Boston Cream Pie

 

 

The last time I made Boston Cream Pie was more than a dozen years ago but I had another go recently for my Mom's birthday.  Back then I wasn't satisfied with the runny texture of the pastry cream, so for this attempt I made sure it was firm.   To assemble my cake I also went a bit off piste.  The cake was baked as three layers, instead of the traditional two, and for the chocolate ganache icing I went the simple, minimalist route. 

 

Strawberry Mascarpone Tea Cake

 

Strawberry season is finally here and I am loving it!  There's a farm stand up the road from where my parents live in the San Joaquin Valley that sells, in my opinion, the best strawberries. The ruby red, sweet fruit is picked fresh daily and sold to eagerly awaiting customers.  On a recent trip home I picked up a few baskets with the intent of making this Strawberry Mascarpone Tea Cake.  I'd seen it featured on King Arthur's website a while ago and bookmarked it to make when strawberries were in season. 

In appearance the cake looks very similar to the French fraisier.  What I particularly liked about this version was the use of sour cream in the cake batter and mascarpone cream in the whipped cream filling.  The slight tang from both these ingredients is a nice counterbalance to the sweetness from the strawberries.  

 The next time you have access to sweet berries I highly recommend you make this cake.  It's absolutely delicious!

 

Iced Fingers

I'm a huge fan of The Great British Bake Off and this recipe for Iced Fingers was featured in one of the earlier seasons of the show.  I'd been meaning to make them ever since I first watched that episode all those years ago so you could say these are long overdue.  There's just something so inviting about a soft and fluffy bun filled to the brim with whipped cream and jam. 

The recipe comes from Paul Hollywood, GBBO "male judge" and bread baker extraordinaire, so you can pretty much assume it's going to be a winner.  And you would not be wrong.  Enriched dough is not as difficult to make as you might think and this one has the most beautiful texture to work with.  You could make the dough by hand, as suggested in the recipe, but I'm too lazy for that and leveraged my trusty Kitchen Aid stand mixer.  It makes your life so much easier!

Baked to a lovely golden brown the fingers had a beautifully soft and fluffy interior.  My main deviation from Paul's recipe was in the filling.  Rather than using whipped heavy cream on its own I added softened cream cheese to give it more structure and stability.  The last thing you want is a weepy iced finger!  Once iced and filled with cream cheese whipped cream and raspberry jam these fingers were a dream to eat.   

One caveat though: I highly recommend making the buns all in the same day to get the maximum freshness and flavor.  I spread it out over two days and found that the buns weren't as soft and fluffy as they were when they were freshly baked...still tasted great though!

Raspberry Charlotte

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT, hesitate to make this Raspberry Charlotte for your loved ones this Valentine's Day.  I cannot begin to tell you how absolutely amazing it tastes and how straight forward the recipe is.  Can you tell how I'm excited I am about it???  It literally took me less than three hours to make, yet the finished cake looks like it came from a posh European tea salon.  Everyone will be impressed! 

Whenever the latest issue of Cook's Illustrated magazine is published online I immediately look to see if there's a dessert or baked good.   Ecstatic doesn't even begin to describe my reaction when I saw the recipe for this raspberry charlotte.  I've made charlottes before, but the kind using store bought lady fingers and some type of mousse.  This recipe blows all of those out of the water!  

Even for a novice the instructions are very easy to follow.  My advice for the best success is to read the recipe several times beforehand and have your equipment and mise en place ready to go.   After that it's smooth sailing.

The only diversion I made from the original recipe was in decorating the finished cake.  Instead of swirling the raspberry jam in a marble pattern on top, in honor of Valentine's Day I made little hearts.  Give this recipe a try...you won't regret it one bit.

Buttermilk Panna Cotta

A few years ago I had the opportunity to visit dear friends in Seoul.  It was the middle of August and the humidity and heat were pretty unbearable.  Luckily we had guests passes to the fantastic pool at the Grand Hyatt and used the facilities quite often.  

After a day of swimming and sunbathing my favorite thing to do was visit the on-site hotel bakery and buy their delicious panna cotta, served in these adorable glass jars.  The cool and creamy cooked cream covered with fruit coulis was the perfect way to beat the heat.  

My version of panna cotta includes buttermilk in the recipe. The slight tang of the buttermilk beautifully complements the jam topping.   It's the perfect light dessert to enjoy this summer!

P.S. The jars in the photos are the ones I collected from my Seoul trip...I ate my fair share of panna cotta!

French Silk Chocolate Pie

This French Silk Chocolate Pie was recently featured on an episode of Cook's Country TV.   There was something so nostalgic and retro about it that, despite my apprehension about pies, I had to make it.   

In the world of baking my Achilles' heel always seems to be pies.   You know why?  The darn crust!  I could never get it right, until now!  Cook's Illustrated has a foolproof pie crust that really does live up to its name...seriously it should be called idiot-proof.  And the funny part is that it includes vodka in the recipe, yes, vodka...genius!

I'm not sure where the "French" comes in to play, but perhaps it's describing the texture.  The chocolate filling is so silky smooth, light and delicious...any chocoholic will fall in love with it.   And don't get me started on the crust!

Blackberry Buttermilk Panna Cotta

I don't know about you but I'm a bit of a Costco fanatic.  I just love the place, which can be a really dangerous (and expensive!) habit.  My friend Grace and I have, on many an occasion, made the trek there during our lunch break from work.   We're crazy like that.

    

For someone like me it's a great place to stock up on baking staples.  I buy unsalted butter there like it's going out of fashion.  On my last trip they had some amazing blackberries that were cheap as chips.  So of course I ended up buying way too many...over a kilo to be exact. 

    

You can bet that I was searching high and low for blackberry recipes because I hated the thought of the berries going to waste. I found this one for blackberry buttermilk panna cotta on epicurious.com.  Luckily I had all the ingredients in my fridge so it came together really quickly.  

These panna cotta are super creamy and refreshing, with the slightest tang from the buttermilk.  They are fabulous topped with mixed berries - a perfect light and fruity dessert to end any meal.

Chocolate Pots de Crème

As I've gotten older, argh!, certain foods that I once hated I've now grown to love.  Are you like that too?  Take avocados, for example.  I simply couldn't stand them when I was younger, but nowadays I'd sell my right arm for some chunky guacamole.  Ironic, isn't it?

Custard was another item on my frightful food list.  Maybe it had to do with the silky texture.  Flan or maybe crème brûlée for dessert?  Twenty years ago the answer would have emphatically been "no way!"   Luckily that was then and this is now.     

Recently I was having a craving for something creamy and chocolate-y.  I also wanted to use up the rest of the 1/2 gallon of heavy cream I bought at Costco to make the whipped cream cake. Then it came to me...chocolate pots de crème!  And I had the perfect containers to serve them in - some really cute glass yogurt containers that my sister gave me. 

Whipped Cream Cake

Rose Levy Beranbaum was on the Martha Stewart Show recently to promote her latest cookbook "Heavenly Cakes."   Rose is a true authority in baking and her first book "The Cake Bible" is one of my favorites. When it comes to cakes this lady is an expert!

She made this whipped cream cake on the show and when I first heard that there was no butter or oil in the recipe I was definitely skeptical.   Is that even possible?  Indeed it is! 

The batter comes together so quickly you wouldn't believe it.  No business of creaming butter and sugar and adding the dry ingredients alternately with the liquid.  This recipe is a dream and the cake is so moist and delicious.  It's definitely a keeper!

Boston Cream Pie

Why is Boston Cream Pie called a pie when it's obviously a cake?  I did a little research online and apparently the "pie" part came from the tins that the cake layers were baked in.  See, you learn something new every day.

The Mar/Apr 2011 issue of Cook's Illustrated magazine featured this cake and it immediately jumped to the top of my "must-bake" list.   I can't remember if I've ever had Boston Cream Pie before, even in the town itself when I've visited before.   How sad is that?

My only disappointment with the recipe was that the pastry cream wasn't as firm and thick as it was supposed to be.  In fact, it was super runny.   I think it's because I was too impatient and didn't cook the custard long enough.    Lesson learned for next time - follow the recipe! 

I'm dedicating this cake to my dear friend Jill who's getting married in her hometown of Boston this summer.   Besides wedding cake can you guess what other treat I'll be partaking in while I'm there?

Berry Fool

When it comes to unusual food names the British definitely take the top prize.  Care for some bubble and squeak or spotted dick?  How about toad-in-the hole?  By their names alone they don't necessarily get your taste buds salivating do they?

Now here's a British dessert that completely belies its peculiar moniker, fool.  In this case strawberry and blackberry fool.  Looking for the perfect dessert that's creamy, light and  bursting with fruit flavor?  Look no further.  

If you love berries and you love cream I can pretty much guarantee that berry fool is right up your alley.   I can't think of a better dessert to herald the beginning of spring.

Panna Cotta and Florentine Cookies

This month's Daring Bakers' challenge brought back wonderful memories of Lake Como for me.   My friends and I travelled there to attend our friend Christine's summer wedding in the charming town of Varenna.

You can't imagine how breathtakingly beautiful this place was - right out of a postcard.   Sun, lake and amazing Italian food...what could be better?  Unfortunately no sightings of George Clooney!

The best panna cotta I've ever had was at the restaurant of the hotel where we stayed, Hotel Villa Cipressi.  Creamy and silky smooth with lots of fresh berries -  I practically licked the glass clean it was so delicious.  This version comes pretty close - all that's missing is the Italian scenery.

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.