Churros

I'm a big fan of Churros but never really thought to make them at home.  Why?  Because it requires deep frying and I prefer not to do that in my kitchen.  Plus, anytime you go to Costco you can easily buy one for $1 each.  But let's be honest, the Costco variety don't hold a candle to the best ones I've ever tasted which are the ones in Spain.    

When I found myself with some leftover frying oil I decided to bite the bullet and make some of these delicious pastries.  The dough is basically pâte à choux, very similar to what you'd use for cream puffs.  The only difference being you pipe the dough in to long strips and then deep fry.  Once they are nice and golden brown they are then rolled in a cinnamon sugar mixture.   My favorite way to eat them is dipped in a chocolate sauce like they do for breakfast in Spain, churros con chocolate.

For the recipe I turned to one I found from Cook's Country.  Once you pipe the logs of dough you let them sit in the fridge for a while to firm up.   I had no trouble with piping, except towards the end when the dough was so stiff the bag burst!   As the churros were frying all seemed fine until they all developed this strange little hump on one end, as if air was trying to escape.  I'm not sure why the humps formed but at least it was consistent across all my churros.  Once cooled and rolled in cinnamon sugar all they needed was a dip in the chocolate sauce.  I'm telling you nothing compares to homemade churros - crispy and delicious!

Kouign Amann 2.0

My first attempt at making Kouign Amann was five years ago and unfortunately I didn't have much success.  You can see my first blog post about them here.  At the time I just couldn't get the laminated dough right which resulted in squat and dense pastries.  C'est pas bon. 

But now I'm very happy to report that after all this time I finally found a recipe that REALLY works!!!  And the hero of this story is none other than Paul Hollywood, celebrity baker from England and a judge on my favorite baking show The Great British Bake Off.  These Breton beauties were the featured technical challenge in the "Pastries" episode of Season 5.

Little did I know that the key to success was to only add sugar to the very last turn of the laminated dough.  My problem in previous attempts was that I was putting sugar in every turn which ended up melting in between the dough/butter layers.  

The pastry rose and puffed up beautifully in the oven and the sugar melted to a lovely caramel.  I admit I baked them a bit too long (notice the burnt looking bits) and they got darker than I would like so next time I'll take them out about 3-5 minutes earlier.   

This recipe may not be for everyone, but anyone who wants to learn more about laminated dough should give it a go.  Find the link to the kouign amann recipe on BBC's website here.

Snickerdoodles

Oh Snickerdoodle...your name is so strange but your taste is so delicious.  I have no idea where the moniker for this cinnamon and sugar coated, crackly chewy cookie came from but it's so good.  A true American classic and one that  I actually prefer over the ubiquitous chocolate chip.  

I remember making snickerdoodles in my 7th grade Home Economics class.  Back then the only fat called for in the recipe was vegetable shortening (aka Crisco) but this upgraded version from Cook's Illustrated  includes butter which really amps up the flavor.   

A sign of a really good bake are cracks on the tops of the cookies.  I don't know the science behind those fissures but I think it probably has something to do with the combination of cream of tartar and baking soda that's used as leaveners.   Try not to over bake the cookies because you want them to be crisp on the outside but still soft and chewy on the inside. 

For the ultimate summertime treat I sandwiched homemade strawberry ice cream between two snickerdoodles - pure bliss!    Stay tuned on this blog for the recipe for the ice cream.

Liege Waffles

Apparently I've got waffle on the brain because this is my second post about them this month.   While the Norwegian Vaffler are thin and pliable, their Belgian counterparts are anything but.  Inspiration to make Liege Waffles came from my cousin-in-law Cheryl who posted a picture of them on her Instagram account a few weeks ago.  

In the US most people are familiar with "Brussels waffles", aka Belgian waffles, but these Liege ones are a little different.  They're sweeter, denser and chewier than their well-known cousin.  The butter laden brioche-style batter is studded to the brim with chunky pearl sugar which melts and caramelizes on the outside when the waffles cook.   DELICIOUS!!!

My preference is to enjoy them plain but they're also the perfect base for other toppings like whipped cream or fresh fruit.   I've never had the pleasure of enjoying these treats in their native land, but I hope to one day.  In the meantime this version will more than suffice...and you don't need a passport to enjoy them!