Coconut, Strawberry, White Chocolate and Rhubarb Mousse Cake

Sometimes the most unusual things inspire me to create a dessert. I have been obsessed with white lately, white on white with lots of texture. Textiles, paper, cheesecloth, birdcages, anything. I have really been getting inspired by Country Living magazine, which is an unusual choice for me because I am the antithesis of country, or at least what I thought country was. Anthropologie is another great source of inspiration. I have been shopping for clothes there for years but since I started photographing my food, I have become obsessed with their house wares and their displays. I walked in the store last week and saw a white and pink flower quilt that immediately inspired me to make this dessert.

I envisioned a mousse cake with layers of white and pink mousse. Little girl tea party colors, distressed antique white coffee table, bruised up silver tray... I don't know if I have been able to transmit that feeling in my photos. I find very difficult to translate what is in my head onto a photograph but that's ok.. Once I take it, it’s up to you to create your own fantasy.

This cake has five different layers and flavors and although it might seem difficult, it really isn’t because all mousse layers start with the same pate a bombe recipe and then flavored separately. Coconut dacquoise with strawberry, white chocolate and rhubarb mousse layers and covered with a thin layer of rhubarb jelly.









Coconut Dacquoise

Makes half sheetpan
135 grams powdered sugar, sifted
225 grams unsweetened coconut (fine)
215 grams egg whites
55 grams sugar

Whip the egg whites until almost fully whipped. Slowly add the sugar and whip to a stiff meringue. Remove the bowl from the mixer and add the sifted powdered sugar and the coconut in two batches while gently folding. The meringue will deflate a little. Don't worry, it's normal.

Pour the batter onto a half sheetpan lined with parchment paper and spread the batter evenly with an offset spatula. Bake at 375 until lightly golden brown. Let it cool.

When ready to assemble the cake, place a square cake ring on top of the dacquoise and press down so it cuts into it. This is where we will build the mousse cake.

Pate a Bombe

8 oz sugar
2 oz corn syrup
4 oz water
3 oz egg yolks

Cook the sugar, corn syrup and water to 240 degrees Farenheit. In the meantime, whip the yolks until they turn fluffy and pale. Add the cooked sugar to the yolks and continue beating until light, thick and the bowl has cooled.

Strawberry Mousse

2 oz pate a bombe
1 1/2 sheet of gelatin
3 oz fresh strawberry puree (I left the seeds in)
1 cup heavy cream, soft peak

Mix the pate a bombe with the strawberry puree. Soften the gelatin in ice water and then gently melt it in the microwave (maybe 5 seconds). Mix into the pate a bombe and whisk until it is well incorporated. Fold in the whipped cream. Pour the mousse in the square cake pan that we have lined with the coconut dacquoise. Spread over the dacquoise evely. Place the sheetpan in the freezer so the mouuse hardens and we can add another layer.

White Chocolate Mousse

4 oz pate a bombe
3 sheets of gelatin
6 oz white chocolate, melted
2 cups heavy cream, soft peak

Repeat the same process as above. Make sure the white chocolate is pretty warm when adding it to the pate a bombe. If the bombe is cold, the chocolate will harden quickly and it will be lumpy. Pour over the strawberry mousse and spread evenly. Freeze.

Rhubarb Mousse

2 oz pate a bombe
1 1/2 sheet of gelatin
3 oz poached rhubarb puree
1 cup heavy cream, soft peak

Same procedure as above. Pour over the white chocolate mousse and spread evenly. Freeze.

I topped the mousse with a super thin layer of rhubarb jelly, coconut and grated dried raspberries.





Fluffy... and light are the words that describe this cake best... love Spring.

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Daring Bakers... Cheesecake Lollipops Part Deux

I made vanilla cheesecake lollipops for Easter this year so I was surprised when I learned that my second Daring Bakers challenge would also be cheesecake lollipops. I felt the pressure to make something different but how could I? I'm not sure that I achieved anything tremendeously different but I had fun making these again so that's what counts right?


The Daring Bakers recipe was a plain cheesecake recipe so I decided to give it my own twist and add different flavors. I left some of the cheesecake mix plain with a little vanilla extract but for the rest I used fresh raspberry puree and violet syrup (I have a huge bottle of it that I need to use now). They are all good and in fact my little neighbors loved them. I made little decorations with royal icing, used sprinkles, crushed graham crackers... All fun!




Cheesecake Pops

adapted from Sticky, Messy, Chewy, Gooey by Jill O'Connor

Makes 30-40 pops

5 8-oz packages of cream cheese at room temperature
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
5 large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup heavy cream
Boiling water
Lollipop sticks

In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.

Pour the mix into the molds (I used the mini half sphere silicon molds) and bake in a water bath at 325 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until set. Freeze the molds and when solid, attach the haf spheres to make the balls. Insert a stick in the middle. Freeze again.

Melt bittersweet chocolate over a double boiler and when the cheesecake pops are hard solid, dip them in the chocolate and decorate with sprinkles, graham cracker crumbs, etc. I made a tiny bit of royal icing, colored it with different colors and piped into circles, dots, etc. I piped them onto parchment paper and let them air dry overnight. Those are the little decorations you see on top of the cheesecake.





A big thank you to Deborah from Taste and Tell and Elle from Feeding My Enthusiasms for hosting this month's challenge. And a super big thank you to Lis and Ivonne for managing this "village" that the Daring Bakers community has become. It was fun to try this again and all the kids surely enjoyed them!




Happy Sunday to you!

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Black Cherry and Brioche Pudding Brulee

I am really getting anxious for summer to arrive so we can get some beautiful stone fruits in. I think stone fruits are my favorite fruits to bake with. Clafoutis, galettes, tarts, roasted, jams... Endless possibilities. But as they say, patience is a virtue and I think I still have a good couple of months before we start seeing sweet, juicy stone fruits in the markets.

A couple of weekends ago, I walked into Williams and Sonoma and found some sour cherries preserved in syrup. Score! They were quite expensive but these griottes are really worth every penny. So far, I have been eating them straight out of the jar but I must stop before I finish them all. I must get a few desserts out of this one jar! I had some brioche in the freezer so of course my first thought was to make bread pudding, and I did. This was my breakfast today. I couldn't resist!

I sprinkled the tops with some demerara sugar and burnt it with my super dooper blow torch. It adds a little crunch to the otherwise creamy pudding.













Black Cherry and Brioche Pudding

1 cup organic whole milk
1 cup organic heavy cream
100 grams sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
4 eggs
2 small brioche
1/2 cup black cherries in syrup, drained

Whisk together the milk, cream, eggs, sugar, vanilla extract and almond extract. Cut the brioche into medium size pieces and divide these with the drained cherries amongst your ramekins. Pour the custard on top of the brioche and cherries.

Place the ramekins on a sheetpan, bring this to the oven and pour hot water in the pan. Bake them in a 300 degree oven in a water bath for about 30 minutes or until the center is set.

Let them cool. Sprinkle demerara sugar on top and burn with a blow torch. Decorate with extra cherries on top. I had some creme anglaise left over from another baking project and I added a little bit of pistachio paste to serve alongside the pudding.







On another note, I might have a special guest blogger visit me tomorrow. I am so excited! I don't want to reveal too much in case we cannot get to do it but for now, it seems like she will be at my house on Friday and that we will be baking and photographing together. I can't wait!

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Lemon Buttermilk Sherbet with Poppy Seed Ice Cream Cones

I really have been in an ice cream mood lately. Well, I'm always in an ice cream mood, but I mean wanting to make my own ice cream at home. I don't have a very good ice cream machine and the end result is never quite as creamy as I would like it to be. Every time I walk into Sur La Table I look at this and this... I would love to have a commercial ice cream maker at home but in the meantime, I make it work with what I have which is similar to this, just an older model.



I was reading through David Lebovitz's "Perfect Scoop" last night. I have had it for a while now but never made the time to really explore it as I like to. I just got sucked into it and I came across his Lemon Buttermilk Sherbet recipe. Sounded very refreshing and perfect for the next day since I was planning to take curly cues to the beach. The thought of coming home after a fun day at the beach and having some lemon and buttermilk sherbet sounded delightful.

I thought it would be fun to make my own ice cream cones too which is super simple but I wanted to give it a little something different so I thought to make it with some lemon zest and poppyseeds. The recipes are so simple that I was able to do it all that night. I did have to let the simple syrup and the tuile paste rest in the fridge for a couple of hours but that's about it. I churned the sherbet, froze it and made about five mini ice cream cones and put them in an air-tight container until the next day.



Lemon Buttermilk Sherbet

adapted from David Lebovitz's "The Perfect Scoop"

80 ml water
130 grams sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
225 ml buttermilk
60 ml lemon juice

In a saucepan, bring the first three ingredients to a boil. Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Add the buttermilk and lemon juice once it has chilled in the fridge and churn in your ice cream machine. Transfer to a bowl or ice cream container and freeze.


Poppy Seed Lemon Ice Cream Cones

Makes a lot of paste so freeze whatever you have leftover

50 grams butter
50 grams sugar
1/4 tsp lemon zest
50 grams egg whites
50 grams flour
Poppyseeds

Cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest. Add the flour and mix. Add the egg whites and mix until thoroughly combined. Transfer this paste to a bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.

Make a template for your cones cutting circles out of a plastic placemat that is about 1/4" thick. Use a round cookie cutter to trace a circle on the mat and cut with the help of an xacto knife. Place the template mat on a silpat. Spread a very thin layer of the tuile paste on the circle and remove the mat. You will be left with a disk of tuile batter. Sprinkle poppyseeds on top of the batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. remove from the oven and form a cone right away while the tuile is still hot and pliable. Store them in an airtight container until ready to use.

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Macarons and My Love for Vanilla Beans

Sometimes I treat my ingredients as treasures or expensive clothes I buy and never wear. That is what happens to me with vanilla sugar. I know, I know, it makes no sense. Let me explain. As you all know, vanilla bean prices are up the roof so when I use one, I can't just throw it away. I use it and reuse it. If I have used it in a custard, I rinse it in hot water to be able to add it to some sugar.

I have been accumulating large amounts of used vanilla beans that I place in a container of granulated sugar. That container probably holds about 250 grams of sugar and about 4 vanilla beans so you can imagine the fragrance that comes out of it when opened. I have been saving this sugar for some special occasion. You know, I don't have a specific recipe that calls for vanilla sugar and I don't want to waste it so I keep holding on to it like some expensive coat I cannot give away.







Last week, I decided it was time to use it but it had to be in something where the vanilla would really show. Vanilla macarons, that is!

I took my container of vanilla sugar with dried vanilla beans and I ground it in my small food processor. Oh goodness, the aroma that came out after I removed the top... Heaven. I wanted to sprinkle some on my hair and walk outside smelling like a big bowl of vanilla ice cream. Which reminds of me of my friend Julene. We went to high school together and I loved her smell. She used to wear a vanilla essential oil from The Body Shop that would always make me hungry.

Anyhow back to the macarons... I ground the vanilla sugar and passed it through a medium size sieve to get rid of the large pieces of dry vanilla. This is what I used to make the macarons an let me tell you, they are fragrant!!!










Vanilla Bean Macarons

180 grams almond flour
240 grams powdered sugar
140 grams organic egg whites, aged
3 grams egg white powder
2 grams fine sea salt
80 grams vanilla sugar

Make sure that the egg whites have been separated from the egg yolks the night before. This bit of aging really makes a difference in the macarons.

In a large bowl, sift together the almond flour, powdered sugar and sea salt. Set aside.

Whip the egg whites with the egg white powder until very fluffy, almost fully whipped. Start adding the vanilla sugar slowly while whipping. Whip to stiff peaks but not too much or the meringue will dry out. We want semi soft "ripples" still in the meringue.

Add the meringue to the almond flour mixture and fold with a spatula until a shiny mass forms. We want to achieve a batter that makes ribbons. You might have to test it to see if it's done. Pipe a small amount on your sheetpan. If it keeps a little bit of a top when piped, then you have to mix it a bit further, if it spreads really fast, you have gone too far and your macarons will turn out flat.

When you have the right consistency, place the mass in a pastry bag with a number 5 tip and pipe small rounds onto sheetpans lined with parchment or silpat. Let them dry at room temperature for at least 45 minutes to an hour.

Have the oven preheated to 350 degrees. Place one sheetpan in the oven at a time and reduce the temperature to 300 degrees. Bake for 10 minutes and rotate sheetpan and bake for another 10 minutes. Test to see if they are done by picking one up and seing if it still sticks to the paper or not.

Let them cool and then fill them with the buttercream.

And more on macarons, check out Tartelette for a full macaron tutorial (priceless!) and the witty and clever post on the war between the two French beauties the madeleine and the macaron at Cakespy. I can't get enough of those two!

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Strawberries, Mascarpone and Violet Marshmallow

In the summer of 2004, I attended a pastry seminar in Las Vegas where I had the pleasure to watch some great pastry chefs in action. It was a jam-packed schedule with morning and afternoon classes and I ended up with a little bit of "pastry chaos" in my head but there was one pastry chef, one, that stole my heart and that was Olivier Bajard. I had been to one of his demos before when I was in culinary school but this class in Las Vegas was something special for me. The theme was "Petits Gateaux". If you have been following my blog the last few months, you have probably noticed that I am very much about mini cakes and pastries in general. I admire sugar and chocolate work, cake decorating and the more artistic side of pastry, but flavor is what draws me. Probably because I am not very artistic myself, I have never wanted to go into cake decorating which most of my classmates and co-workers wanted to do.

So I fell in love with Olivier Bajard. He was quiet, patient and there was no trace of chef ego, although he is a MOF (Meilleur Ouvrier de France) which is probably the highest rank a pastry chef one can achieve in France and in the world, for that matter. Is like wearing a Super Bowl ring, I suppose.







One of the desserts he made was called "Violet". How can you not love anything with a name like that? It was white chocolate squares, with a cassis-violet coulis, vanilla cream, strawberry salpicon and sugar dough. Just out of this world. That was the first time I ever heard of violet extract and seen it being used in pastry. Ever since then, I have been wanting to use violet extract in something but it has been nearly impossible to find it in this country. But I did find a violet syrup used for cocktail making. It's from a company called Monin.

This dessert is certainly not at the level of Bajard's "Violet" but it's inspired by those flavors. This seems like a strawberry shortcake with a French twist. I built it with some sable breton, fresh strawberries, mascarpone cream and marshmallow that I flavored with a little bit of the violet syrup from Monin. The syrup is not very concentrated and certainly not as potent as violet extract, but it worked. It gave the marshmallow a mild violet taste and it didn't change the white color which I like. If you like color, you can most definitely add food coloring at the same time you add the flavoring. That's personal preference.






Violet Marshmallow

430 grams sugar
16 grams corn syrup
175 grams water
53 grams powdered gelatin (2 full boxes of Knox unflavored gelatin)
175 grams water
2 egg whites
25 grams sugar
2 Tbs violet syrup

In a deep saucepan, cook the first three ingredients to 126 degrees Celsius (258 degrees Farenheit). In the meantime, bloom the gelatin in the other 175 grams of water.

While the sugar is cooking, start whipping the egg whites slowly. When they start to build a meringue, sprinkle the 25 grams of sugar over them and continue whipping. When the sugar has reached 126 degrees C, add the bloom gelatin to the saucepan and whisk. It will bubble up so be careful and continue whisking. Turn heat off but let the gelatin completely melt in the sugar. as soon as the gelatin has melted, turn the speed in the mixer to low in the mixer and start adding the cooked sugar in a steady stream on the side of the bowl. When all the syrup is added, turn the mixer to high and whip until light and very fluffy. Add the violet syrup.

The marshmallow will be a little warm still. Pour it into a half sheetpan lined with a silicon mat. Spread it evenly and let it cool. If we whip it until it is cold, it will be very hard to spread it when we pour it into the sheetpan so don't whip it too much. It will be just as fluffy.

Dust some cornstarch on top of the marshmallow and cut it into squares. It will be sticky, especially if you live in a humid climate like I do, so dust your hands and knife with cornstarch when you are going to cut it.






Marshmallow makes a wonderful gift and since this pan makes a lot of it, plan to give some of it away. Share the love of fluffy violet pillows. Have a great weekend!

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Orange Curd... Two Ways

Although orange season peaks right around late winter, we are still getting gorgeous local, organic oranges in South Florida. I love oranges, mostly peeled, no need to cook them or juice them, just fresh. They bring back tons of childhood memories, mostly from around Christmas time. We used to just eat oranges as a dessert after dinner.

So I had a basket full of oranges at home and decided to make curd with them and fill some tart shells. I topped the tartlets with organic blackberries (can you believe the size of those things?... beautiful!) and finished them with a little bit of fresh basil. Not a lot, just a little chiffonade for extra freshness. But I had extra orange curd and I couldn't decide what to make with it.

I went to bed on Friday and woke up in the middle of the night thinking about orange creamsicles. "I bet I can make them with my orange curd!". So I woke up the next day, whipped up some cream with a little vanilla bean and folded the curd into it. To be honest with you, I didn't even measure the cream. I just eyeballed it. I was afraid that they might turn out icy and not creamy enough but I decided to give it a try and see what happened. And it worked! They are very, very creamy.

Orange Curd

200 grams organic fresh orange juice, strained (about 2 oranges)
250 grams sugar
6 organic eggs
Zest of those 2 oranges
30 grams organic unsalted butter, softened

Whisk together the orange juice, sugar, orange zest and eggs. Cook over a double boiler constantly whisking until the custard starts to coagulate which will be around 84 degrees Celsius.
Strain the curd through a fine sieve and cool over an ice bath. When the curd is cool but still feels lukewarm when you touch it, add the softened butter and whisk it in until it melts into the curd forming an emulsion.



Orange, Blackberry and Basil Tarts

Right after incorporating the butter into the curd and while this is still pretty liquid, pour it into the prebaked tart shells and refrigerate until it sets. Top with fresh organic blackberries and a little bit of basil chiffonade.



Orange Creamsicles

Whip 100 grams of heavy cream with half a vanilla bean (only use the seeds, that is). When it's soft peak, add about half of the orange curd that remains after filling the tartlets and fold. But don't fold completely because we want to create streaks of orange and white. Pipe this mixture into your shot glasses and insert an ice cream stick. Freeze.

To eat them, all you need to do is lightly warm the shot glass with your hands and the creamsicle will pop right out. So easy!






These recipes will be my entry for the Root Source Challenge: Eggs. I think the deadline is today. Hurry up!

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Leftovers... Milk Jam and Meringue Cake

It was time to clean the refrigerator today. Long over due. You should have seen it. Separated eggs, bits of cake, one bread pudding, milk jam, a half eaten pear... Not pretty. I never throw away anything. I freeze and find ways to reuse but this was getting a little out of hand.



The milk jam that I made last week was almost gone. There were maybe four tablespoons left. The container looked so sad... More than half empty. I also had some sponge cake in the freezer and some unflavored simple syrup I used for the green tea opera cake. So I had all the elements for a cake; a tres leches kind of cake.








Many readers asked me what else I make with milk jam. Well, here is one use. Take leftover sponge, soak it really well with vanilla simple syrup, layer some milk jam in between, sprinkle some crushed cinnamon graham crackers and cover it all with meringue. That easy!




For the milk jam recipe, go here. For the sponge cake, go here. For the simple syrup, here. I didn't have enough milk jam to make a large cake so I decided to make mini ones.





To Assemble the Cake



With a round cookie cutter that is about 3 inches wide, cut 4 disks out of the sponge cake. Then cut these disks horizontally into three layers. So we will have 4 mini cakes with 3 layers of cake each.



Place four cake layers in front of you. With a small pastry brush, soak the layers of cake with the simple syrup. Spread a thin layer of milk jam on top. Place another layer of cake on top of the milk jam, soak with simple syrup, more milk jam and top with the last layer of sponge cake. Press the top layer down gently so the cake is somewhat even. It doesn't really matter if it's not because it will be covered in meringue and you will not be able to see if the layers are perfect.















Italian Meringue


50 grams egg whites

100 grams sugar






To finish it all, I made some Italian meringue and burned it with the blow torch. For the meringue I don't ever use a recipe per se. All you need to remember is one part of egg whites and two parts of sugar.



Place the sugar in a saucepan with a little bit of water. Not much, enough to make a slush. Cook the sugar to 240 degrees F or also known as soft ball stage. While the sugar is cooking, start whipping your egg whites which should be light and fluffy by the time your sugar reaches soft ball stage. Turn the mixer to low speed and slowly add the sugar to the egg whites in a slow stream. When all the sugar has been added, turn the mixer back to high speed and whip until the meringue is fully whipped, nice and shiny and the bottom of the bowl has cooled down.









With a small spatula, ice the mini cakes with the meringue and burn it with a blow torch or under a broiler. It's like marshmallow!!!




I love my blow torch...

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When Life Gives You Rotten Nectarines

Pistachio and almond crumble, poached apples, buttermilk sponge cake and spiced mascarpone cream







I walked into Whole Foods on Monday and I saw a beautiful display of white peaches, nectarines and plums of different kinds that really caught my son's eye. He loves peaches so he immediately wanted me to get him one. I looked at the label and they were "conventional" from Chile. Here we go again with the Chilean fruit. He kept insisting and pointing at the peaches, so to make peace, I put four in a bag and walked away.



While I was driving home, I was thinking what to make with them since I always think about how I can turn anything and everything into a sweet treat. Suddenly I had a flash back to May of 2003 when I did a food tasting as part of my job interview. I had to make two plated desserts and a birthday cake in 3 hours. One of the desserts had to be fruit and the other chocolate. I made a beautiful chocolate pot de creme and a layered nectarine and mascarpone crumble. So while I was driving home I thought, "why not tweak that dessert you made five years ago?". That was my plan.















We ate lunch, I put my son down for his nap and planned on starting to make the different components for the dessert. I had some crumble in the freezer and I used some of the leftover cake that I baked for the Daring Bakers challenge. That's how I function. I bake and freeze, bake and freeze.





So I baked the pistachio crumble, cut the cake, whipped the mascarpone cream and when I went to cut the nectarines... Well, you guessed it... they were rotten! Brown, grainy and sandy nectarines. I knew it! It happens every time I try to break the seasonality rules. I deserve the punishment.



So I looked in my fruit basket, saw that I had some golden delicious apples and decided to use them instead. My executive pastry chef and friend Sebastien Thieffine won best plated dessert title at the 2004 Bread and Pastry Championship with a lovely apple and almond dessert. His dessert had a hazelnut streusel bottom, poached apples, citrus pain de genes, champagne sabayon, creme brulee and green apple ice cream. It was magnificent to say the least. I really loved his technique to poach the apples so I decided to go ahead and use it here.











Poached Apples



100 grams sugar

200 grams water

1/2 lemon juice

1 Tbs calvados

2 Granny Smith apples, medium dice



Make a syrup with the sugar and the water by bringing them to a boil. Remove from heat and let it cool in the saucepan. In the meantime, peel and cut the apples into medium size pieces. Mix them with the lemon juice so they do not oxidize. When the syrup is cool, add the calvados and the apples to the saucepan. Cover the pot entirely with plastic wrap. Wrap another piece of plastic lightly around the pan. We are trying to create a vacuum.



Place the pan on the stove over medium to high heat. The plastic will start to rise forming a balloon. We want this. Keep it on the heat until it looks like the plastic it's going to pop. Remove from heat and the plastic will immediately start to shrink down forming a vacuum inside the pan.



I don't really know what the science is behind this. The tight plastic creates almost like a pressure cooker and cooks the apples rapidly so they don't lose their color, they just become a little translucent. It's brilliant! But it's very important that the plastic is very tight around the pan otherwise, the steam will scape.



Another way of doing this is to place the apples with the syrup in a plastic bag and vacuum seal it, or sous-vide it. Then place the bag in boiling water for a couple of minutes until the apples are soft and shock it in ice water to stop the cooking process. This works but not everyone has a vacuum sealer at home.



Store the apples in the syrup in the refrigerator until ready to use. When we are ready to plate the dessert, then drain them on top of a paper towel to eliminate excess moisture.















Pistachio Crumble



100 grams unsalted butter

100 grams sugar

100 grams flour

125 grams pistachios, chopped

pinch of salt



Cream all ingredients together in an electric mixer. It will be crumbly. Place on a cookie sheet or in an air tight container and refrigerate over night. I normally make a large batch and freeze it and then I bake what I need.



Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes until it is golden brown. When cool, break into small pieces.





Spiced Mascarpone Cream



60 grams organic heavy cream

60 grams mascarpone cheese

15 grams sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Pinch of mace



Whip all ingredients together to semi stiff peak, just like whipped cream.



Buttermilk Cake

adapted from Dorie Greenspan



2 1/4 cups cake flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk (I prefer buttermilk with the lemon)

4 large egg whites

1 ½ cups sugar

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ teaspoon pure lemon extract



Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl. Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.



Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.



Divide the batter into 3 6-inch pans and bake at 350 degrees. To check if they are done, insert a toothpick in the center of the cake and if it comes out clean, it is done.



Let the cake cool and with a cookie cutter the same size as your ring mold, cut cake circles. Then cut these circles horizontally into three.





Assemble the Dessert



Place a metal ring on top of the dessert plate. Press the crumble into the bottom of the metal ring. We want an even, thin layer. Spoon the drained apples on top and apply some pressure on top with a small spoon. Keep even layers. Lift up the metal ring carefully so we have the crumble and the apples on the plate in a circle.



Place a disk of buttermilk cake on top. Dust powdered sugar on top and finish with some mascarpone cream. As decoration, I rolled a dried vanilla been in granulated sugar.













The nectarines that ended up in the garbage

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When Life Gives You Rotten Nectarines

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Matcha, Lemon and Chocolate Opera Cake

I'm not sure that I can call this cake an opera cake. Some purists might find it offensive. You see, the traditional opera cake is made with layers of joconde or almond sponge, coffee buttercream, coffee syrup and chocolate ganache. Opera cake is tradition and I hate messing with tradition. So ok, my cake has similar elements and it's built the same way so I will just say that is inspired by opera. Is that better?

This cake has layers of matcha and almond sponge, lemon buttercream and chocolate ganache and covered with a shiny chocolate glaze. I really wanted to use yuzu juice for the buttercream but I looked and looked and was not able to find it anywhere. I could have had to order it online but it would have taken too long and it is quite expensive. So I settled for simple lemon juice and enhanced it with potent lemon oil.

The matcha powder I have is from L'Epicerie and let me tell you, it is fine, fine, fine. Fragrant, delicate. I have to admit I don't use it very often but this time was well worth it. Some people are not very fond of a strong green tea taste but I think the lemon, the chocolate and the almonds really balance out the entire cake and even C. and my little boy enjoyed it.















Again, this might seem like a complicated cake to make by all the instructions that follow. It really isn't. OK, yes, it is more involved than making brownies let's say, but don't you like a challenge once in a while? I love my quiet time when my little boy naps. I am able to focus and build different elements of whatever recipe I am making. I didn't make this in one day, it is the work of several days, but I loved every second of it. Patience, patience.


Matcha Almond Sponge Cake

Makes 3 1/4-sheetpan sheets

160 grams almond flour
110 grams sugar
40 grams flour
15 grams matcha green tea powder
4 eggs
4 egg whites
55 grams sugar
30 grams unsalted butter, melted and cooled

In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the first five ingredients. Whip in high speed for about 5 minutes until it becomes thick and the batter forms a ribbon. Transfer this batter to a large bowl and clean the mixer bowl.

In the electric mixer, whip the egg whites until it starts to form a meringue. Slowly sprinkle the 55 grams of sugar. Continue whipping until a stiff meringue forms.

Fold a third of the meringue into the almond batter. Add the rest of the meringue and fold carefully not to deflate it too much. Add the melted and cooled butter and fold until it is well incorporated.

Divide the batter equally into the 3 quarter sheetpans that we have previously lined with parchment paper and sprayed with pan spray.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 10-12 minutes until it starts to turn a little brown. We don't want a brown cake. We want to keep the green color so remove the pans from the oven when the cake is baked and before it starts to change color. Let the cakes cool until we are ready to assemble the opera.


Lemon Buttercream

60 grams egg whites
120 grams sugar
180 grams butter, softened
25 grams lemon juice
1/4 tsp lemon oil or 1/2 tsp lemon extract

Mix the egg whites and the sugar and place them over a double boiler while you whisk them together. The sugar will start to dissolve and the egg whites will start to turn white and fluffy. Continue whisking until the egg whites feel hot to the touch.

Transfer the bowl to the electric mixer and whip in high speed until light and fluffy and the bottom of the bowl doesn't feel hot anymore. About 3-5 minutes.

Start adding the softened butter by the tablespoon. Keep adding more butter as it is incorporated into the meringue. Once all the butter has been added, add the lemon juice and the lemon oil. It might look as if the buttercream has separated. Don't worry, keep whipping it because it will come together. Reserve until ready to use.


Chocolate Ganache

170 grams bittersweet chocolate (58% cacao)
170 grams heavy cream

Chop the chocolate into a bowl. Boil the cream and pour it over the chocolate. gently whisk the cream and the chocolate until the ganache is formed. Do not over whisk or it might separate depending on the type of chocolate you have used. We want the ganache to be liquid when we assemble the cake so I recommend making this right before or make it ahead of time and remelt it right before we are going to make the cake.


Lemon Simple Syrup

100 grams water
100 grams sugar
2 tsp lemon extract

Boil the sugar and the water until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and add the lemon extract. Set aside.


Chocolate Glaze

110 grams bittersweet chocolate
110 grams coating chocolate
35 grams vegetable oil

Melt all the ingredients together over a double boiler and keep warm until we are ready to assemble.








Assemble the Opera Cake

The most important thing when you are building a cake with many components, is to set your self ready for success. That means, get your mise en place ready. Clean your work area of pots and pans and line all your components in front of you so you don't go crazy and you work clean. Working clean is 75% of the success in your final product. I promise!

So get your sponges ready, the melted chocolate glaze, the melted ganache, the room temperature buttercream, the simple syrup, an offset spatula and a rubber spatula.

Place the first sheet of matcha sponge on your working surface. It will still have parchment paper on the bottom of the cake. Spread a very very thin layer of chocolate glaze on the top of the sponge cake. Spread the chocolate very thinly over the entire surface of the cake with a metal spatula (offset spatulas work best). let this glaze harden.

When the glaze has hardened (you can even put it in the refrigerator for a few minutes), turn it over onto a sheetpan that is also lined with parchment paper. So at this point, the glazed side of the sponge is down and you are left with the old parchment paper facing you. Remove this paper and discard.

Soak the cake with the lemon simple syrup with the help of a pastry brush. Then spread a third of the buttercream over the cake with an offset spatula. It is important to have an even layer because when we cut the cake, we want it to look clean and straight.

After the buttercream, pour a third of the ganache over the buttercream and spread it evenly. Place a second sheet of matcha sponge over the ganache making sure that the parchment paper that was on the bottom is now facing up. Remove the paper and brush the top of the cake with the lemon simple syrup. Spread half of the remaining buttercream over the cake, then spread half of the remaining ganache over it. Place the last sheet of sponge on top. Brush with simple syrup, spread the last bit of buttercream on top and finish with the ganache. There will be a total of 3 layers of sponge, 3 of buttercream and 3 of ganache.

Refrigerate the cake until the ganache sets. Then, flip the cake onto the back of another sheetpan so it is raised and we can glaze it. Spread a thin layer of melted chocolate glaze over the top and let the excess run off the sides. Refrigerate it again so the glaze sets.

Cut it into rectangles and decorate with a dusting of sifted matcha powder and gold leaf. This is optional, of course.






This will be my submission to this month's Sugar High Friday hosted by La Petite Boulangette. This month's theme is Japanese patisserie which has really been the latest explosion. I just wish I could have gotten my hands into some yuzu juice... Maybe next time.




And on another note, Holly from Art You Can Eat just awarded this blog with An Award For Excellence. That is very thoughtful and appreciated. Thank you!






Now I want to pass this award on to ten bloggers who have been doing an excellent job baking, writing, commenting on life... very interesting.

La Cerise... The most labor intensive, croissant recipe tester out there. I applaud you for it!

My Sweet and Saucy... Beautiful cake and cookie decorating.

Pastry Studio... elegance and perfection.

Make Life Sweeter... Beautiful photos and recipes.

Cakespy... I get a sugar high every time I read this blog. Pure genius.

Pittsburgh Needs Eated... beautiful photos, elegance and non-stop baking over in Pittsburgh.

Eggbeater... fabulous photos and very, very interesting commentary about the life of a professional pastry chef.

Fields of Cake... another great cake decorator and all around baker with beautiful kids!

Veronica's Test Kitchen... fabulous macarons and French patisserie.

I Shot The Chef.. exquisite photos and great recipes.

Thank you to all those bloggers for doing what they do and I wake up every morning looking forward to my everyday sweet, blogging fix!

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Milk Jam and Chocolate Meringue Cookies

Remember the baked chocolate meringues I made last week? Well, I knew that I had to bake extra to use as cookies later on and I had one particular filling in mind. Milk jam. Caramelized milk flavor is a big part of my childhood memories. I have written about it a lot in fact.





My grandmother used to pasteurize the fresh, raw milk that arrived at my family's pastry shop every morning. We had big pots specifically for this task. If you have ever seen this process, you know that the cream rises to the top and forms what is known as milk skin. That is the best part of milk in my book. This cream was used in cake making instead of butter and if any of the grandchildren were around, it became our snack. Milk skin on bread with sugar sprinkled on top. That was heaven!

Things have changed drastically and nowadays, there is no more pasteurization done on site. All the milk that comes in has gone through too much pasteurization if you ask me! The other memory I have is my grandmother making arroz con leche and the entire house smelling like caramelized cinnamon milk. The best smell in the world.

Milk jam is a similar concept where different kinds of milks are cooked with sugar, reduced and caramelized. At the end, a bit of gelatin helps the milk solidify and become jam-like. I sandwiched the chocolate meringue cookies with the milk jam. Once the cookies are assembled, they must be eaten right away because the meringue starts to melt with the moisture of the jam. I really was dreaming of a hot cup of chocolate with floating marshmallow and these cookies do the trick. The instantly melt in the hot liquid.




Milk Jam


This recipe is adapted from Sebastien Thieffine's recipe

150 grams organic heavy cream
1/4 vanilla bean, scraped
40 grams sugar
25 grams condensed milk
25 grams dry milk
300 grams organic whole milk
1 sheet gelatin

Place the first six ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about an hour until we are left with 300 grams of liquid. I had to weigh the base twice to see if I had reached the 300 grams. If you have reduced it too far, do not worry and add a bit more cream but it's best to be precise since the beauty of this jam is the caramelization that forms.

Once we have 300 grams of the reduced liquid, softened the gelatin in ice water and add it to the hot liquid. Strain the base through a sieve and pour into the jam jars. Let it cool before refrigerating it.
You can eliminate the gelatin from the recipe but the result will be a dulce de leche like consistency, which don't get me wrong, I love too! But I wanted a filling for the cookies so I needed a little bit more thickness to the cream.




It's going to be a perfect laid back Sunday afternoon...

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Milk Jam and Chocolate Meringue Cookies

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Sugar High at Turtle River Montessori and Blogging for Babies

I have always been a conscious eater, trying to cook almost everything I eat myself, buying local as often as possible, etc. That's how I was raised. It was always a personal choice for me and never felt the need to have to convince others. Until I became a mother, that is. Having a child changed everything. I have become more socially conscious and I would say that I have become a crusader for better eating.

When I see what children eat in most schools nowadays, I start to really worry and I do not want that for my son. Us, parents, have hectic lives and sometimes food becomes another thing to worry about and we choose to take the "easy route" by buying prepackaged foods. I am not saying I don't ever buy prepackaged foods, because I do, but I always read labels and try not to take too many shortcuts.




I believe that healthy eating starts at home and children will do as they see and not as they are told. In that sense, I feel relief because I know that my children will learn to appreciate food because our family's love for it. I think there has to be a collective effort to really educate our children about food, where it comes from and good eating choices. Believe me, I am not talking about eating alfalfa sprouts or cardboard cookies. It's about the quality of ingredients, no matter whether it is chicken, tofu, ice cream, spinach or chocolate chip cookies.

I made these mini carrot cupcakes thinking about Stella and her classmates at Turtle River Montessori. Stella is my 4-year old, cutie pie neighbor who loves school. Each day of the week, one child is responsible for bringing healthy snacks for the rest of the class. They rotate so this happens about once a month. The school asks that children bring fruits and other healthy foods.

I wanted to make the snacks for Stella's class for the day she was the "snack girl". I wanted to show the kids that they can eat sweet treats that are made with wholesome and natural ingredients. So I decided to make mini carrot cupcakes with cream cheese icing. I used all organic and natural ingredients of course, even the sprinkles are made with beet juice!





Carrot Cake


Makes 6 dozen mini cupcakes

12 oz organic demerara sugar
9 oz sunflower oil
4 organic eggs
8 oz organic whole wheat flour
0.2 oz baking soda
0.2 oz aluminum free baking powder
0.3 oz organic ground cinnamon
0.2 oz organic vanilla extract
13 oz organic carrots, peeled and shredded

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the sugar with the eggs and the oil for about 5 minutes until the eggs start to turn a little pale. Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Fold in the shredded carrot. Pour batter into cupcake papers and bake at 350 degrees.


Cream Cheese and Yogurt Icing

1.5 lbs organic cream cheese, room temperature
12 oz organic unsalted butter
8 oz organic raw agave nectar
5 oz organic whole milk yogurt
1 tsp organic vanilla extract
All natural pink sprinkles

In a bowl of an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese, butter and agave nectar until all lumps have disappeared. make sure to scrape the bowl a couple of times. Add the yogurt and the vanilla extract and mix until incorporated. Ice the cupcakes and add tons of sprinkles!!!

I was only able to photograph Stella eating them because when Stella's mom took the cupcakes to school, the teacher made the kids wait to eat them until recess. I really wanted some good, messy shots of the kids!




Keeping with the children theme, I wanted to tell you about Blogging for Babies which is a blogging event to support the March of Dimes walk this April. Holly from Phe/Mom/enon contacted me about this, so I would like to submit these mini carrot cupcakes for her event.

Read her inspiring story about baby Cole. Amazing!

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Sugar High at Turtle River Montessori and Blogging for Babies

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