Daring Baker - January 2013:Gevulde Speculaas

Francijn of Koken in de Brouwerij was our January 2013 Daring Bakers’ Hostess and she challenged us to make the traditional Dutch pastry, Gevulde Speculaas from scratch! That includes making our own spice mix, almond paste and dough! Delicious!

This month's challenge was a whole new world for me, it does not ressemble the traditional "cakes" we bake around here, nor does it to cookies, it's more something in between. I love speculoos and almond paste, so that couldn't really go wrong anyway.

It was fun to play with spices, making your mix allows you to choose what you prefer. I substituted mace for nutmeg (because I couldn't get a hold on it), and used star anise and coriander in my mix. I felt a bit like some kind of apothecary mixing my spices, if I had have a cauldron, I may would have felt like Willow (yes, this is a Buffy reference, I'm a nerd, deal with it ;) )

Gevulde Speculaas

Recipe Speculaas Spices
Mandatory:
cinnamon 40 to 60 % of the total amount
ground cloves 1 or 2 parts
mace ½ or 1 part
ginger ½ or 1 part
Optional:
white pepper ½ or 1 part
cardamom ½ or 1 part
coriander ½ or 1 part
anise ½ or 1 part
nutmeg 1 or 2 parts

A convenient way to mix the spices is as follows:
Take at least 1 or 2 teaspoons of ground cloves, ½ or 1 teaspoon of mace and ½ or 1 teaspoon of ginger.
Add to taste ½ or 1 teaspoon of white pepper, ½ or 1 teaspoon of cardamom, ½ or 1 teaspoon of coriander, ½ or 1 teaspoon of anise, and 1 or 2 teaspoons of nutmeg.
Measure or weigh the amount of spices you have now, and add an equal amount of cinnamon.

Recipe Almond Paste
Ingredients:125 gm raw almonds
125 grams granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest

If the raw almonds still have their brown skins, remove them as follows. Bring water to a boil, add the almonds, cook them for one minute, drain immediately and let cool for a few minutes. Rub them between your fingers to remove the skins.
Grind the almonds for one or two minutes in a food processor, until you see nothing but very small pieces. (Or skip this step if you use ground almonds.)
Add the sugar, and grind for another one or two minutes. It must be very fine after this step.
Add the egg and let the food processor combine it - if it is powerful enough. Otherwise you will have to combine it with your fingers.
Store the almond paste in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Although the flavor gets better as days pass by, it is not wise to store the paste for too long, as it contains a raw egg. For the same reason you should not eat the paste unbaked.

Recipe Speculaas Dough
Ingredients:250 gm all purpose (plain) flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
150 grams brown sugar, firmly packed
a pinch salt
15 gm speculaas spices
175 gm unsalted butter

Put flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and spices in a bowl.
Cut the butter in dices and add.
Knead until smooth.
Feel free to add a little milk if the dough is too dry.
Wrap in clingfoil and put in the refrigerator for two hours.
You can choose to make the dough a few days in advance, just like the almond paste, that will benefit the flavor. Freezing is no problem.

Assembling and baking the Gevulde Speculaas
Ingredients:speculaas dough
almond paste
whole almonds without skins for decoration
1 large egg

Directions:1. Grease the pan.
2. Preheat the oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas 4
3. Divide the dough into two portions.
4. Roll out both portions on a lightly floured surface, until they are exactly as big as the baking pan.
5. Put one of the layers in the pan and press it lightly to fill the bottom.
6. Lightly beat the egg with a teaspoon cold water.
7. Smear 1/3 of the egg over the dough in the pan.
8. Roll out the almond paste between two sheets of clingfoil, until it is exactly as big as the pan, and put it on the dough in the pan. (If you chose to make the paste soft, you can smear the paste instead of rolling it.)
9. Press the paste lightly down to fit in the pan, and smear the next 1/3 of the egg over it.
10. Now put the second layer of dough on top of the paste, press it lightly, and make as smooth as possible.
11. Smear the last 1/3 of the egg over the dough.
12. Decorate the pastry with the almonds.
13. Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven.
14. Let cool completely in the pan, then cut it in portions as you like.
15. If you wrap the stuffed speculaas in clingfoil, after it has cooled completely, you can store it a few days at room temperature. Freezing is possible, but fresh speculaas tastes better.

Tropical Fruits Charlotte

New year it is! Let me first wish you all a great one, let's hope it will be fun and better than the last one. As we've survived the apocalypse, it seems about right to take some new year resolutions. Mine are not original, as they included loosing weight and practising sport.
So far in this year (I know we're only 13 days in, but still) I'm sticking to both, as I've taken out of the closet my torture device: the Wii Balance board! Yes, even in sports, I remain a geek. It yelled at me for not using it in over a year *shame*. Netherless, it's something I'd advice to anyone who wants to move a little, it won't turn you into an athlete, but at least it's fun.

So even if you should expect some "lighter" recipes in the next posts, this first one won't belong to that category, as it was one of the desserts I made for christmas: a charlotte. I do see it more like a summer dessert, specially the easier version, with just whipped cream and strawberries.
This one was a bit more sophisticated with a bavarian mousse instead. I decided to go with tropical fruits, I know they are coming from far away, but it was a christmas treat.

Though I admit I also bought lady fingers in stores in the past, they are really easy to make. And instead of having to place each lady finger, you can pipe them close enough to already form the circle that will go around your charlotte, so much easier!
An other positiv point for me, in the crazy christmas time, this should be made one day ahead of time, so the only work on the D-day, is taking it out of the fridge and decorating!

Tropical Fruits Charlotte (based on a recipe from Mercotte)

makes an 18cm diameter charlotte

for the lady finger:
50gr of Flour
50gr of Cornstarch
5 Eggs
100gr of Sugar
Some dusting sugar

for the bavarian mousse:
1/4L Whole Milk
3 Egg Yolks
50gr of Sugar
1 Vanilla Pod
3 Sheets of Gelatin
200gr of Whole Cream

for the syrup/ to finish:
2 Passion Fruits
50gr of Sugar
100ml of Water
1 Mango
10 Litchies

Start with the lady finger: Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Sift the flour and cornstarch. Star beating the egg whites slowly and add the sugar progressivly when it starts to foam a little. When they reach a soft peak, slow down the speed and add the egg yolks and keep mixing a few seconds.
Now using a soft spatula, add the flour and cornstarch smoothly until well combined.

To pipe the lady finger evenly, you can draw two lines on the parchement paper. Pipe them less than a centimeter from each other, so when they cook they will expand and form a band of lady finger.
You also need to pipe two circles, one of 18cm, the other one a bit smaller. Once again, it's easier if you draw the circles on the paper before you pipe them.

Dust the lady finger with confectionner sugar before placing them in the oven for 10 minutes. I did four batches, 2 for the lady fingers and 2 for the circles. Leave them to cool before using them, they keep well in an airtight jar.

For the mousse, put the gelatine sheets in cold water. Cut the vanilla pod open and scratch the vanilla seeds out to mix them with the egg yolks, add the sugar and beat until it gets to be paler. Now add the milk and whisk until it's smooth.
Pour the liquid into a pan, on a medium heat cook and whisk until it reaches 82 to 84°C (I used my sugar thermometer). Take it off the heat and whisk in the gelatine sheets that you have drained of the excess of water.

While you wait for the cream to drop to 25°C, you can prepare the syrup. Cut the passion fruits open, and pass the flesh thru a sieve to have the juice but not the seeds. In a small sauce pan, cook on a low heat the water, the passion fruit and the sugar until it starts to buble. Set aside to cool.

If the vanilla cream has reached the temperature, pour the whole cream in your stand mixer (or use a hand mixer) to whisk the cream to a soft whipped cream. Now combine both creams and leave it in the fridge to set for a couple of hours.

To make the charlotte, peel the mango and dice it. Using a iron pastry circle, start with the biggest circle of lady finger as the bottom of your charlotte, and circle it with the strip of lady fingers you've make, try to make it tight so the cream doesn't leak out.
Moist the bottom layer with the syrup you've made. Spread about 1/3 of the cream on that layer and sprinkle the dice of mangos all over it, before adding an 1/3 of the cream.
Now add the second circle of lady finger and moisten it again with the syrup, and pour the last third of the cream on top.

Set in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours, and decorate before serving the way you see fit, I choose litchi and some sugar christmasy decoration.

Daring Baker - December 2012: Panettone

The December 2012 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by the talented Marcellina of Marcellina in Cucina. Marcellina challenged us to create our own custom Panettone, a traditional Italian holiday bread!

With a little bit of delay, I wish you all a merry christmas. I hope it's been a pleasant time for you, and that you got to share it with your beloved ones.
This month's daring baker challenge is bringing us a standard on italian tables at christmas: the panettone. I never had a chance to make one before, though it resembles to something we have here, called Kougelhopf that exists in both sweet and savory version.

I divided the following recipe in half, because I only have one panettone pan, and because my family is not too found of raisins. It is quite time consuming in the process, but I loved the result and it keeps really well for a few days.
My only few changes, were switching the orange and lemon extract for orange liquor, I've only used candied orange and added a few cranberries to the raisins.

If I don't have the chance until than, let me just all wish you a happy new year!

Panettone

makes 2

Ingredients

Sponge
7 gr active dry yeast
80 ml warm water
70 gr unbleached all purpose flour
First Dough
7 gr active dry yeast
45 ml warm water
2 large eggs, at room temp
175 gr unbleached all-purpose (plain) flour
55 gr sugar
115 gr unsalted butter, at room temp
Second dough
2 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
150 gr sugar
45 ml honey
15 ml vanilla extract
5 ml lemon essence/extract
5 ml orange essence/extract
6 gr salt
225 gr unsalted butter, at room temp
420 gr unbleached all-purpose (plain) flour; plus up to 100 gr for kneading
Filling and final dough
250 gr golden raisins or golden sultanas
75 gr candied citron
75 gr candied orange peel
Grated zest of 1 orange
Grated zest of 1 lemon
15-25 gr unbleached all-purpose (plain) flour

Directions:

Sponge

1. Mix the yeast and water in a small bowl and allow to stand until creamy. That’s about 10 minutes or so
2. Mix in the flour.
3. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to double in size for about 20 to 30 minutes

First Dough
By hand:

1. Mix the yeast and water in a large bowl and allow to stand until creamy. Again, about 10 minutes or so
2. Mix in the sponge and beat well with a wooden spoon
3. Stir in the eggs, flour and sugar.
4. Mix in the butter well
5. This should only take about 5 – 6 minutes
6. Cover with plastic wrap and allow double in size, about 1 – 1 ¼ hours

By Mixer:

1. In the mixer bowl, mix together the yeast and water and allow to stand until creamy. Again, about 10 minutes or so
2. With the paddle attached mix in the sponge, eggs, flour, and sugar.
3. Add in the butter and mix for 3 minutes until the dough is smooth and even.
4. Cover with plastic wrap and allow double in size, about 1 – 1 ¼ hours

Second dough
By Hand:

1. Be sure to have your dough in a large bowl as above.
2. With a wooden spoon mix in eggs, egg yolk, sugar, honey, vanilla, essences/extracts and salt.
3. Mix in the butter.
4. Then add the flour. Stir until smooth.
5. At this stage the dough will seem a little too soft, like cookie dough.
6. Turn it out and knead it on a well-floured surface until it sort of holds its shape. Don’t knead in too much flour but you may need as much as 2/3 cup (100 gm). Be careful the excess flour will affect the finished product.

By Mixer:

1. With the paddle mix in thoroughly the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, honey, vanilla, essences/extracts, and salt.
2. Mix in the butter until smooth.
3. Add the flour and slowly incorporate.
4. At this stage the dough will seem a little too soft, like cookie dough.
5. Replace the paddle with the dough hook and knead for about 2 minutes.
6. Turn out the dough and knead it on a well-floured surface until it sort of holds its shape.
7. Don’t knead in too much flour but you may need as much as 2/3 cup (100 gm). Be careful the excess flour will affect the finished product.

First Rise

1. Oil a large bowl lightly, plop in your dough and cover with plastic wrap
2. Now we need to let it rise until it has tripled in size. There are two ways to go about this.
• Rise in a warm place for 2 – 4 hours
• Or find a cool spot (64°F -68°F) (18°C – 20°C) and rise overnight
• Or rise for 2 hours on your kitchen bench then slow the rise down and place in the refrigerator overnight. If you do this it will take some time to wake up the next morning but I preferred this method.

Filling and Final Rise:

1. oak the raisin/sultanas in water 30 minutes before the end of the first rise. Drain and pat dry with paper towels.
2. Now take your dough and cut it in half. Remember we are making two panettoni.
3. Combine all your filling ingredients and mix well
4. Press out one portion of dough into an oval shape
5. Sprinkle over one quarter of the filling and roll up the dough into a log
6. Press out again into an oval shape and sprinkle over another quarter of the filling
7. Roll into a log shape again.
8. Repeat with the second portion of dough
9. Shape each into a ball and slip into your prepared pans, panettone papers or homemade panettone papers.
10. Cut an X into the top of each panettone and allow to double in size.
11. Rising time will vary according to method of first rise. If it has been in the refrigerator it could take 4 hours or more. If it has been rising on the kitchen bench in a warm place it should be doubled in about 2 hours.

Baking

1. When you think your dough has only about 30 minutes left to rise preheat your oven to moderately hot 400°F/200°C/gas mark 6 and adjust your oven racks
2. Just before baking carefully (don’t deflate it!) cut the X into the dough again and place in a knob (a nut) of butter.
3. Place your panettoni in the oven and bake for 10 minutes
4. Reduce the heat to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark 4 and bake for another 10 minutes
5. Reduce the heat again to moderate 325°F/160°C/gas mark 3 and bake for 30 minutes until the tops are well browned and a skewer inserted into the panettone comes out clean.
6. Cooling your panettone is also important. If you have use papers (commercial or homemade) lie your panettoni on their side cushioned with rolled up towels. Turn gently as they cool. If you have used pans cool in the pans for 30 minutes then remove and cushion with towels as above.
7. Panettone can also be cooled suspended. How to do this? Firstly you need to use papers (commercial or homemade), insert clean knitting needles into the bottom of the panettone in a X shape. Flip over and support the knitting needles on the edges of a large saucepan with the panettone suspended within the saucepan. Yep, a lot of trouble and I didn’t really find that much difference – maybe I took too long to insert the needles.

Osso Buco with Gremolata

So tomorow is the end of the world, or so it seems. I remember we had a couple of those already, like that big solar eclipse a few years back, or a random asteroïd heading towards earth. Let's face it, one day we'll be there, but I'm pretty confident this one isn't it, yet. I don't think we'll have it so quick and easy anyway, I think it will rather be long and painfull...

But where's my holidays spirit! Let's all be joyfull, because if we actually make it to the 22nd of December, we can all feel like Bruce Willis in one of those movies he's saving the whole world in (I'll let you choose your favorit one here, there quite a few options).

To balance out my very sweet and dessert oriented blog, here's a great recipe for big crowds, easy to make and that is delicious. I don't think I have to say again that italians know what they are talking about when it comes to food. So buono appetito, and in case of an apocalypse, good luck!

Osso Buco with Gremolata

Serves 8

for the Osso Buco
about 2.5Kilos of Veal Shanks
3 Onions
4 Carrots
1/2 a Celery
2 cans of Peeled Tomatoes
25cl of Tomato Paste
1/2 Liter White Wine
2 Bay Leaves
Thym
Rosmary
Olive Oil
Salt, Pepper
3 Tablespoon of Flour
for the Gremolata
1 Lemon,
1 Clove of Garlice
3 Tablespoons of Parsley

I've asked my butcher to cut the veal shanks in 8 equal parts, about 2cm thick each. Pat each one dry, cut with a sharp knife around the edges, about every 4 cm, so it won't shrink while it cooks. Dust each with flour, so they're covered on both side and shake off any excess. Set aside.

Peel the onion, dice it. Wash the vegetables, peel and dice the carrots and celery to about the same size, set aside.

In a large cast iron pan, heat up some olive oil. When it's hot, place the veal shanks in it and brown them on both side for a few minutes. You may need to do this in a few batches, depending on the size of your pan. Remove when they have a nice color and set aside.

In the same pan, lowering the heat a little, add the diced vegetables and onions with a pinch of salt, and cook them for about 5 minutes, keep stiring so they don't attach to your pan, and when they start softening, add the white wine. Let it cook for 5 more minutes, before adding the peeled tomatoes and the tomato paste. Add the thym, rosmary and bay leaves, check for seasoning and add slat and pepper if needed.

Bring the sauce to a boil, then lower the heat and place the shanks back in the sauce, cover it and let it cook for about 1h30.

In the meantime, make the gremolata: peel the zest off the lemon and dice as small as possible, do the same with the garlic clove and the parsley. In a smal bowl, combine all the ingredients, then cover it with clingfilm and place in the fridge.

You can serve the dish like that, or as we did, take the meat out and using a plunging mixer, you can blitz the sauce so everything is combined.

Serve the veal shank with some sauce, sprinkle gremolata on top. You can serve this with rice, pasta or as we did, with spaetzle.

Spitzbuebe: Christmas Cookies with Jam

Ho ho ho! Or something to that effect. It's christmas time, apparently... It's hard to get into the spirit these days, I guess it's just the whole rush of the season, combined with work and life in general... But I have my own way of getting into the christmas mood all by myself: I'm making christmas cookies!

It's one of the traditions that I like to perpetuate, because it results in a big box of cookies, a place that smell of cinnamon and spicies, and also a more personal gift to my family and friends. I've been doing those as a child already, they come from the same book I've used in several recipes here already, my trusty Betty Bossi Back Buch.

This year I could even make them with my own raspberry jam, all the more reason to bake some more, because as you can see on the picture, there is a cocoa-cinnamon version aswell. But my preference goes to the original, so that's the one I'm share with you today, afterall this is what this season is all about: sharing.

Spitzbuebe: Christmas Cookies with Jam (From the Betty Bossi Bach Buch)

Makes about 30

200gr of Butter, at room temperature
125gr of Icing Sugar, plus some for dusting
1 Egg White
1 Teaspoon of Lemon Juice
1 Pinch of Salt
350gr of Flour
6 Tablespoons of Raspberry Jam

In your standmixer, with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and the sugar until pale and well combined.
Add the egg white, the lemon juice, the flour and pinch of salt, and keep beating to a soft dough.

Place the dough in a clingfilm and leave it to cool for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Roll out your dough about 3mm thick, using cookie cutters cut out the base and leave it full, then cut out the top part and make a hole in the middle (look for the pictures). Obviously, make a matching number of base and top cookies.

Cook them in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, they should be a very light brown color.

In a pan, heat up your jam, than using a small spoon, place a little bit of the hot jam on the base part of the cookie, and place a top part on it, press lightly together and let it cool on a rack. When the jam has cooled you can dust them with icing sugar.

Manalas, the little brioche men

Happy Saint Nicolas day! I guess this won't mean much to most of you, but it's kind of a big deal where I live. Especially when you're a kid, for us Saint Nicolas is like Santa Claus, and has an "evil twin" in case you're not behaving, called "Père fouettard", who would threat you to take you in his bag or hit you with his martinet. That's always a great way to make children behave in my experience.

So the children who behave receive a gingerbread and an orange or mandarine, and also peanuts are traditional here. My grandma told me it was a big deal back in the days to get those sweets, they wouldn't get any others thru out most of the year. Which always makes me realised how spoiled we are, and how much worse it's getting with every generation.

No Saint Nicolas celebration would be right without our "Manala", the little man made out of some sort of brioche dough. We have that for diner on the 6th of december (or the evening before depending on the families), with tea or hot chocolate, cutting them open and spreading butter, jam or nutella on them. Completly regressic and so good!

Manalas

Makes 9-10 units

500gr of Flour
100gr of Sugar
100gr of Butter
25gr of Fresh Baker Yeast
2 Eggs
200gr of Milk
5gr of Salt
1 Egg Yolk
optional: chocolate chips, raisins, pear sugar...

Heat up half of the milk, and add the fresh yeast into it, stir to combine a little. Add 100gr of Flour to that and combine aswell. Place a humid cloth on it and let it rise for 20 minutes near a radiator.

In a pan, with the other half of the milk, make the butter melt on a low heat, add the sugar and the salt with it too. Don't let it boil, and when everything is melted, set aside to cool a little.

Now combine the yeast preparation with the melted butter using a wooden spoon, or you standmixer on a low speed. Add the two eggs and the rest of the flour (400gr) and keep mixing for about 15 minutes, the dough has to be smooth and elastic. When you're finished, cover it with a cloth and leave it for 30 minutes in a hot place.

Now tip the dough on a floured worksurface and form the little men. Roll out a cylinder, about 15cm long, pinch the top part to form the head, using a sharp knife, cut the legs by cutting the lower part in two, and than cut the arms out on each side (see the picture).

Place them on the oven tray lined with parchement paper. Beat the egg yolk with a bit of milk and brush the men with it. Now you can use chocolate chips or raisins for the eyes, you can sprinkle pearl sugar on their tummies for instance.

Leave them to rise for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Place in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until they have a nice golden, light brown color. Cool them on a rack and enjoy!

Beef and Root Vegetables Enchiladas

Fair warning people, this might be a cynical post. I guess I'm trying to get it out of my system, before all the happiness and merriment comes around the corner for christmas. You know people fighting in shops over the last hello kitty doll (or whatever is in fashion this year), cutting in front of you at the checkout counter of the supermarket, or drivers not stopping at the pedestrian crossing, when it's freezing out there and they are all comfy in their heated cars!

This might not reflect it, but I'm actually an optimistic person, but sometimes you just have to sit down, take a deep breath and complain! To yourself, to your cat or a really good friend, let it all out. Then maybe you'll realise it's not that bad after all, that things can turn around eventually. And in the meantime, you can turn to what makes you feel better, which in my case is cooking.

Last week on my day off, I was craving meat, which is very unusual for me. Normally, I tend to crave something sweet more than I should, or maybe some pasta every now and then. But meat sounds like a weird pregnancy craving... and for anyone who knows me for real, this is funny.
Then I realised it was full moon, so maybe I'm part warewolf and I don't know about it... it's just as plausible as me being pregnant after all ;)

Though my first impulse was making hamburger, I wanted to do something different for a change, and because of the outside temperature, I thought something with a little bit of heat would be nice. I love the tortillas I've done a while ago, but I didn't have the chance to do some since, so this was the perfect opportunity.

Beef and Root Vegetables Enchiladas

serves 2/3

6 Tortillas
400grs Ground Beef
2 Carrots
1 Turnip
1 Onion
1 Teaspoon of Ground Coriander
150ml Tomato Sauce
Tabasco
Salt, Pepper
Olive Oil
100gr of Cheese (I choose Comté)
Fresh Chives or Parsley to serve

Peel the onion and dice it. Clean the vegetables and peel them, dice them about the same size as the onion.

In a big pan, on a medium flame, heat up some olive oil and add the onion with a bit of salt. Stir for about 2-3 minutes until the onion is soft, but not too colored.
Add the diced carrot and turnip, stir for a minute or two, lower the heat a little and add a lid to your pan and let them cook for about 10 minutes, stir every now and then.

Now add the ground beef, and using a wooden spoon, break it into little pieces while it cooks, so it blends better with the vegetables. Then add the coriander and the tomato sauce. You don't want to add too much, just enough to coat all ingredients. Add Pepper and Tabasco to your taste (a few drops in my case). Let it cook slowly, lid off, for an other 20 minutes or so and stir every now and then.

Preheat the oven to 170°C.

To serve, you can whether place some of the ground beef sauce in the middle of the tortilla and roll it to make a wrap, place the wraps you've made in an oven dish, sprinkle some grated cheese on top and place it in the oven for about 5 minutes (until the cheese melts) and serve it which freshly chopped chives.
Or in a dish place a tortilla, cover it up completly with beef, place an other tortilla on top and make layers (like you would for a lasagna) than on the last layer tortilla you sprinkle cheese and place it in the oven for 5 minutes also, and sprinkle it with fresh herbs to serve with a green salad.