Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

While going through my Google Reader one day I ran into gorgeous looking cashew bars on Bake or Break. I notice that they were from the Sweet Melissa Baking Book. Oh my, how good those looked. And then all I could think of was, where is my copy? Hurry up stupid mail.
Then, as if someone was listening, there in my mail that day was my copy. Ah.
I quickly thumbed through it as I do with all cookbooks and I write down right away what sticks out at me. Those cashew bars(Butterscotch Cashew Bars to be exact) did. I will make them. Granola Breakfast Cookies, which I will be making next.  Bee Stings which are Melissa’s answer to doughnuts…she has no fryer at her bakery. The Chocolate Espresso Cheesecake with Blackberry Glaze sounded very Pacific Northwest so I flagged that one too. But the one I knew I wanted to make right away were the Chestnut Honey Madeleines. You see, ever since I bought those pans I am always looking for a good madeleines recipe. I found one.
What caught my eye was description up top that they were featherweight cake. In all of my limited madeleines baking, none of them have been what I would call featherweight. These most definitely were. I tried both the mini and the regular size pan and must say that for this recipe the regular size pan is the way to go. If you can not find the chestnut honey(I had to go to three places) than use clover. But there is a subtle difference that is nice. I own a cinnamon crème honey that I plan on trying these out with as well.
For those that don’t know, Sweet Melissa is an actual bakery, in Brooklyn NY. It’s full name is Sweet Melissa Patisseries. Sweet Melissa is Melissa Murphy. The first thing you notice about the book is that there are little bees drawn through out it. There is a reason for this. Honey. Melissa uses honey in a lot of her recipes, which is what gives so many of her treats that something special. I know the chestnut honey sure made the Chestnut Honey Madeleines something special.
There isn’t much not to love about this cookbook(my only complaint is my usual one…not enough photos). These are good solid recipes that are not fluffed up(no deconstruction and big towering desserts). Simple and good.
 If you are a novice baker you will find that the instructions are easy to follow and the results will be positive ones for you. If you are a veteran baker like myself you find little twists on classics that you most likely didn’t think about. All around, if you are a baker, you should be owning this book. If you are not a baker and you want to be…you should be owning this book.

Chestnut Honey Madeleines

½ cup hazelnut flour
1 2/3 cup confectioner’s sugar, plus more for dusting
½ cup plus 1 TBSP all-purpose flour
13 TBSP unsalted butter
6 large egg whites
1 TBSP chestnut honey(or clover if you can not find chestnut)

Butter and lightly flour two 12-cup madeleine molds. Refrigerate until ready to use.
In a large bowl, whisk together the hazelnut flour, all-purpose flour, and confectioner’s sugar.
In a small heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter until the butter solids at the bottom of the pan turn golden brown. Immediately remove from the heat and strain into a bowl to stop the cooking.
In the bowl of an eletric mixer fitted with the whip attachment, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the flour mixture and mix until combined. Add the butter and honey and mix until combined.
Spoon batter into prepared molds, filling almost to the top. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
Position rack in the top and bottom thirds of your oven. Preheat oven to 375F.
Remove the filled molds from the refrigerator. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. After removing from the oven, immediately tap the pans on your work surface to release the madeleines. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
To serve, turn the madeleines scallop side up and dust with confectioner’s sugar.

Adapted from Sweet Melissa Baking Book by Melissa Murphy, Penguin Group 2008

Baking with yeast. Check.
Setting food on fire. Check.
Tempering eggs. Check.
Yes, this weeks Tuesdays with Dorie recipe covered a lot of people’s cooking/baking fears…all in one stinking recipe. Who was this bitch that chose it?…oh yeah, that was me.
I wanted the TWD gals/guys to push past their comfort zone and possibly catch their kitchens on fire(none did that I know of). I wanted them to feel truly accomplished when they finished this one. And when they are done, they will have possibly added a few techniques that they had never done before.
This weeks recipe, Brioche Raisin Snails, could quite possibly give you a heart attack for breakfast…but oh, what a way to go. I had made Dorie’s brioche recipe a few times, so I knew it was a winner, but I had yet to make the raisin snails.
Knowing that my uber-picky husband would not be eating these because they had pastry cream, I made them in a flavor I wanted….tangerine/Grand Marnier. Instead of rum, I used the orange liquor and glazed my snails with a tangerine glaze. The results were super yummy. Don’t feel too bad for the husband though. Since this recipe uses only ½ the brioche recipe I made him Dorie’s sticky buns with the other half and he was more than a happy camper.
Setting the raisins on fire was by far the most feared part of this adventure but from what I read, most people conquered that fear head on and survived quite nicely. I have set many a food on fire(sometimes not on purpose ) so there was no fear here for me.
I hope that the TWD group enjoyed this recipe and are not to cranky at all that had to be done.

Brioche Raisin Snails

1 cup moist, plump raisins
3 tablespoons Grand Marnier Liquor
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
Scant 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 recipe for Golden Brioche Loaves(page 48), chilled and ready to shape (make the full recipe and cut the dough in half after refrigerating overnight)
1/2 recipe Pastry Cream (page 448)

For the Tangerine Glaze
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 tsp tangerine juice
zest of ½ tangerine

Getting Ready: Grease and flour a regular sized muffin pan.
 
Put the raisins in a small saucepan, cover them with hot water and let them steep for about 4 minutes, until they are plumped. Drain the raisins, return them to the saucepan and, stirring constantly, warm them over low heat. When the raisins are very hot, pull the pan from the heat and pour over the Grand Marnier. Standing back, ignite the liquor. Stir until the flames go out, then cover and set aside. (The raisins and liquor an be kept in a covered jar for up to 1 day.)
Mix the sugar and cinnamon together.
On a flour dusted surface, roll the dough into a rectangle about 12 inches wide and 16 inches long, with a short end toward you. Spread the pastry cream across the dough, leaving 1-inch strip bare on the side farthest from you. Scatter the raisins over the pastry cream and sprinkle the raisins and cream with the cinnamon sugar. Starting wit the side nearest you, roll the dough into a cylinder, keeping the roll as tight as you can. (At this point, you can wrap the dough airtight and freeze it up to 2 months; see Storing for further instructions. Or, if you do not want to make the full recipe, use as much of the dough as you’d like and freeze the remainder.)
With a chef’s knife(I use a bread knife), using a gentle sawing motion, trim just a tiny bit from the ends if they’re ragged or not well filled, then cut the log into rounds a scant 1 inch thick. Put the snails inside the individual muffin holes.
Lightly cover the snails with wax paper and set the baking sheet(s) in a warm place until the snails have doubles in volume–they’ll be puffy and soft–about 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Getting Ready To Bake: When the snails have almost fully risen, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Remove the wax paper, and bake the snails for about 25 minutes, or until they are puffed and richly browned. Let cool for 5 minutes then remove from muffin pan.

If You Want To Glaze The Snails: Put a piece of wax paper under the rack of warm rolls to act as a drip catcher. Put the confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl, and stir in a teaspoons of juice. Keep adding juice drop by drop until you have an icing that falls from the tip of a spoon. Add the tangerine zest, then drizzle the icing over the hot snails.

Golden Brioche Loaves

2 packets active dry yeast
1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch water
1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch whole milk
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature but still slightly firm

For The Glaze
1 large egg
1 tablespoon water

To Make The Brioche: Put the yeast, water and milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and, using a wooden spoon, stir until the yeast is dissolved. Add the flour and salt, and fit into the mixer with the dough hook, if you have one. Toss a kitchen towel over the mixer, covering the bowl as completely as you can– this will help keep you, the counter and your kitchen floor from being showered in flour. Turn the mixer on and off a few short pulses, just to dampen the flour (yes, you can peek to see how you’re doing), then remove the towel, increase the mixer speed to medium-low and mix for a minute or two, just until the flour is moistened. At this point, you’ll have a fairly dry, shaggy mess.
Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula, set the mixer to low and add the eggs, followed by the sugar. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes, until the dough forms a ball. Reduce the speed to low and add the butter in 2-tablespoon-size chunks, beating until each piece is almost incorporated before adding the next. You’ll have a dough that is very soft, almost like batter. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 10 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a clean bowl (or wash out the mixer bowl and use it), cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, 40 to 60 minutes, depending upon the warmth of your room.
Deflate the dough by lifting it up around the edges and letting it fall with a slap to the bowl. Cover the bowl with the plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. Slap the dough down in the bowl every 30 minutes until it stops rising, about 2 hours, then leave the uncovered dough in the refrigerator to chill overnight.
The next day, butter and flour two 8 1/2-x-4 1/2-inch pans.
Pull the dough from the fridge and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Cut each piece of the dough into 4 equal pieces and roll each piece into a log about 3 1/2 inches long. Arrange 4 logs crosswise in the bottom of each pan. Put the pans on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat, cover the pans lightly with wax paper and leave the loaves at room temperature until the dough almost fills the pans, 1 to 2 hours.  (Again, rising time with depend on how warm the room is.)

Getting Ready To Bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

To Make the Glaze: Beat the egg with the water. Using a pastry brush, gently brush the tops of the loaves with the glaze.
 Bake the loaves until they are well risen and deeply golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer the pans to racks to cool for 15 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the pans and turn the loaves out onto the racks. Invert again and cool for at least 1 hour.
Pastry Cream

2 cups whole milk
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted
2 teaspoons Grand Marnier Liquor
3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits at room temperature

Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan.
Meanwhile, in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the egg yolks together with the sugar and cornstarch until thick and well blended. Still whisking, drizzle in about 1/4 cup of the hot milk– this will temper, or warm, the yolks so they won’t curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the milk. Put the pan over medium heat and, whisking vigorously, constantly and thoroughly (making sure to get the edges of the pot), bring the mixture to a boil. Keep at a boil, still whisking, for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat.
Whisk in the Grand Marnier. Let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk in the bits of butter, stirring until they are full incorporated and the pastry cream is smooth and silky. Scrape the cream into a bowl. You can press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the cream to create an airtight seal and refrigerate the pastry cream until cold or, if you want to cool it quickly–as I always do–put the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water, and stir the pastry cream occasionally until it is thoroughly chilled, about 20 minutes.

I try very hard to make sure that the majority of the ingredients I use on this blog can be found, all be it with maybe a little research, by most everyone(well in the States and Canada). However, when I finally broke down and bought the chocolate covered sunflower seeds at Trader Joe’s I knew I would be making something with them.
If you don’t have a Trader Joe’s near you, then I am sorry. It really is one of my favorite places to shop for food. What used to just be the place where hippies shopped for their Vegetarian and Organic foods, the Yuppies of today have joined right in. And what is even better is that Joe’s carries high quality foods for much cheaper prices. They have great cheeses, carry Plugra butter for a decent price, my organic milk and my most favorite trail mix, the Temptation Mix. No I am not doing a commercial for them, nor are they paying me to do so, I just love them so.
I passed those chocolate sunflower seeds a dozen times, choosing not to buy them because I did not want to be addicted to yet another product of theirs. But when my parents were here, my mother and I went off to Trader Joe’s for her to stock up…she does not have one anywhere close to her. There they were, and well, my mom was buying, so into the cart they went. The minute they went into my mouth I wanted to make them into a cookie, and that is what I did.

Chocolate Covered Sunflower Seed Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp ground sea salt
1 ½ cups chocolate covered sunflower seeds, unsalted(see note)

Preheat oven to 375F.
Cream together butter and sugars, about 3 minutes.
Add eggs one at a time and scrape down bowl after each addition.
Add vanilla and beat for 30 seconds.
In a separate bowl, combine and sift together flour, baking soda and sea salt.
Add flour mixture to butter mixture and mix on low until fully incorporated.
Stir in chocolate covered sunflower seeds.
Form into 1-inch balls and place on a ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-9 minutes.
Let cool for 2 minutes on pan and then move to wire rack.
Makes about 38 cookies.

Note: Chocolate covered sunflower seeds were purchased at Trader Joe’s. If you do not have a Trader Joe’s than you can substitute ¾ cup unsalted sunflower seeds and ¾ cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips.

I will admit that it doesn’t quite roll off the tongue as saying Kiss Me, I’m Irish…but it’s what I have to work with.
I was not a beer fan until college. I was dating a boy(well, man) who was very, very into beer. He often drank what I referred to as motor oil beer. Beer up to that point is that piss colored stuff that you paid too much for at hockey games or the piss colored stuff they handed to you at Frat parties…either way, not so good. At his urging(or maybe it was just his smile ), I gave that motor oil a try…and you know what, I was hooked. From that point on, the darker the beer the better. I had a special place in my heart for stouts, especially the chocolate ones.
So when I saw that Emiline over at Sugar Plum was hosting an event called The Saint Patty’s Day Pub Crawl, and that alcohol was to be in your food, I immediately thought of stout. Now I have seen quite a few cakes made with stout so I knew that I wanted to do something a little different. My favorite kinds of stout are cream stouts. That got me thinking creamy. And well, what is more creamy than crème brulee…I mean cream is in the name.
Before you start saying, I don’t like beer. I understand. However, I served this to two beer haters, who licked it clean and were none the wiser to the fact that there was beer in there. Some might say it was evil not to tell, but if my mom can hide onions in meatloaf, I can hide beer in crème brulee…or crème “brew”lee as I like to call it.

If you are interested in participating yourself, head on over to Sugar Plum and check it out. You have to the 17^th…so you have plenty of time.

Chocolate Stout Crème “Brew”lee

4 ounces heavy whipping cream
4 ounces Double Chocolate Stout(I used Young’s)
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2 ounces semisweet chocolate
1/3 cup granulated sugar
4 large egg yolks

Preheat oven to 250F.
Place chocolate into a medium bowl.
Heat cream and beer until it reaches a boil. Remove immediately and pour over chocolate. Let rest for 2 minutes and whisk together.
Whisk egg yolks and sugar together in a separate bowl. Slowly pour hot cream/chocolate mixture into yolk mixture while whisking the whole time.
Pour brewlee mixture into 4 ramekins. Bake in a water bath 1 hour 20 minutes. Remove from bath and set out to come to room temperature.
Put brewlee’s into fridge overnight.
To serve, sprinkle sugar on the top of the brewlee and caramelize with a blow torch…or place under broiler for same effect.

Serves 4.