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!

Pierre Hermé Pistachio Macarons

It only took about three years for me to finally get around to testing out Pierre Hermé's Macarons cookbook.  Call it procrastination if you like, but more than likely it was really macaron burnout on my part.  To say that I was maniacally obsessed with these French petit fours a few years ago is an understatement;  I was a fanatic and making them constantly.  It was great for my co-workers because I was bringing the macaron trials in to the office but after I found a fairly reliable recipe I stopped pretty much cold turkey.  

So what brought me out of hibernation after more than a year?  My brother's order of 200+ macarons in six different flavors.  Yikes!  I had been putting his order off for a few months and it finally got to the point where I couldn't delay any further.  

Up until that point I was using a macaron recipe that was French meringue based, i.e., no sugar syrup required.   Yes, it had its ups and downs but all the Italian meringue based recipes I previously made were far too sweet. It probably wasn't the most opportune time to try a new Italian meringue recipe, even if it was Pierre Hermé's, but I figured  if not now, then when?

My first attempt had to be Pierre's pistachio macarons, my absolute favorite flavor.   In hindsight had I known how fantastic and consistent his recipe was I would have converted ages ago!   Hermé is all about the filling which is where the real flavor of the macaron comes from and I couldn't agree more.   For the pistachio ganache I found this fantastic pure pistachio paste online that was 100% nuts, no added sugar.  Even better the company is based in the Central Valley of Northern California, miles from where I grew up!  

I highly encourage you to give this recipe a try if you want professional looking macarons from your own kitchen!

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....

Pumpkin-Pistachio Roll

I love fall.   Not only does the weather turn crisp and my cashmere sweaters are in heavy rotation, but baking takes on a different tone.  While spring and summer may emphasize fresh fruits and cool temperatures, in the autumn it's all about warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.

Pumpkin is the quintessential fall flavor.  Pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin whoopie pies - I love them all!  This pumpkin roll is one I'll be adding to the line-up.  I took the original recipe from Libby's and replaced the cream cheese filling with pistachio Swiss meringue buttercream.  Yes, I know cream cheese is traditional, but pistachio is a personal favorite of mine and I thought the two flavors would go well together.  I wasn't wrong...try it for yourself. 

Raspberry Pistachio Cheesecake

I've made cheesecake before but felt compelled to make this particular one for purely superficial reasons.  I just loved how it looked in the picture.  The recipe comes from The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook.  The red raspberries were such a beautiful complement to the verdantly green pistachios.  Plus, pistachios are one of favorite nuts so that pretty much sealed the deal. 

Most cheesecakes are baked in a removable bottom pan - not this one.  Instead you use a regular cake pan so no need for aluminum foil and possibly leakage.  I admit I was a bit skeptical about how "easy" the baked cake would release from the pan but I followed the instructions and didn't have any issues.  Thank goodness!  

I want to wish one of my dearest friends (and mother to my goddaughter) a very Happy Birthday!  Gratulerer med dagen Gullet!!!

Brown Butter, Pistachio and Poppy Seed Financiers

Blogger La Tartine Gourmande, aka Béa Peltre, recently appeared on The Martha Stewart Show to make these financiers.  If you haven't seen her blog yet I highly recommend it; the pictures alone are  absolutely divine.

Lately I'm finding myself more and more drawn to simple, easy and delicious recipes and this one fits the bill.   No stand-mixer required; essentially just a mixing bowl and whisk.   Since pistachios are one of my favorite nuts these little cakes were definitely calling my name.  Add to it poppy seeds and brown butter and it's a done deal.  

I tweaked Béa's recipe just slightly and the financiers turned out delicious.  I skipped the cardamom pods (just didn't have any) and since my pistachios were more brown than green, a teeny tiny drop of food color.  My financiers were baked in this mini bundt pan, a great purchase I found at Home Goods, because I thought the shape would be perfect for these little cakes.

Pistachio Pound Cake

Pistachio has to be one of my all-time favorite flavors so when I saw this version of Tish Boyle's marble pound cake on Kokken69's blog I instantly wanted to replicate it, with just a few tweaks.  I recently bought a bavarian bundt pan but had yet to use it and thought this cake would be the perfect inauguration.  Furthermore I wanted to take another crack at making a cake with a zebra stripe pattern.

Kokken69's adaption calls for using pistachio paste instead of a cocoa mixture to achieve the marble effect.   After finishing a massive macaron order for my brother my supply of pistachio paste was completely exhausted.   Necessity is the mother of invention so I found the next best thing I could, Jell-O instant pistachio pudding mix.  I sifted out the pistachio nut bits before mixing the powder with 3 cups of the vanilla cake batter.

Unfortunately the zebra pattern I was after wasn't happening.  Rather than creating stripes, the two colors of batter blended together.   But, the cake itself was really delicious with a moist, tender crumb.   The pudding mix didn't provide nearly enough pistachio flavor so next time I'm going to use paste and also stick with the marble design!

Dark Chocolate Truffles

When I started this blog two years ago I had no clue about all the swag that was out there to be won.   I've entered my fair share of blog giveaways, especially when its cookware or mixers, but I never actually won anything....until now!

How ecstatic was I when I received an email from Rosie of Sweetapolita last month telling me that I was one of the winners of her chocolate giveaway.   My prize?  Two boxes of dark chocolate couverture (minimum 70% cacao) from Cacao Barry.

My only dilemma now was what to make.  Perhaps chocolate chip cookies or brownies?  With this high quality chocolate I didn't want to go the obvious route.   It just so happened that the Jan/Feb 2012 issue of Cook's Illustrated featured chocolate truffles....uh, bingo! 

If there was anything that would really showcase the dark chocolate it had to be the truffles.  I wanted a bit of variety so I coated some in pistachios, homemade cashew toffee bits and powdered sugar along with the traditional cocoa powder.  These are going to be the perfect holiday gift for the chocoholics I know.

Pistachio Ice Cream

I'm back on my ice cream kick.  This time I had to make another favorite...pistachio!   Pistachio is what I call my touchstone flavor; it's what I measure all ice cream by, whether it's commercially made or homemade.  Because, I figure, if you can make a fantastic tasting pistachio you can make all the others.  

This ice cream is rich, creamy and bursting with pistachio flavor.   It actually reminds me of the pistachio gelato you'd find in Florence.  Hmmmm...gelato.  It brings back so many great memories of my friends and I travelling in Italy.  I swear I think we had gelato at least three times a day. 

The key to the ice cream's intense flavor is pistachio paste.  It's expensive as hell but it's worth it in this recipe.  I was lucky enough to receive a tub of this liquid gold a while back and I've been hoarding it like crazy ever since, using it almost exclusively for macarons and now ice cream.  I'm down to the last few spoonfuls so you can bet that  I'm savoring every remaining morsel.  

Spring Macarons

left to right: lemon, pistachio, passion fruit, raspberry

One of the things that's so great about baking is its resourcefulness.  What I mean by that is how one recipe can influence and inspire the next.    After making the crème brûlées a few weeks ago I found myself with a lot of egg whites.   Normally I'll freeze them for use later to make swiss meringue buttercream frosting.  But this time I decided not to.  I haven't made macarons in a while so I ended up saving the whites to whip up a few batches. 

The weather over the last few months in the Bay Area has been pretty dismal.  I can't remember a time when there's been so much rain and gloom.  It was downright depressing.  But sunny days are now upon us, knock on wood, and I hope they're here to stay.  

These macarons are inspired by spring colors.  I used Tartelette's basic recipe as a starting point and tinted them with powdered food color.  The filling is swiss meringue buttercream mixed with the following:

lemon: Trader Joe's lemon curd

pistachio: pistachio paste

passion fruit: passion fruit puree cooked with Certo pectin and cooled

raspberry: raspberry fruit puree cooked with Certo pectin and cooled

 HAPPY SPRING TO ALL!!!

Macarons for barter...

My friend Jessie just returned from a whirlwind month-long tour of Asia with her family. She's a great photographer, so in exchange for teaching me some DSLR tricks and tips I'm making her macarons and chocolate chip cookies. I think it's a fair trade.

Jessie's never tried my macarons before and I hope she likes them. Made her some classic flavors (lemon poppy-seed, pistachio and chocolate) and one I've never made before, mango. I added finely ground freeze-dried mango slices to the macaron batter and mango puree to the buttercream filling. It's a fine line between adding enough puree to get that mango flavor but not so much that the buttercream separates...think it turned out ok.

Still not satisified with the chocolate macaron, so my search continues. Tried several recipes but have gotten inconsistent results across the board: too brownie-like, no feet, super thin crust. When they say macarons are finicky they're not kidding and chocolate is, by far, the diva of them all. It's frustrating, but I'm determined to get it right...come hell or high water. I'll definitely be rejoicing when that day comes.

Macaron Flavors: Lemon-Poppy Seed, Strawberry and Pistachio

Stayed up late last night to bake the shells for the pistachio and lemon-poppy seed. Pistachio is my old standby and it's my personal favorite. But for the lemon I added the poppy seeds to the batter as a new twist. They turned out quite nice and I like the contrast of the black seeds against the bright yellow shell. This was my first foray into making strawberry. Added freezed dried strawberry powder along with powdered red food coloring to the batter. I love how the pink color turned out.

For the fillings I flavored buttercream with pistachio paste, lemon curd and pureed fresh strawberries. Really yummy!

I think I've done pretty well with the pistachio and fruit flavored macarons but I haven't found a chocolate one that's yielded good results. The search continues..stay tuned!