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. 

 

Coconut Pineapple Cake

 

The Duncan Hines Dolly Parton coconut cake mix has become a recent favorite of mine and I'm finding even more ways to incorporate it into my baking.  I wanted to thank a friend for a recent act of kindness and I thought the cake would be a nice and delicious gift.   This time I took a tropical turn and made a Coconut Pineapple Cake.  Who doesn't love the combination of coconut and pineapple?  [You have the right to remain silent if you don't!]

 

 

The first time I made Dolly's coconut cake I filled and frosting it with cream cheese ermine frosting.  While that cake was delicious, to reduce the sweetness on this cake and let the pineapple flavor really come through, I made a small batch of vanilla pastry cream for the filling.  I then added homemade pineapple compote which was spread between the cake layers.  On top of the pastry cream layer I also applied another thin layer of the pineapple compote.  You can never have enough pineapple in my book.

Lightly sweetened mascarpone whipped cream enveloped the cake which was then finished with a flurry of dessicated coconut.  As I was gifting the cake on Easter Sunday I added a few holiday themed sprinkles.  I can attest that this coconut pineapple cake not only looks good, it tastes amazing!

Toasted Almond Cake

 

I saw a picture of this Toasted Almond Cake on Cook's Country's Instagram account a few weeks ago and immediately saved it because I knew I wanted to make it.  What drew me in was the caramelized almond exterior.  Plus, the idea of fluffy cake layers filled with almond flavored pastry cream sounded fantastic too.

 

 

Instead of the white cake layers that were called for in the original recipe I used CI's Yellow Sheet Cake recipe, baked in three 8" cake rounds.  Pastry cream is used for the filling and the exterior of the cake is frosted with a German buttercream (butter and pastry cream whipped together).  I found the German buttercream to be a bit too fussy so the next time I make this cake I'll use my favorite Swiss meringue buttercream instead.  The toasted and caramelized almonds are the final decoration and really complete the cake.    

Think this might be a new favorite of mine.  The tender, fluffy cake combined with the pastry cream filling and nutty exterior is a real winner.

Mini Fruit Tarts

 

After making six, yes six!, cream tarts in the span of three weeks I was pretty much over them.  At least for the time being.  Turns out making so many tarts meant I found myself with leftover pâte sucrée, pastry cream and fruit.   What to do? Make Mini Fruit Tarts!

 

One of the (many) lessons I have learned during this pandemic is to be more efficient with food, e.g., using up leftovers.  Pre-pandemic I was one of the last people to eat leftovers, mainly because I didn't like having the same thing over and over.  Nowadays I try to be creative and make something "new" out of them.

 

The mini fruit tarts offer just the right amount to satisfy your sweet tooth craving.  You'll need tart tins to make them, but in a pinch you could also use a standard muffin tin.  Just make sure to spray it with nonstick spray beforehand!

Choux au Craquelin with Pistachio Crème Mousseline and Raspberry Jam

 

Towards the end of last year I decided to make homemade pistachio paste using this recipe from Stella Parks.  Being ambitious I thought it was a good idea to double the recipe so that I would have plenty of paste to last me for a while.  Little did I know that doing this would test the limits of my poor food processor.  It definitely wasn't a good sign when the motor started smoking...ha!  Fortunately, after a long rest the food processor recovered and I didn't have to replace it. Phew!  Perhaps it was that trauma that made me procrastinate in using the pistachio paste.  Several months passed and I finally found a use for it.

Pistachio is one of my favorite nut flavors and I thought it would be delicious in a pastry cream.  I found a recipe for Choux au Craquelin with Pistachio Crème Mousseline and Raspberry Jam from the blog Ana's Baking Chronicles.  Her pictures of the pastries were so stunning that I was immediately enticed to make them myself.  

You'll notice the crackly crust on top of the cream puffs.  This is called craquelin which is a dough made of butter, sugar, flour and salt (and a little food coloring, if you want).  It's rolled out thin, then frozen and cut into discs using a small round cutter.  The craquelin is placed on top of the pâte à choux just before baking.  When baked it turns into a crackly shell on top of the baked puff.

 

One of the issues I've found with cream puffs is the pastry cream filling tends to run and not hold it's shape, especially when you try to cut into it.  What I especially liked about Ana's recipe is that she fills her choux with pastry cream whipped with butter, also known as crème mousseline or German buttercream.  The result was a filling bursting with pistachio flavor that also held up to piping and cutting.  A layer of homemade raspberry jam at the bottom of the choux serves as a nice contrast to the nutty filling.  One bite of this decadent pastry and you'll be transported back to France!

Swedish Princess Cake (Prinsesstårta)

I'd been looking for a cake to celebrate spring and Easter and the first thing that popped in to my head was a Swedish Princess Cake (or Prinsesstårta).  It's been on my baking bucket list for what seems like an eternity so it was finally time to have a go.  Fittingly, I think my introduction to these beautiful cakes was at IKEA many, many years ago...ha!  What could be more delicious than moist vanilla genoise sponge cake filled with layers of raspberry jam, diplomat cream a gorgeous dome of whipped cream and then covered in verdant colored marzipan?   Nothing, I tell you!

For the recipe I turned to Mary Berry, of The Great British Bake Off fame.  Princess cake was the technical challenge in the Continental Cakes episode of Series 5.  At first glance this recipe is daunting, there's a lot of ingredients and a lot of steps!, but don't be deterred. While the contestants were given just over two hours to complete their cakes I made my life easy and decided to make it over the course of a weekend.  Some of the components (pastry cream, jam, marzipan and fondant rose) were made on the first day and the sponge cake and assembly were done on the second day.   

  

I passed on the chocolate decorations from Mary's original recipe and kept it sweet and simple with a light dusting of powdered sugar.  I just think it looks so stunning in an elegant and understated way. I don't know about you, but I seriously love all the spring feels this cake is giving me.  The beautiful pastel green marzipan exterior and cream and pink interiors are just so refreshing and light.  No doubt this beauty will banish any wintertime blues you may have.  

Happy Spring!

Bee Sting Cake | Bienenstich

Bee Sting Cake.  The name of this dessert intrigued me when I saw it in the Oct/Nov 2014 issue of Cook's Country.  And where there is intrigue there is inevitably a strong inclination to action so I had to make it.  It's German in origin, Bienenstich, and is basically a honey and almond coated brioche cake filled with vanilla pastry cream.   

My family prefers desserts that aren't too sweet so this cake fit the bill perfectly.  They're favorite part, and mine, was the delicious and crunchy honey almond topping.  I could just eat that alone.   Oktoberfest is just around the corner and if you need a cake to accompany your beer and pretzel why not give this bee sting a try?

Gluten-Free Strawberry Tartlets

 

Just a quick post this time!  I spent the weekend trying out more recipes from ATK's How Can It Be Gluten Free Cookbook.  I don't have a gluten intolerance yet I find myself drawn to these gluten free treats.  Why?  Because you seriously can't tell!!   The chocolate layer cake I made the other week was so unbelievable that I was anxious to give the other recipes a go.  Luckily I had some pastry cream in my fridge and it made absolute sense to try out the tart shell recipe.  I tell you it's spot on...like the kind you'd find at any patisserie.  The perfectly crumbly sablée-like crust is the ideal foundation for the pastry cream and fresh fruit.  Who needs Paris, or gluten for that matter???

Run, don't walk and get this cookbook!   Stay tuned for more testing....

Crepe Cake

My family and friends have always been my biggest baking champions and ever since I started this blog their support has increased exponentially. I love to get suggestions and ideas from them about what I should make next.

Some of these recommendations have come from one of my oldest and dearest besties, Jill, who is celebrating her birthday today.  Jill was the one who suggested I try the famous Milles Crêpes Cake at  Lady M Confections the next time I was in NYC.  She had read about their celebrated dessert and and thought it would be ideal to attempt for the blog.

After one bite of Lady M's creation I knew instantly what all the fuss was about.  To call this cake amazingly delicious would not even begin to do it justice.  Aside from being beautifully constructed it tasted heavenly...layer upon layer of crepes filled with a whipped pastry cream.  I definitely had to try and make it at home.

My first attempt using leftover crepes and pastry cream wasn't as successful as I had hoped.   Problem #1: not enough crepes.  Problem #2: pastry cream filling that was too runny.  Result: a short cake that didn't hold its structure.   Oh well, it still tasted great!  Next time I think I'll use this recipe I found from the NY Times.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY J !!!! 

Paris-Brest

I'm lucky enough to be a recipe tester for Cook's Illustrated, the ne plus ultra cooking authorities, so when a Paris-Brest recipe landed in my Inbox many, many, many months ago I was super excited.  I had every intention of making it straight away until procrastination and summer vacation distracted me.  When I saw that the recipe was published in the current issue of the magazine (November/December 2011) I figured it was about time to make it.

If you're not familiar with this classic French dessert it's a large ring of pâte à choux filled with a praline-infused pastry cream.  They say the Paris-Brest was the brainchild of a very ingenious baker to commemorate the famous bicycle race between the two cities.  Leave it to a Frenchie to think of something like that...love it!

I'm sending this cake across cyberspace to my dear friend Mimi who is celebrating her birthday today.  Joyeux anniversaire mon amie!  

Fraisier

 

Fraisier, the classic French cake, was last month's Daring Bakers' challenge.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to participate due to some prior baking commitments, but I figured better late than never, right?

My interpretation of a fraisier is pastry cream and fresh strawberries layered between chiffon-style vanilla cake, topped with a cream cheese flavored whipped cream and finally covered with a fresh strawberry coulis. 

Fruit Tarts made with Pâte Sucrée

Do you want to hear something funny? I've re-discovered all that is great about the library.  Which is pretty ironic because when I was a kid I practically lived there, I loved it so much.  But, the advent of amazon.com, coupled with a steady paycheck, pretty much killed that love affair.  

A few months ago, in an effort to scale back on my amazon addiction, I was reminded by my sister that the neighborhood library was recently remodeled.  So I went to check it out and see what they had to offer. What I found were tons of magazines, cookbooks and DVDs to peruse...score!  

On a recent trip I saw The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook among the stacks and immediately grabbed it.  It had been featured before on the Martha Stewart Show and the fruit tarts pictured on the cover immediately caught my eye.

The crust is made with a pâte sucrée or sweet short pastry dough.  I normally use this Sweet Caillat Crust for fruit tarts, but I wanted to try something new and I'm glad I did.  The crust is crispy and crunchy, similar to a cookie and tastes fantastic with the pastry cream and fresh fruit.

Cream Puffs and a Giveaway

Earlier this year Martha Stewart launched a great new show all about baking called "Martha Bakes".  If you haven't seen it already check it out on the Hallmark Channel.  Every week she presents different recipes and techniques around a common theme.   A recent episode was all about pâte à choux. 

Pâte à choux is one of my favorite doughs because of its versatility.  You start with a basic recipe which can be made into so many things: eclairs, profiteroles, gougeres and croquembouche to name a few. 

After watching Martha's show I was inspired to make the most traditional version of pâte à choux, cream puffs.   The golden brown puffs were filled with vanilla bean diplomat cream (pastry cream mixed with whipped heavy cream) and then dusted with powdered sugar.  Perfection! 

Now to the giveaway....

Once again the nice people at CSN have provided a $35 gift code for use at their online stores.   They literally sell anything you can imagine at great prices - from Le Creuset cookware that I love so much to a beautiful tufted velvet headboard my friend Christine recently purchased.

To enter just leave a comment to this blog post by Friday April 8.

RULES: Only one entry per person allowed and you MUST include your email address  in the comment to be eligible.  Sorry, but that's the only way the winner can be notified to claim the gift code.  CSN only ships to addresses in the US and Canada.   There may be international shipping charges for Canadian addresses.

The winner of the gift card is comment #34.  I'll be contacting you directly with your prize!

Mini Fruit Tarts

The food section of today's SF Chronicle featured a recipe for a tart crust that is a bit unconventional. As luck would have it I happened to have some leftover vanilla bean pastry cream in my fridge, from a macaron filling experiment gone awry, and plenty of fresh fruit. What better time than the present to try out this unusual crust? Rather than making one big tart I decided to use tartelette pans because I think they're so cute. Plus, if the finished product turned out ok I could easily share them with friends and family.

The Sweet Caillat Crust is made in a similar manner to pâte à choux dough, except without the eggs. Butter is melted with oil and water and when it reaches a boil, flour and sugar are added. The dough is mixed until it becomes like a thick paste. Here's the best part: instead of rolling out the dough you simply pat it into the tart pan and bake in a hot oven. For someone like me who hates washing dishes this is a godsend. I have to admit I was rather skeptical about this technique when I initially read the article, but the results were great. The crust was really tasty with a nice brown color and flaky, crispy texture.

Filled the cooled crusts with the pastry cream and fresh strawberries and blueberries. The final touch was brushing the tops with a bit of melted apple jelly to give the tartelettes a beautiful sheen. I think they look like the ones you see in the boulangeries of France. They'll make a great after-lunch dessert at work tomorrow! :-)