Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Tuile Cookie Cups #CreativeCookieExchange

These crispy cookie cups are made with a rich batter, thinly spread and quickly baked, then shaped over the back of a standard muffin pan. They are perfect for serving a generous scoop of ice cream. 

I’m on kind of a French kick right now, starting with the chaussons aux pommes I posted Sunday, and now these cookies. Because I am on holiday with my mom IN FRANCE, staying with my friend Jamie of Life's a Feast at the gorgeous Hotel Diderot. Later I'll be driving south to Bordeaux and I'll be adding trip photos on Instagram if you want to follow along.

 Tuile is the French word for tile and these cookies get their name because they are often draped over something cylindrical while warm - for instance a rolling pin or wine bottle - and end up looking like the roof tiles so often used in classic French homes. Since our theme for Creative Cookie Exchange this month is Cookies and Ice Cream, I decided it would be fun to make little cookie bowls out of them instead.

The recipe below, adapted from this one on Food Network for tuile cookie cones, will easily make about one and a half dozen one scoop sized bowls.

Ingredients
1/2 cup or 65g all-purpose flour
1/2 cup or 65g powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Method
Sift the flour, powdered sugar and salt together into bowl.

In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites, along with the vanilla, just to loosen them up.

Add in the melted, cooled butter and whisk again to combine.



Now sift the flour/sugar mixture a second time, right into the egg white bowl.



Whisk vigorously to make a smooth liquid, without any lumps.

Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to rest at room temperature for about 45 minutes.

Now to make nice circles with the batter, you can wing it or you can create a pattern for yourself to follow. I like to draw my circles on a piece of parchment paper then slip it under my silicone mat. If I go over the pencil circles with permanent marker, they are just dark enough to see through the mat.

You can also draw the circles on your parchment then turn it over and use the non-marked side to spread your batter. If you are using straight parchment, make yourself a few because as they get wet from the batter, they are no longer flat. You’ll want a fresh piece for each batch. Keep them though because you can reuse them for other baked goods that don't need a completely flat piece of parchment.

When the resting time for the batter is almost up, preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and grease the bottom of a muffin pan.

Drop rounded tablespoons of the batter onto your prepared baking sheet. Spread the batter with the back of a spoon into 5 in or 12.7cm rounds. Or follow the circle guidelines you have drawn to make your life easier.

Six tuile cookies at a time is ideal. More and they harden up before you can shape them when they come out of the oven.



Bake in the middle of the oven until golden and very lightly brown around the edges, about 4 to 6 minutes. Watch them like a hawk! My first batch was too brown, therefore too crunchy, and then they wouldn’t mold to the shape of my muffin pan.



To shape, gently loosen a cookie from the baking sheet with a spatula, then turn it over so the smooth side is facing up. Lay the cookie on the greased bottom of your muffin pan and gently, shape it to fit. Do the others in rapid succession while they are still warm.



Make and shape more cookies with the remaining batter. After I had made a dozen, I decided to try to make one big bowl. I ended up making hole in the side while loosening it from the baking sheet but the bowl still came out great.



Make sure the tuile cookie bowls are completely dried and crispy before storing them in an airtight container, otherwise they can go a bit soft again.



Add a scoop of ice cream to each and enjoy!


Many thanks to Laura from The Spiced Life for hosting and for this great theme! If you are a fan of ice cream and cookies – and how is not?! – have a look at the other great recipes we have for you this month.




If you are a blogger and want to join in the fun, contact Laura at thespicedlife AT gmail DOT com and she will get you added to our Facebook group, where we discuss our cookies and share links.

You can also just use us as a great resource for cookie recipes--be sure to check out our Pinterest Board and our monthly posts (you can find all of them at The Spiced Life). You will be able to find them the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month!








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Posted by at 1:38:00 AM 0 comments
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Sunday, July 19, 2015

Chaussons aux Pommes


Crisp apples, with lemon or lime juice and zest and just a bit of sugar, cook down into the best chunky applesauce, the perfect filling for puff pastry chaussons or slippers. 

Le Marché du Petit Robinson  – the twice-weekly market - was but a block and a half away from our house just south of Paris in the ville of L'Haÿ-les-Roses. Every Wednesday and Saturday morning, starting just before 8 a.m., the neighbors would start to filter past, the elderly pulling their two-wheeled shopping carts, the younger set pushing their children in strollers, all on their way to the market. Some days the girls and I would join them, even if we didn’t really need anything because 1. It was an outing and moms with toddlers can always use an outing, especially when the weather is grey and 2. There were always tasty items to snack on and fresh produce to peruse once we got there.

We drooled over shiny fruit and the soft cheeses, often helping ourselves to the little chunks of artisan saucisson or spicy olives that were proffered for tasting but our favorite stall was always the baked goods. There were hefty seeded loaves as big as your head and almost as heavy; rustic baguettes with their crunchy exteriors and chewy interiors full of holes and flavor; pain aux raisins, spirals of buttery pastry filled with raisins and brushed to a high gloss with a sticky sweet glaze and last but never least, little puff pastry “slippers” which had been filled with chunky applesauce and baked till fluffy and golden. If you arrived early enough some were still warm!

When I read that the theme for this week’s Sunday Supper was Farmstand Foods, I couldn’t resist trying to recreate the little chaussons or slippers. Just the aroma of them baking in the oven brought me back! Isn’t it funny how smells can evoke such strong memories, perhaps even more than photos will do?

Two years ago for a similar Sunday Supper theme, we celebrated farmer's markets and I posted a number photos from a French market for those who wanted to drool a little. This seems like a good time to share them again, along with my cherry clafoutis.

In the wee hours of tomorrow morning, I’ll be headed back to France for a visit and you can be certain that I’ll be browsing as many markets as I can find along my road trip route from Nantes to Chinon and down to Bordeaux!

Follow along with me on Instagram! 

My recipe was adapted from this one on Meilleur du Chef.

Ingredients
For about 1 1/2 cups or 395g applesauce or compote, as it is called in French:
1 lb 4 oz or 560 g apples – three large apples
Zest plus 2 tablespoons juice from fresh lemon or lime
1 rounded tablespoon or 15g butter
1/4 cup or 50g sugar (plus more to taste)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

You may not use it all of the applesauce in the chaussons, but it is also delicious eaten straight from the bowl with a spoon.

For the chausson crusts:
11 1/3 oz or 320g readymade puff pastry dough

To brush on before baking:
2 tablespoons milk

Method
Zest and juice your lemon or lime and put the zest and juice in a bowl that will be large enough to hold your apples, once peeled and chopped.

Peel, core and chop your apples into chunks. Add them to the juice bowl, as each one is done and stir well. This will stop the apples from turning brown.



Pour the apples into a small pot that has a lid and add in the sugar, butter, vanilla and salt. Stir well.

Cook over a medium flame, covered for the first 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. There is no need to add liquid, as the apples will release their juice.



After the apples start to soften, you can remove the lid and lower the flame. Let the apples cook until the liquid is just about gone and you have a thick, chunky applesauce. You can mash gently with a fork but make sure to leave some chunks.

Allow to cool and taste to see if you need a little more sugar. I didn’t add any but I like things tart.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare a baking sheet by lining it with baking parchment or a silicone mat.

Meanwhile, line your clean work surface with cling film and make a template out of paper. I used a very large coffee mug and traced the two halves of the base about an inch and a half or three centimeters apart, then connected the halves to create an elongated shape that is not quite oval, but rather a circle that’s been stretched in the middle. (Actual dimensions: 10 x 14cm or 4 x 5.5 in) You can make a simple circle, instead of the traditional “slipper” shape, but you won’t have as much room for filling.

Roll out your puff pastry on the cling film big enough to accommodate at least six of your template.

Lay the template on the puff pastry and cut around it with a sharp knife, taking care not to cut all the way through the cling film.



Remove the excess puff pastry from around the cut pieces. (You can bake these bits after the chaussons, rolled in a little cinnamon sugar for a sweet snack.)

Brush the puff pastry that remains with a little water around the edges and add a healthy spoon of applesauce in the middle of each.



Fold one side over and gently try to remove all of the air inside as you seal the edges together.



Transfer the chaussons to your prepared baking sheet. If they are stuck down, lift the cling film from under them to help them release.

If you have a pastry cutter, you can make a decorative edge but this is completely optional.



Lightly score the tops of the chaussons with a sharp knife, making sure not to cut all the way through. I use my negi cutter for this job but any very sharp knife or a lame will do.

Brush the tops with a little milk and bake in your preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until golden and puffy. They are super puffy when they first come out.



Then they deflate a little.



Allow the chaussons to cool somewhat before biting into one. That applesauce is going to be hot!



Enjoy!

Many thanks to our Sunday Supper host for the Farmstand Food event, Colleen of FoodieTots, ably assisted by veteran host, DB of Crazy Foodie Stunts.

Appetizers, Sides and Salads
Entreés
Desserts




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Posted by at 2:13:00 AM 0 comments
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Thursday, July 16, 2015

Banana Pecan Bundt with Bananas Foster Frosting #BundtBakers

Mashed bananas and cream cheese add moisture and flavor to this wonderfully nutty Bundt cake, topped with rum-spiked bananas Foster frosting. 

Thanks to our creative host, Shilpi from Simply Veggies, this month’s Bundt Bakers theme is fruit and nuts. Any fruit or combination of fruits AND any nut or combination of nuts, but the Bundt has to have both fruit and nuts. My mind was swirling with the infinite possibilities, but I finally settled on bananas because there is hardly anything that adds both flavor and moistness to a cake like mashed ripe bananas, unless it’s softened cream cheese. And, with the two together, magic happens. My favorite nut is always pecan, so I added a generous helping of those. And then, the bananas and pecans reminded me of a muffin I made a couple of years back, based on that famous New Orleans dessert, Bananas Foster, and before I knew it, I was making a sort of Bananas Foster frosting too, but with added cream cheese. I hope you are going to like this one as much as I did!

Ingredients
3/4 cup or 170g butter, softened
8 oz or 227g cream cheese, softened (13 Kiri squares, if that’s your brand, like it is mine here in Dubai.)
1 1/2 cups or 300g sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups or 375g all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (1 1/4 pounds or 570g unpeeled bananas, about 4 medium)
2 cups or 210g chopped pecans, toasted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Bananas Foster frosting:
2 tablespoons or 45g butter
1/3 cup, packed, or 66g dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch salt
1 medium banana
2 tablespoons rum
1/4 cup or 26g chopped pecans
2 oz or 26g cream cheese (4 1/3 Kiri squares)


Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and grease and flour a large Bundt pan. (I like to use the baking spray that has flour in it. The pan is my Nordic Ware Anniversary Bundt pan.) Add a 1/4 cup or about 26g of the chopped toasted pecans to the pan. Set aside.


Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl. In another smaller bowl, mash your ripe bananas with a fork.



In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, beat butter, cream cheese and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy and light. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well in between.



Add in the flour and mix well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in the mashed bananas and the vanilla. Beat again for about one minute.



Fold in the rest of the pecans.



Spoon the batter into your prepared Bundt pan and bake in your preheated oven for about 50-60 minutes, tenting the top with foil if it looks like it’s browning too quickly near the end. Do not do what I did which was to turn the oven off when the timer rang and forget to take it out for another 10 minutes! As you can see from the photos, it turned out a little darker than it should have.


Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before  turning the banana pecan Bundt out of the pan. Leave to cool completely before frosting.



To make the bananas Foster frosting, melt your brown sugar and butter in a small skillet, along with the pinch of salt and cinnamon.


Chop your banana into small pieces and add them to the pan.

Cook for several minutes on a low to medium flame, stirring occasionally. When the mixture has thickened a little, add in the rum and stir well.


Add in the chopped pecans and stir again. Remove from the heat leave to cool for a few minutes.



Now add in the cream cheese, cut or broken into small pieces. Stir until it’s all melted and no little white bits are showing. I must confess that I prefer the color of the frosting without the cream cheese because it’s a nice warm shiny brown and the cream cheese dulls it, but the flavor is great!



Spoon the frosting on your cooled Bundt cake and spread it around so a little slides down the sides.



Enjoy!

Dark still delicious!


BundtBakers


#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers, can be found on our home page.




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Posted by at 2:36:00 AM 0 comments
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