Daring Bakers' Challenge March 2015: Tarte Tatin

Welcome to March in New England...

Come on in and see what is cooking.


This month's daring Bakers' Challenge is a classic. For the March Daring Bakers’ Challenge, Korena from Korena in the Kitchen taught us that some treats are best enjoyed upside down. She challenged us to make a tarte tatin from scratch.
The last time I made a tarte tatin was in culinary school about a thousand years ago. I admit that I have become lazy with puff pastry and buy it when I need it. I justify my laziness by buying really good quality pastry,  Dufours,  and saying probably correctly that it is better than any I could make. But here is Korena daring us to make it from scratch and giving an "easy to use" recipe.

I loved the rough puff pastry recipe and it will be a keeper. I had some definite challenges with the rest of the recipe. For the recipe that we were given, Click here

I started by making a Pear Tarte Tatin. I used the recipe and had trouble right off the bat with the sugar/butter mixture crystallizing. I also did not cook the pastry long enough so the dessert was a bit doughy.

Pear Tarte Tatin

I did a bit of reading. I went back to my basic knowledge of how to work puff pastry and I saw this hilarious video of Julia Child making a Tarte Tatin. Click here if you want to see this video. She flips the tarte at 18:00 minutes and that is where your confidence will balloon. She is classic like the tarte tatin and a testament to life's beautiful imperfections.Watching her flip that tart onto the plate made me laugh out loud. I am a huge Julia lover mainly for her enthusiasm and her attitude towards fearless cooking. I was laughing with love. So, I went back for another try. I decided to stay classic this time. There is a reason the tart is done with apples. They have flavor and firmness. I used the puff pastry recipe from Korena. I just love this puff pastry and may never buy Dufours again. The only change I made was with the butter. I grated the butter and then put it in the freezer for 10 minutes before mixing. I find this method makes the mixture stay chilled and I don't have to work the mixture as much because the butter is already in small pieces.

 

 

For the filling, I made a few changes. I added 2 tablespoons of water to the cup

of sugar in the saucepan and cooked that on low heat until the sugar dissolved.

Then I increased the heat to high and cooked the sugar mixture without stirring until it became a light amber color, swirling the pan to evenly distribute the caramel color.
Then I lowered the heat to medium and added the butter that I had cut into tablespoon portions and let that melt, stirring all the while with a wire whip.

I add the apples and cooked according to Korena's instructions.

I let the mixture sit off the heat for about ten minutes while I rolled out the puff pastry and preheated the oven.

 I heated the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit which is different from the recipe. I have always cooked puff pastry at a high temperature to keep the butter from melting and weighing down the pastry before the trapped air pockets in the pastry have a chance to expand. I covered the apples with the pastry, cut the air vents and popped that pan in the oven. After fifteen minutes of cooking, I lowered the heat to 375 degrees and continued to bake it for another fifteen minutes. The pastry got a beautiful deep golden color and a crisp puffy texture. I was feeling good about my second try.

 I  waited for the bubbling caramel to subside and then flipped it onto the plate.

 It was really pretty.

 I served the tart with a scoop of candied ginger ice cream and I was transported to dessert heaven. 

My husband ate half the tart and I am sure he was not just being kind...he loved it. I did not mention the caloric content because he looked so happy. 

Tarte Tatin is a challenge. I hope you will try it but my advice is not to try it on the fly, that is, read about it, look at pictures and give yourself plenty of time. The classic dishes are beautiful, thoughtful  concoctions that will, I guarantee, give you a sense of place in the world. 

Looking for adventure? Make a Tarte Tatin. Thank you Korena!

August Daring Baker Challenge - Pate A Choux

Pate a choux and I are old friends. It was one of the only things I could do well at culinary school. I loved the magic that seemed to ooze from a few simple ingredients  puffing up with  color and taste. I made gougeres, eclairs, cream puffs...anything I could find to make with pate a choux, I would try. But, I never made swans and in recent years, I have not had much reason to make any pate a choux. So, it was a real delight to see  this month's challenge.

Kat of The Bobwhites was our August 2012 Daring Baker hostess who inspired
us to have fun in creating pate a choux shapes, filled with crème patisserie or Chantilly cream. We
were encouraged to create swans or any shape we wanted and to go crazy with filling flavors
allowing our creativity to go wild!

The recipe looked sound. I remembered a few techniques that helped the pate a choux rise and dry nicely so I added those in when making the recipe. Then I got crabby....really crabby. I decided that if I could make swans, I could make crabs. so I piped a lot of  crabby looking shapes in addition to swans and baked them.

I put my little crabs filled with crabmeat salad of course on the dinner plate with an orange and avocado salad. Hubby was deeeelighted.

For dessert, yes, we had swans. I made them into profiteroles filled Sweet Scoops Ginger Frozen Yogurt and perched on Coops Hot Fudge Sauce, my new obsession. The taste is rich but not overwhelming. It is better than homemade around this house.

Here is the recipe for Pate A Choux. It is a great one and easier than you may think!

Pate a Choux
(cannot be doubled)
Ingredients
½ cup (120 ml) (115 gm) (4 oz) butter 1 cup (240 ml) water ¼ teaspoon (1½ gm) salt 1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm) (5 oz) all-purpose flour 4 large eggs
Directions:
1. Line at least two baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper, or grease pans well.
2. Preheat oven to moderately hot 375°F/190°C/gas mark 5 .
3. In a small saucepot, combine butter, water, and salt. Heat over until butter melts, then remove from stove.
4. Add flour all at once and beat, beat, beat the mixture until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pot. I put the pot back on low heat and stir it allowing water to evaporate.
5. Add one egg, and beat until well combined. Add remaining eggs individually, beating vigorously after each addition.  I use a mixer on medium low speed to add the eggs. I add them one at a tinme allowing the eggs to incorprate before adding more. Many times, I do not need to add all the eggs. I look for a consistency that is firm but loose enough to pipe through a pastry tube. Resulting mixture should be somewhat glossy, very smooth, and somewhat thick.
6. Using a ¼” (6 mm) tip on a pastry bag, pipe out about 36 swan heads. You’re aiming for something between a numeral 2 and a question mark, with a little beak if you’re skilled and/or lucky.
7. Remove the tip from the bag and pipe out 36 swan bodies. These will be about 1.5” (40 mm) long, and about 1” (25 mm) wide. One end should be a bit narrower than the other.
8. Bake the heads and bodies until golden and puffy. The heads will be done a few minutes before the bodies, so keep a close eye on the baking process.
9. Remove the pastries to a cooling rack, and let cool completely before filling.

February 2012 Daring Bakers' Challenge - Quick Breads

  The Daring Bakers’ February 2012 host was – Lis! Lisa stepped in last minute and challenged us to create a quick bread we could call our own. She supplied us with a base recipe and shared some recipes she loves from various websites and encouraged us to build upon them and create new flavor profiles.

I used this challenge to make Banana Bread.
Oh, wait a minute! Before you yawn and  click away, I used the banana bread to make yummy French Toast. I served it for dessert and my guests loved it! I made the banana bread and kept it for a couple of days (ok I did eat a few slices) allowing the bread to get a bit stale. Then I made French Toast...super easy and served it with Sweet Scoops Frozen Ginger Yogurt and a drizzle of maple syrup. Then, because the french toast was so quick and easy, I had time to make some caramel and coat some banana slices for a crunchy garnish.


Banana Bread

4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
8 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 each eggs, large sized
2 cups bananas, very ripe and mashed
2/3 cup buttermilk, room temperature
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the loaf pans by spraying with food release. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
 Cream butter in a mixer with the paddle attachment. Add sugar slowly and beat for about five minutes.
  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the bananas.
Add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk  beginning and ending with the flour.
 Pour batter into prepared pans and bake until a tester toothpick comes out clean when inserted.
 Remove pans to a rack for about ten minutes. Remove bread from the pans and cool on a rack until room temperature.

Banana Bread French Toast:

8 slices Banana Bread, 3/4 inch thick
3 eggs
1 cup Half and Half
1 1/2 teaspoons light brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon fresh nutmeg, ground
2 tablespoons butter
Maple Syrup
 Arrange slices of banana bread on platter to air dry fro several hours.
 Beat eggs and brown sugar together in a medium bowl with a whip until just incorporated. Add the Half and Half and the nutmeg.
 Arrange the French Toast on plates and garnish with maple syrup, frozen ginger yogurt and caramelized bananas, if desired
 Serves 4