Showing posts with label sweet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sweet. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Skamp's Chocolate Christmas Crackers

Skamp's Chocolate Christmas Crackers
Skamp's Chocolate Christmas Crackers

At Christmas time, I tend to get pretty adventurous around dessert. Not sure why I make an intricate dessert – I guess because if not at Christmas, then when? Last year, I made Gingerbread terrariums which I realise now never made it on to the blog. Gingerbread cake bottom, lime cheesecake “snow”, tiny Piparkoogid (Christmas biscuit) houses and marzipan trees. Time consuming and fiddly to make, but nothing terribly revolutionary in the elements. This year…this year I was genuinely worried about my dessert turning out. Because this year I had gone to the Yelp Elite Event at the new State Building and watched Sue Lewis do a little presentation on tempering chocolate that demystified the whole thing and made it seem really simple. And then I stumbled upon an Adriano Zumbo recipe for Chocolate Christmas Crackers and with this both happening a few weeks before a Christmas party, it seemed like it was something I needed to attempt.  The basic idea is a chocolate cylinder, with chocolate ends designed to look like a Christmas cracker. It’s filled with chocolate mousse and a pop-rocks truffle as the “pop” of the cracker. Cute, right?

Cute but terrifying! I was so worried about actually working with the chocolate, I actually did a trial run. And I never do trial runs for things like this because I’m lazy! In re-reading over the original recipe with Lance, I discovered a few things, 1. The picture from the Adriano Zumbo recipe is inaccurate. I don’t think it’s just styling and camera angles, I think his dimensions of a 5cm x 10cm tube is way too fat for the pictured Christmas Cracker look. And 2, as Lance pointed out to me – they aren’t even real. If you look carefully, they are just “bridges” of chocolate with chocolate ends balanced up against them. The chocolate doesn’t curl around to make a cylinder, so it’s not even the real thing. Tricksy stylists! That scared me even more. But…it’s actually not that difficult – given you can get a few simple items. I had a fairly infuriating trip to Spotlight trying to find sheets and/or rolls of acetate – which is listed as a product they stock on their website. I was sent to various corners of Spotlight by various staff members. I had one try to sell me PVC table cloth material instead. Described as “readily available in craft stores” by every chocolate and cake making resource, it was so hard to get, that I didn’t. In the end, I found a thicker acetate sheet that was designed for quilting templates. It’s less flexible than you ideally want it to be for chocolate, so it was pretty hard to make the chocolate coating – but with no time to search for an alternative (and not trusting posting times this time of year), I had to make do. You can buy 10cm high cardboard tubing for making your own cardboard crackers at Riot Art and Craft (but not acetate). You can prep ahead by making the mold elements (roll, acetate rectangles, baking paper rectangles) way ahead of time.

 The rest I simplified somewhat to make it a bit easier on myself. Not to mention cheaper by removing the gianduja chocolate. Instead of making a truffle centre, I made a long ‘string’ of pop-rock chocolate to simulate the cardboard ‘popper’ in a real cracker. Like the original, it uses toasted rice bubbles to enhance the pop quality, and I added chocolate crumb from the Milk Bar cookbook for extra chocolate-y texture. Feel free to just use rice bubbles and pop rocks if you can’t be bothered with the crumb. The mousse I flavoured with Chambord to play with the berry flavour of the pop rocks I used, and because I was intending on adding freeze-dried raspberries - but I couldn’t find any so used freeze-dried strawberries instead. The tartness of the berries adding to the 'pop' sensation - Lance's idea and it worked brilliantly. I used white chocolate instead of dark for the coating; both so I could paint the outside in a Christmassy fashion, and to lighten up the dessert from a fairly heavy dark-chocolate mousse with dark chocolate truffle with dark chocolate coating. 

The chocolate coating is really the only hard part of this recipe, and it is heat/humidity sensitive - so I was extremely lucky to have a cooler day to temper the chocolate in. This would be easier to make for a Northern Christmas or Southern Christmas in July. They are so cool though, so it's worth giving a go. It does take a little time to do all the steps, but it can be done in stages ahead of time, and they’ll keep in the freezer for a few days – but any longer than that and the pop rocks will lose a little of their ‘pop’. The mousse makes more than you will need. Any extra can be spooned into pretty glasses/bowls and refrigerated a few hours until set.

Skamp's Chocolate Christmas CrackersSkamp's Chocolate Christmas CrackersSkamp's Chocolate Christmas Crackers
Skamp's Chocolate Christmas Crackers
Skamp's Chocolate Christmas Crackers
Skamp's Chocolate Christmas Crackers
Skamp's Chocolate Christmas Crackers
Skamp's Chocolate Christmas Crackers
Skamp's Chocolate Christmas Crackers
Skamp's Chocolate Christmas Crackers
Skamp's Chocolate Christmas Crackers
Skamp's Chocolate Christmas Crackers



Skamps' Chocolate Christmas Crackers


For the “poppers”

1 cup rice bubbles
1/2 cup “chocolate crumb” (100g plain flour, 100g white sugar, 65g cocoa powder (the best quality you can find), 1 tsp corn flour, 85g melted butter)
70 gm popping lollies, such as Pop Rocks
200g 70% dark chocolate (I used Lindt raspberry intense)
15g freeze dried raspberries, chopped

Chocolate Raspberry mousse

660mL whipping cream (1x 600mL carton, plus ¼ cup)
150mL whipping cream
8 egg yolks
100g white sugar
30mL shot Chambord
200g 48% dark chocolate, broken
100g 70% dark chocolate, broken

For the casing

500g white chocolate
Decorator pens (optional)

To start, make the ‘poppers’. To start making the ‘poppers’, you need to toast the rice bubbles and make the chocolate crumb, then set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 180C. Spread rice bubbles on a tray and bake for only 2-3 minutes until golden. Watch them, as they toast quickly. Reduce oven to 150C. In a mixer, blend together the flour, sugar, salt and cocoa powder. Add the melted butter and mix until it all comes together into a clumpy mess. Break the clumpy bits onto a lined baking tray, then place in the oven to cook for around 20 minutes. Half-way through, gently toss. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool and harden. Measure out 1 cup of the crumb (breaking up any very large pieces), and freeze the remainder for another use – such as ice cream topper!) When the rice bubbles and crumb are completely cool, mix together in a bowl.

Set a glass bowl over a pot with about 5cm of simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Add 2/3 of the chocolate and leave to melt, stirring here and there. Once it’s melted, remove from the heat and add the remaining 1/3 of the chocolate. Leave to sit for 1 minute, then stir through to completely melt and make smooth. Mix the pop rocks through the rice and crumb, then pour the melted now slightly cooled chocolate over the whole mess. Mix quickly to coat everything. You will hear a few of the pop rocks go off as they get wet then hit the air, but if you work quickly, the popping will be minimised as they’re coated. On a baking paper lined tray, use a spoon to create thin lines of ‘pop’ mix around 10cm long (the length of your tubes).  You want them to be around 1cm thick. Pop in the fridge to set hard.

Before you can make your mousse, make sure you have your molds ready. Cut out 12 rectangles of acetate, 10cm by 12.5cm. Roll into tubes, placing them inside cardboard tube (such as the inserts for paper towel rolls cut to 10cm tall). Cut out 12 rectangles of baking paper, roll into tubes and place inside the acetate. Place them standing upright on a piece of baking paper inside a tray and set aside.

Now you’re ready to make your mousse! Whip the 660mL measure of cream to soft peaks, set aside. Place the whisk attachment in your standmixer and place a bowl ready. Combine the 150mL cream, yolks, chambord and sugar in a small saucepan and whisk to combine. Place over low heat and keep whisking until it thickens, much like a lemon curd would – around 5-7 minutes. Scrape it into the standmixer bowl and leave it whisking on low until it cools to room temperature, around 10 minutes. While that whisks, add the 48% dark chocolate and leave to melt, stirring here and there. Once it’s melted, remove from the heat and add the 70% dark chocolate. Leave to sit for 1 minute, then stir through to completely melt and make smooth. Stir for 2-3 minutes to cool down to around 40C. Fold the chocolate through the whipped cream, then fold in cooled yolk mixture.

Gather your mousse, ‘pops’ and prepared mold tray. Spoon the mousse around 2/3 of the way into the molds. Holding the mold hard against the tray, gently slide a ‘pop’ into the centre of the mold. Tidy the top and/or top up with extra mousse if required. Cover with cling wrap and freeze for at least 4 hours until set.

When set hard, remove the cardboard and acetate, leaving the baking paper casings and popping back into the freezer until needed. Wash the acetate and dry thoroughly. Absolutely no water can remain. Temper the white chocolate by melting 2/3 of the chocolate over heat, then take off the heat and stir through the remaining 1/3. Continue stirring to cool down to where it is a little cooler than body temperature (dip a spoon in the melted chocolate, and place it on your lip. It should be a little cooler than your lip). Place it back over the heat for around 30 seconds, and check the temp again. It should now be a little warmer than body temperature and shiny. Working with one piece of acetate at a time, spread a thin layer (around 2mm) of melted chocolate with a palette knife, set aside until starting to set, 3 minutes. Wrap around a chocolate mousse cylinder, chocolate-side inward. Tape the acetate closed. Refrigerate until chocolate is well set, remove acetate and refrigerate until required.

Brush insides of 24 mini patty cases or the flower ice molds from IKEA with most of remaining chocolate, freeze until set, peel away the cases/pop out the molds and refrigerate chocolate cases until required. Brush underside of chocolate cases with a little more melted chocolate, attach to each end of chocolate-coated cylinders, decorate with edible decorator pens, refrigerate until required.


Skamp's Chocolate Christmas Crackers
Skamp's Chocolate Christmas Crackers
Skamp's Chocolate Christmas Crackers

Skamp's Chocolate Christmas Crackers
Skamp's Chocolate Christmas Crackers
Skamp's Chocolate Christmas Crackers
Skamp's Chocolate Christmas Crackers
Skamp's Chocolate Christmas Crackers


Friday, April 3, 2015

Easter Treats - Spiced Honey Buttermilk Buns

Easter Treats - Spiced Honey Buttermilk Buns
Easter Treats - Spiced Honey Buttermilk Buns

We have a few very strong holiday food traditions in my family. Firstly, we have Christmas Biscuits. These are a traditional Estonian biscuit, sort of like gingerbread but soooo much better! They are a heavily guarded family secret recipe. And you are only allowed to make and eat them at Christmas (much to my husband’s dismay!)

And for Easter, we have Pasha. Pasha is a sweet lemon and vanilla cream cheese, designed to go on sweet yeast breads, such as Hot Cross Buns. It is a smooth and airy cream cheese, made by whipping a few types of cream cheese together, and adding the flavouring ingredients. The lemon makes it feel light and moreish, but it is so creamy and decadent still.

These buns here are the perfect base for Pasha, if you don’t want to go the Hot Cross Bun route. They are lightly spiced, soft and slightly sweet. They go equally well slathered in butter and jam. Or jam and cream. Or honey and ricotta. Or my Chocolate Halva Spread. You know, if you don’t have a secret family recipe for Pasha. Eat them warm, straight from the oven (after allowing to cool enough to handle!), or halve and toast them like you would a hot cross bun.

These buns are barely adapted from the Honey Buttermilk bread on Local Milk. I’ve merely added spices to make them more festive, and swapped out some of the flour for Rye Flour. I love rye bread, and I love the extra nutty/sweet flavour dimension it gives these buns. I also lazily use my KitchenAid to do all the kneading.

I find this dough is also good to leave the second rise overnight, and you can bake them fresh for the morning. Simple form the buns, then loosely cover with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge overnight. In the morning, remove the plastic wrap, brush with egg and place in the oven while it’s heating up. They will still take around 40 minutes from when your oven reaches temperature, but if they start to get too brown before they’re ready, cover the tray with foil for the last 10 minutes or so.

Enjoy! Happy Easter!
Easter Treats - Spiced Honey Buttermilk Buns
Easter Treats - Spiced Honey Buttermilk Buns
Easter Treats - Spiced Honey Buttermilk Buns
Easter Treats - Spiced Honey Buttermilk Buns


Spiced Honey Buttermilk Buns

(adapted from Local Milk)
(makes 12 small buns)
¼ cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
2 ¼ tsp yeast
1 ½ cups buttermilk
1/3 cup honey
3 tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
1 ½ cups rye flour
3 cups plain flour
1 ½ tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp cloves
¼ tsp nutmeg
1 egg, lightly beaten for brushing

Mix the warm water with the sugar and add the yeast. Set aside to get frothy for 10 minutes.
In the bowl of your standmixer, mix together the two flours, spices and salt.

In a saucepan over a low heat, melt the butter, then add the honey and buttermilk. Keep over the heat until the buttermilk is warm. Not hot, else the buttermilk will separate, just warm. Take off the heat and stir through the yeast mixture.

Pour the buttermilk mix into the flour and, with the dough hook attached, start kneading into a dough. Leave it kneading for 5-10 minutes, adding extra plain flour 1 tbsp at a time if the dough is sticky. It’s ready when it forms a firm ball.

Grease a large bowl lightly, and place the dough in. Turn to coat the other side with oil too, then drape a clean tea towel over it and leave it in a warm place to rise for 1 ½ - 2 hours, or until doubled in size.

Grease a lamington tray. When the dough has doubled, punch down to remove the air. Divide into two equal balls. Re-cover half of the dough, and divide the other half into 6 equal balls. Roll into neat balls between your palms and place in the tray, spacing them a little. Do the same with the second half of dough.

Set aside to rise again, this time for 40 minutes or so, until doubled. They’ll probably all be touching now. That’s good. Brush with egg.


Heat the oven to 170C and bake for 40 minutes, or until toasty and golden on top, and hollow sounding when you tap the bottom. Allow to cool for a few minutes before slathering with butter, or pasha!

Easter Treats - Spiced Honey Buttermilk Buns
Easter Treats - Spiced Honey Buttermilk Buns
Easter Treats - Spiced Honey Buttermilk Buns
Easter Treats - Spiced Honey Buttermilk Buns
Easter Treats - Spiced Honey Buttermilk Buns

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Secret Cake Club (Take Two) - Profiteroles with Camembert Creme Patisserie


Secret Cake Club (Take Two) - Profiteroles with Camembert Creme Patisserie
Secret Cake Club (Take Two) - Profiteroles with Camembert Creme Patisserie


So, given that I don't bake a huge amount, I decided to bake a few things to take to the French Secret Cake Club. Just in case my cheesecake was a massive fail. It wasn't, but I still decided to take my back-up dish as well. Having a whole batch of profiteroles in the house just for Lance and I is never the best idea in the world.

My second French dish is an actual French pastry, with a Skamp-twist. Again, I stuck with the cheese theme, and made a Camembert Creme Patisserie to fill my profiteroles. Fragrancing it with a touch of cardamom and drizzling some dark chocolate ganache over the whole affair.

I remember my nanna making choux pastry when I was little. I didn't know back then that it WAS choux pastry, I just remember it being crazy. Pastry, cooked in a pot? What!? Then when it's baked it turns into Chocolate Dog Bones! Or at least, that's what my brother used to call Eclairs. Then when I was in my early twenties the croquembouche as birthday cake and wedding cake really took off in Perth. I know some people were paying $3.50 per profiterole on the cake, and I automatically assumed that must mean that it was difficult to make a profiterole. I know my nanna used to be a great cook, so it made sense that it was something she'd practiced and perfected. Turns out, profiteroles are actually easy. Like, really easy.

The way the pastry is made requires a little elbow grease, but it comes together pretty simply. Boil the water and butter. Stir in the flour. Cool briefly, stir in the eggs. The hardest part is that the eggs won't immediately want to combine, but they do with a bit of stirring. It takes around 5 minutes of stirring with a wooden spoon. The water in the dough does the rest of the work for you, puffing up the balls into lovely airy pillows.

Make the filling first, so it can cool.


Camembert Creme Patisserie

1 3/4 cups milk
3 cardamom pods
80g camembert, rind removed and chopped
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup + 2 tbsps corn flour, sifted

Warm milk and cardamom pods until a simmer, and add the camembert pieces, stirring to melt the cheese. Whisk yolks and sugar together in a bowl. Add the flour and whisk well.

Sieve the milk to remove the pods and any unmelted lumps of cheese. Pour over the egg mix in a thin stream, and whisk to combine.

Return the whole mix to the saucepan over a medium heat and stir for 5 minutes, until mixture thickens. Pour into a glass bowl and cover surface with plastic wrap. Cool in the fridge.


Secret Cake Club (Take Two) - Profiteroles with Camembert Creme Patisserie
Secret Cake Club - Profiteroles with Camembert Creme Patisserie


Profiteroles

(makes about 24)
100g butter, softened
1 cup water
1 cup plain flour
4 eggs

Preheat  oven to 200C

Combine butter and water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to melt the butter.

Add the flour in one go. Stir with a wooden spoon to incorporate fully and continue beating mixture until it pulls away from the side of the pan. Remove from heat and set aside to cool 5 - 10 minutes.

One by one, beat the eggs into the mixture. Making sure the first egg is fully incorporated until you add the next.

If you'd like you can pipe the balls, but I just form balls with 2 tablespoons, rolling a bit of dough between the two, then placing on baking paper lined trays. Should make around 24 balls. Sprinkle a bit of water on the trays.

Bake for 15 minutes without opening the door. Then remove, pierce the bottom of each one with a knife or skewer to remove steam. Lower the oven temperature to 170C then bake an additional 5-10 minutes  until golden and dry.

Cool on wire racks before piping the filling in through the hole you made with the knife earlier.

Chocolate Ganache

50mL cream
100g dark chocolate, chopped

Heat the cream in a small pot to a simmer. Take off the heat, and drop the chocolate over the top. Let stand 30 seconds, then stir to a smooth mix. Drizzle over the top of your profiteroles.


Secret Cake Club - Profiteroles with Camembert Creme Patisserie
Secret Cake Club - Profiteroles with Camembert Creme Patisserie

Secret Cake Club - Brie Cheesecake

Secret Cake Club - Brie Cheesecake with Red Wine Caramel Figs
Secret Cake Club - Brie Cheesecake with Red Wine Caramel Figs

My first foray into cooking was through baking. I used to help mum bake biscuits and cakes all the time when I was little, then when I was old enough, I was off and running doing it by myself. I'd generally work my way through a well-used copy of the Australian Women's Weekly Big Book of Beautiful Biscuits. It remains one of my favourite baking books with simple, no-fail versions of a lot of classic cookies. I have yet to meet a better ANZAC biscuit recipe! As I got older and other things got in the way of baking as a hobby, my cookies skills were stretched in a more 'practical' way and meals have become my focus. But I still love baking, I just don't do it as often. And as such, I haven't experimented as much. I'm more a special occasions baker. Realistically, I'm more of a baked-goods eater, than a baker!

After hearing about the Secret Cake Club, I knew it was something I wanted to get involved in. It was the perfect excuse to get my bake on, and dust off some skills. The theme for the one I scored a place in was French. Now, everything I know about French baking is that it's notoriously 'finicky'...and that it's delicious. People get extremely passionate about their patisseries and I wanted to make something worthy of the theme, and the event. I didn't have time to learn the secrets of a perfect macaron foot. And I didn't want to splurge and buy myself Madeleine or financier trays. And the only French things I've had experience with - souffles and French Toast - are best served immediately (although someone brought a French Toast that was fantastic!)

So, me being me, I thought I'd go a little bit out of the box and bake something "French", rather than a traditional French baked good that I probably wouldn't do justice. So, what's French? For me, that's cheese and wine. Specifically, soft cheeses like Brie and Camembert. And red wine, like a Cab Sauv, or a Burgundy. The idea for a French Cheese French Cheesecake was borne. It just needed a little fleshing out.

One of my other left-field ideas was to use French Lentils as my "Frenchness". I toasted (on a tray in an 165C oven for around 10 minutes) and ground some lentils into flour to experiment with and found they gave a lovely nutty flavour, but made for the crumbliest of biscuits. A little bit of reading informs me that pulse flours need to be used in combination with other flours because of the lack of gluten, and some arrowroot powder will help it 'stick' and bind together. Voila! Perfect. I changed a simple Sables Breton into an even more French Biscuit by adding French Lentils. The cheesecake was bake on top, and the crowning glory comes from Cabernet Sauvignon Caramel Figs. Traditional French? No. Skamp's French? Totally!

Secret Cake Club - Brie Cheesecake with Red Wine Caramel Figs
Secret Cake Club - Brie Cheesecake with Red Wine Caramel Figs
Secret Cake Club - Brie Cheesecake with Red Wine Caramel Figs
Secret Cake Club - Brie Cheesecake with Red Wine Caramel Figs

French Lentil Sable Breton

makes a 23cm cheesecake -serves 10-12
(adapted from Gourmet Traveller)
240g butter, softened
6 egg yolks
260g caster sugar
1/2 tsp ginger powder
105g french lentil flour
10g arrowroot powder
115g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 165C. Line the bottom of a 23cm springform cake tin with baking powder and lightly grease the tin. 

In a small bowl with a handbeater,beat the butter until very fluffy and pale. This will take around 3 minutes. In a standmixer, whisk the egg yolks until creamy, slowly adding the caster sugar until it's all combined. Beat until this is also very light and fluffy. Add the butter in 3 batches, beating until smooth. Then beat in the ginger.

Turn the beater off, then sift the flours and baking powder over the top, then fold until just combined. Spoon the batter into the tin and smooth down the top. Baked until golden and puffed, around 25 minutes. Set aside to cool completely in the tin.

Secret Cake Club - Brie Cheesecake with Red Wine Caramel Figs
Secret Cake Club - Brie Cheesecake with Red Wine Caramel Figs

Brie Cheesecake

350g cream cheese, at room temperature
350g Brie cheese, at room temperature, rind removed.
4 eggs
1/2 cup cream
1/3 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 165C

In a medium bowl with a handbeater, beat the brie until light and fluffy. This will alter in time, depending on the softness of the brie you bought, but it could take a few minutes.

In a standmixer, beat the cream cheese with the sugar until smooth and fluffy. Beat in the brie, then the eggs and cream. Make sure it's well-combined, but don't over beat because the cheese can separate.

Pour the cheesemix over the sable breton base and tap the container on your counter a few times to remove air bubbles.

Fill a roasting tray with boiling water and place it on the bottom rack of the oven. Pop the cheesecake on the middle rack. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until set with a tiny amount of jiggle in the centre.

Set aside to cool to room temperature

Secret Cake Club - Brie Cheesecake with Red Wine Caramel Figs


Cabernet Sauvignon Caramel Figs

150g sugar
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp Cabernet Sauvignon red wine
1 tsp water
6 figs, sliced into quarters

In a small saucepan, heat the sugar and 1/4 cup of water over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then leave it to boil and become a lovely caramel colour. Stir via shaking the handle here and there to keep the liquid moving. And brush any sugar crystals that form down with a wet pastry brush.

When caramel coloured, very carefully add the red wine and extra teaspoon of water. It will fizz and spit at you. Stir through and mix until smooth. Using two forks, drop the fig slices in the caramel, then place on the cake. Drizzle the remaining caramel over the top. You can briefly reheat the caramel over a low heat if it starts getting too solid.

Serve!

Secret Cake Club - Brie Cheesecake with Red Wine Caramel Figs
Secret Cake Club - Brie Cheesecake with Red Wine Caramel Figs
Secret Cake Club - Brie Cheesecake with Red Wine Caramel Figs
Secret Cake Club - Brie Cheesecake with Red Wine Caramel Figs
Secret Cake Club - Brie Cheesecake with Red Wine Caramel Figs