in my opinion, dessert (life) should imitate art?
1/2 cup (100 gr) granulated sugar
1 cup (100 gr) ground almond
seeds from one vanilla bean or 2 teaspoons vanilla paste or extract
2 eggs
1/4 cup (60gr) heavy cream
Place the butter, sugar, almond powder, vanilla bean seeds and the eggs in a large bowl and whisk until smooth (can also be done in a food processor). Add the cream but stir in it instead of whisking not to emulsify it or it will rise while baking. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Those mornings when I wake up with a craving for something sweet and ample time to make something from scratch are the bane of my existence. The fact that I have a refrigerator full of fresh strawberries just waiting for new, yummy ways to be enjoyed only amplifies the danger. I'm catching up a little late with the discovery of lemon curd, but ever since I got my hands on some a few weeks ago, I can't get enough of the stuff. On crepes, on cake, there's no possible vessel for lemon curd that I won't try...so I thought to myself, why not a galette? I've always wanted to try my hand at the simple, free-form pastry and I finally found the perfect opportunity. The tart sweetness of the strawberries and lemon helped balance the soft, buttery crust.
Strawberry-Lemon Curd Galette
Pate Sucree
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 stick butter
2-4 tablespoons ice water
Mix the flour and sugar in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. With the motor running, add the ice water; process only enough to moisten the dough and have it just come together. Dump the dough out onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to one hour.
Galletes
1 pate sucree
lemon curd
Strawberries, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 tablespoon honey
1-2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk or water for egg wash
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Mix the strawberries, cornstarch, honey, and lemon juice in a bowl and set aside.
Roll out the crust to about 1/4 inch thick and about 8 inches in diameter. Top with a few tablespoons of lemon curd. Placed the strawberries on top of the curd in an even layer, leaving a one inch ring around. Fold the edges of dough over the strawberries. Brush the dough with the egg wash and bake for 20-25 minutes until the crust is browned and the center is bubbling.
.jpg)