Showing posts with label chocolate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chocolate. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

The Daring Bakers: Lamingtons




I joined the Daring Bakers about six years ago, when I first moved to the US. It's such a great idea - home cooks, at all different levels, commit to complete one baking challenge once a month. The idea is that you step out from your own kitchen and in to someone else's, trying someone's grandmother's recipe from the other side of the world, learning how to make things from scratch, and widen your horizons when it comes to flavor and execution. I haven't been active in years, but thought it would be fun to get back into it. So, here it is, the Daring Bakers May Challenge: Lamingtons.



 
Honestly, I had never heard about Lamingtons before this challenge. I've now learned that it's a national Australian dessert, a light corn flour based vanilla sponge cake, that is dipped in a chocolate syrup and then rolled in shredded coconut. It's very simple, but oh so delicious.
 
There are a few variations on this traditional dessert - some people like to have a little strawberry jam or lemon curd in between two layers, others use whipped cream. Since the cornbread, chocolate and shredded coconut are all so sweet, I used some of my home made salted caramel sauce to balance the sweetness. And because, who doesn't think that vanilla, chocolate, caramel and coconut are a match made in heaven? 
 

 
 
I know I many times use the word "easy" when explaining the baking process. Many of you have said that the recipes look complicated, so just to make sure you believe me, I'll show you how easy it is to make these yummy treats. And messy. Be prepared to get your hands dirty!
 
This is an old family recipe from Marcellina in Cucina, and is sure to make your tummy happy.
 

Lamington Sponge Cake
from Marcellina in Cucina
Servings: 24
 
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup (240 ml) (225 gm) (8 oz) castor (superfine) sugar
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups (300 ml) (200 gm) (7 oz) cornflour (cornstarch)
1 ½ teaspoons (8 gm) baking powder
1 tablespoon (15 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) butter, melted (optional)
2¾ cups (660 ml) (250 gm) (9 oz) unsweetened desiccated coconut, to assemble


Instructions:
  1. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F.
  2. Prepare a 4 ½ cm (1¾ inch) deep, 23cm x 33cm (9”x 13”) baking pan by lining with non-stick paper. I sprayed a little cooking spray between the pan and the parchment paper, to make sure it stayed in place.
  3. In a stand mixer bowl place eggs, sugar and salt. Using the whisk attachment, beat on high for 15 minutes.

4. While the eggs and sugar are beating, sift the corn flour and baking powder at least 3 times.


5. After 15 minutes add vanilla and beat on high for another 5 minutes. The mixture should have at least tripled in size, be light in color and very foamy.


6. Sift flour mixture over the egg mixture. If you are using butter, thoroughly fold it in now but lightly.

 
7. Spread mixture into your prepared pan and smooth out evenly.
 

8. Bake in preheated moderate oven for 22-25 minutes. The sponge will rise quite a lot but then settle back down. Don’t be tempted to open the oven to peak. When baked the sponge will have shrunk very slightly from the sides and should feel springy when pressed gently.

9. Turn the sponge out immediately onto a wire rack to cool and reverse sponge so as not to mark the top. Allow to cool. It is best to keep the cake for a day before making the Lamingtons as the cake will be easier to handle.

     
For the salted caramel recipe, please go to this blog post.


Chocolate icing

3 ¼ cups (780 ml) (400 gm) (14 oz) icing (powdered) sugar
1/3 cup (80 ml) (40 gm) (1-1/3 oz) cocoa powder
1 tablespoon (15 gm) (15 gm) (½ oz) butter, melted
½ to ¾ cup (120 ml to 180 ml) milk


Instructions:

Sift the icing sugar and cocoa into a heatproof bowl.


Stir in the butter and ½ cup milk. Set the bowl over a pan of hot water. Stir until icing is smooth adding more milk to thin the icing if needed. I find I need more than ½ cup but not quite ¾ cup of milk.




To assemble the Lamingtons:

Cut the sponge cake into 24 rectangular pieces – 6 across and 4 down. You can trim the crusts to make the square more even. Plus, you just have to make sure it tastes good, right?


Keep the icing over the hot water to keep it melted. Place the shredded coconut in a shallow bowl.


Add the filling and arrange the squares on top of one another.


Dip each piece into the chocolate icing. I used a fork to lift the sponge cake bites.


Allow excess to drip off then toss gently into the coconut. Stand cakes on a wire rack to set, about one hour.


Enjoy!



 


Monday, April 20, 2015

White Chocolate Lavender French Macarons




Ever since I had my first macaron at Bottega Louie in downtown LA last year - a perfect, powder blue Earl Grey macaron with gold dust on top - I knew I was in love. It was sweet and had a crunchy outside, while soft on the inside, and simply delicious. Macarons are the perfect treat for an afternoon fika, when you just want something little, but sweet, to go with your hot cup of coffee.

This past Saturday, I decided to try making macarons for the first time. I had read countless recipes and directions for making French macarons, so I was well aware of the fact that it would be a challenge. I found one recipe that offers two important things: a) the recipe uses weight rather than volume to make it more precise, and b) it has a useful trouble shooting video and lists the common errors when baking macarons. Still, it took me three batches and staying up till two in the morning, to succeed. Here's what I learned.




Drawing circles using a compass on a non-stick parchment paper will help make the macarons the same size. Make sure to leave some space between them so that they don't bake into each other.

- Sift the sugar and almond flour. This will get rid of any lumps and help you get a smooth batter.

- It's all about how you stir the batter. I knew I had to be careful when folding the batter, but what I also learned was that it's easy to over-mix. The first batch of rose water macarons with a buttercream filling, were over-mixed and turned out flat. With the second batch I was overly cautious and mixed the batter until the dry ingredients had just been incorporated. These guys turned out under-mixed, chubby and lumpy. The correct way is to carefully fold the batter along the sides, until it's slowly running off the spoon like a ribbon. These white chocolate lavender macarons turned out perfect. You know what they say - third time's the charm!

- It's important to tap the baking sheet hard on the counter to get rid off all of the air bubbles in the batter. This will also help the macarons not to crack.

- Leave the piped macarons on the counter for about 20 minutes to form a little dry shell, before putting them in the oven. This will help them keep their shape.

- Make lots of them, because they'll be gone in no time.




The wonderful thing about macarons is that you can make any filling you like, the basic recipe is always the same. I made a rose water buttercream and a white chocolate lavender ganache. Even though the rose water macarons didn't have the right consistency, I still loved the delicate rose flavor. Another great thing is that they freeze well, so you can always make them in advance if you're having a party. 

Bon appétit!






French Macarons
from HowToCookThat

4 large egg whites (or 5 small) 140g (4.94 ounces)
1/3 cup or 70g (2.47 ounces) caster sugar [*US cups 1/3 cup plus 1 tsp.]
1 1/2 cups or 230g (8.11 ounces) pure icing sugar [US cups 1 1/2 cups plus 4 tsp.] 

1 cup or 120g (4.23 ounces) almond meal [US cups 1 cup plus 3 teaspoons]
2g (0.07 ounces) salt (tiny pinch)
gel food coloring (optional)




Instructions:
  1. Preheat the oven to 300F (150 grader)
  2. Place egg whites and cater sugar in a bowl and mix with electric mixer until stiff enough to turn the bowl upside down without it falling out, continue to whip for 1-2 more minutes. How long this takes will depend on you mixer. Add gel or powdered food coloring and continue to mix for a further 20 seconds.
  3. Sift the almond meal and icing sugar and salt twice, discarding any almond lumps that are too big to pass through the sieve.
  4. Fold into the egg white mixture. It should take roughly 30-50 folds using a rubber spatula. The mixture should be smooth and a very viscous, not runny. Over-mix and your macarons will be flat and have no foot, under mix and they will not be smooth on top.
  5. Pipe onto trays lined with baking paper, rap trays on the bench firmly (this prevents cracking) and then bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Check if one comes off the tray fairly cleanly, if not bake for a little longer (make sure you are using NON-stick baking paper or they will stick).



Rose water buttercream
altered recipe from addapinch

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 - 2 cups confectioners sugar
1 tsp rose water
pinch salt
1-2 tbsp heavy cream


Instructions:
  1. Place softened butter into the bowl of a stand mixer that has been fitted with the paddle attachment. Turn the mixer on a medium setting and cream the butter until it is smooth and has lightened in color, about 3 minutes.
  2. Add confectioner's sugar, ½ a cup at a time. After each cup has been incorporated, turn the mixer onto the highest speed setting and for about 10 seconds to lighten the frosting.
  3. Add rose water and a pinch of salt and combine until well-incorporated.
  4. Add heavy cream until the frosting has reached the preferred consistency. For a firmer frosting, add more confectioner's sugar.



Lavender White Chocolate Ganache
altered recipe from butter sweet symphony

1/2 cup white chocolate
1/3 cup cream
2 teaspoons dried edible lavender



Instructions:
  1. Place the chopped chocolate in a mixing bowl.
  2. Heat the cream gently with the dried lavender.
  3. Pour the lavender-infused through a strainer over the chopped chocolate. Mix until it forms a smooth consistency.
  4. Pour the mixture into a piping bag and let chill until the ganache is at the correct consistency to be piped.


French Macarons

4-5 stora äggvitor 140g
70g fint socker
230g florsocker

120g mandelmjöl
2g salt (en nypa)
Hushållsfärg i gelform




Rosenvattensmörkräm

55 g smör, rumstemp
2,5 - 3,5 dl florsocker
1 tsk rosenvatten
nypa salt
1-2 msk grädde



Lavendel- och vit chokladganache

1,2 dl vit choklad
0,8 dl grädde
2 tsk torkad lavendel