A Gluten Free Daring Bakers... and a "Laster Arte"

Tomorrow my little boy and I will be hopping on a transatlantic plane on our way to Bilbao. We will be gone for two weeks, visiting family and friends.. eating, walking, conversing, playing and enjoying life. But before we leave, here is this month's Daring Bakers challenge. Challenge, it was. I decided to go ahead with the gluten free recipe and it took three attempts to get it right, but the end result was fantastic.

Although we had the option of taking a savory route, I decided to stick to my sweet side and sprinkled my crackers with cinnamon sugar. I also made a pear, fig and vanilla bean jelly to go with it and a baked pear custard to dip the crackers into.




For the recipes, please visit my friend Jill's blog where I post all my gluten free recipes. And a big thank you to Sheltie Girl of Gluten A Go Go and Shel of Musings from the Fishbowl for hosting this month's challenge and to see what other Daring Bakers' interpretations, please go here.

Laster arte and in the meantime, cook and eat well! See you soon!

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A Gluten Free Daring Bakers... and a "Laster Arte"

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Goodbye to Summer with a Plum and Almond Tart

I always find the changes in season very exciting. I am eager to cook with the new fruits and vegetables, bring home new flowers... I found some gorgeous decorative kale stems at my florist shop the other day that took my breath away. I am also known for drilling the produce "guy" about when they will be receiving this or that... it's thrilling to me, like unwrapping presents.

But autumn also brought the cold virus into our house, getting our little boy sick. I am hoping he will recover soon since we have plane tickets to go home this weekend. So far, so good, so this Sunday, we shall be on a transatlantic plane headed home!




Before we leave though, I wanted to make a simple, rustic tart with the last of the stone fruits that are available to us. This is simple as can be. Fresh plums baked in an almond batter making a delicious afternoon snack.

Plum and Almond Tart

150 grams egg whites
155 grams sugar
70 grams flour
65 grams almond flour
190 grams unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Whisk together the egg whites and the sugar until combined. Add the flour and almond flour and mix. Slowly add the melted and cooled butter until it is incorporated. Refrigerate the batter overnight. Place the batter in a pastry bag and pipe it into tart pan. Fill the pan about half way up and top with halved plums.

Bake in a 350F oven until golden brown, which will take approximately 30 minutes, but it depends on the pan.

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Goodbye to Summer with a Plum and Almond Tart

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Seven Spice Ice Cream with Yogurt and Brown Sugar Cake

Even though it still feels like a hot summer where we are, and it will continue to feel this way for another couple of months, I thought it would be a good way to start the autumn season with the aroma of spices. My friend Helen sent me a wonderful care package a couple of weeks ago. I know many of you know and visit her blog, and I can assure you she is just as lovely as she appears to be. In that care package, she included some mulling spices, which I have using to make tea almost every night. That's where he inspiration came from for this dessert, the warmth of spices.




I toasted the spices before infusing the milk, which created another subtle layer. The ice cream is served over a really moist brown sugar and yogurt sponge cake. Along with the brown sugar I also added some muscavado, which left some pieces of undissolved sugar in the cake creating almost a sugar swirl inside the cake. Very, very moist and gooey. Even if you don't try the ice cream, I do encourage you to make this cake. You will not regret it.



Seven Spice Ice Cream

500 grams whole milk
130 grams heavy cream
40 grams glucose
100 grams granulated sugar
50 grams muscavado sugar
180 grams egg yolks
6 grams juniper berries
1 cinnamon stick
5 grams white peppercorns
8 grams fresh ginger, sliced
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
6 grams coriander seeds
5 grams star anise

Place the juniper berries, white peppercorns, coriander seeds and star anise in a small saute pan. Place them over the heat and toast them for a minute until they really start to release a lot of their aroma. Remove from heat.

Place the whole milk, heavy cream, glucose, muscavado, cinnamon, vanilla bean, fresh ginger and all the toasted spices in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, remove from heat and let the spices steep in the milk for about 45 minutes. Return the pan to the heat and bring it to a boil again.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the granulated sugar. Temper the hot liquid over the yolks and whisk. Return the custard back to the saucepan and cook to 82C or until it coats the back of the spoon. Strain the ice cream base through a fine sieve into a clean bowl and chill over an ice bath. Refrigerate overnight and churn in ice cream machine. Freeze.

Yogurt and Brown Sugar Sponge Cake

170 grams butter
150 grams brown sugar
85 grams granulated sugar
50 grams muscavado sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
180 grams yogurt
180 grams flour
4 grams baking powder

Cream the butter and all three sugars together for about 2 minutes until fluffy. Add the lemon zest and vanilla extract and mix. Scrape the bowl well. Add the eggs, one at a time. Mix and scrape the bowl. Add the yogurt. Mix and add the flour and baking powder. Mix until combined. Pour the batter into a quarter sheetpan and spread evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

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Seven Spice Ice Cream with Yogurt and Brown Sugar Cake

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Triple Chocolate Mousse... Three Ways

I should have titled this post "Triple Chocolate Mousse... Three Times Over". Remember when I posted about cleaning the freezer and making tarts with leftover doughs? It was perfect timing because a week later, I found myself with a freezer full of soggy, thawed out desserts and these mousses were some of them.

One of the reason why I cleaned out the freezer was so I could make more room for new desserts such as this one. I made a large batch of triple chocolate mousse last week and wanted to play with different presentations. Until I was ready to photograph them, I decided to store them in the freezer. Sunday morning, when I went out to the garage to pull them out, I was shocked to see that I had left the freezer door slightly open the night before. It doesn't take much to thaw out a freezer in a hot garage in Florida in the middle of summer. Everything that was on the bottom shelf was covered with water. I was able to salvage the shot glasses which were on the top shelf, but everything else was ruined.

I must admit it took me an entire day to get over the disaster, but the next day, I decided to make the mousses again. This is a recipe that is simple but requires getting messy in the kitchen and dishes are not my favorite chore, that's for sure. But I did it and here it is.

I made the mini spheres by sticking two half spheres together, after the mousse is frozen, and then rolling them in chopped pistachios and grated white and dark chocolate.



Pate a Bombe

4 oz sugar
1 oz glucose
2 oz water
3 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 while the mixer is on low speed. Pour the sugar on the side of the bowl so you don't create spun sugar while doing this. Turn the mixer back to high and continue beating until light, thick and the bowl has cooled.

Dark Chocolate Mousse

1 oz pate a bombe
2 grams gelatin leaves
1.5 oz 70% chocolate, melted and cooled
4 oz heavy cream, soft peaks

Soften the gelatin in ice water for 5 minutes. Squeeze out excess water and mix with 2 Tbs of the heavy cream (it's ok if it's already whipped to soft peaks). Melt them together in the microwave for about 7 seconds. Add this mixture to the soft peak whipped cream and whisk together until mixed. But be careful not to overmix. Add the cream to the pate a bombe and fold. Add the melted and cooled chocolate to the base and fold. Place the mousse in a pastry bag and pipe into molds.

Milk Chocolate and White Chocolate Mousse

Same amounts and same procedure as before but use milk chocolate and white chocolate instead.

Post Script: For all of you bloggers out there... Martha Stewart is having a blog contest. For more info, please visit her blog "The Martha Blog".

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Triple Chocolate Mousse... Three Ways

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Apple Pate de Fruit, Hazelnuts and Brown Butter

A few varieties of Washington apples are starting to show up in our store, but I really wish I could visit an apple orchard and pick them myself. C's uncle lives in Wenatchee, Washington where they have beautiful apple and pear orchards that I am dying to visit once again. Last time we flew out to see them, we had such a lovely time that I think it's time for us to plan a trip soon.

I made some green apple pate de fruit this week to give away as favors but also as filling for hazelnut brown butter cakes. I wish I could describe to you the smell that filled my house after making the brown butter. It is heaven and speaks of autumn.

The brown butter cakes are essentially financiers. I baked some of them with a little bit of the pate de fruit on top. The small apples I used are crab apples in sugar syrup that I brought back from home last time. I am anxious to see what I will this time when I go home. Shopping for food is always on the top of my list of things to do when I go home.



Green Apple Pate de Fruit

560 grams gree apple puree
225 grams unsweetened apple juice
1 cinnamon stick
22 grams yellow pectin
720 grams sugar
112 grams sugar
170 grams glucose
16 grams tartaric acid solution (or lemon juice)
15 grams calvados

Mix the pectin and 720 grams of sugar in a bowl. Make sure the pectin is well mixed with the sugar. Pass through a sieve if necessary. We don't want clumps of pectin in the pate de fruit.

In a large pot, warm the apple puree, apple juice and the cinnamon stick. When it reaches 42C or a bit warmer than body temperature, add the pectin and the 720 grams of sugar. Bring this to a boil and add the sugar and glucose. Cook this mixture to 106C. Turn the heat off and add the tartaric acid and the calvados. Remove the cinnamon carefully. Pour into a half a sheetpan and let it set for a couple of hours undisturbed so it sets properly. I also poured some pate de fruit into flower shaped and half sphere silicon flexipans. Cut into desired shapes and roll in sugar before serving.

Hazelnut Brown Butter Cakes

120 grams egg whites
125 grams sugar
55 grams flour
25 grams almond flour, toasted
30 grams hazelnut flour, toasted
150 grams brown butter

Toast the almond and hazelnut flours at 325F for about 7 minutes. Let it cool. In the meantime, brown the butter in a medium saucepan. When it starts to turn brown and smells nutty, remove from heat and strain through a fine sieve. Let this cool also.

Mix the egg whites with the sugar. Fold in the flour and toasted nut flours. Whisk. Slowly add the cooled brown butter while whisking. Let this batter sit in the refrigerator overnight.

Pipe the batter into molds and place a small square of apple pate de fruit on top. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.

For the financiers with the crab apple on top, pipe the batter into the gold cups and bake for 7 minutes, then place a crab apple on top and bake for another 7 minutes or until golden brown.

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Roasted Fig Frozen Mousse and Autumn Excitement

I have been daydreaming about autumn... leaves changing color, raspberry red coats, membrillo and figs. I cannot get to any of those at the moment except for the figs, so I have been indulging on them as much as I can, because I know the season is short.

I am going home back to Bilbao at the end of this month and I cannot wait to eat the figs when I get there. I have yet to find figs like those in my uncle's fig tree in his back yard. Pure sweetness.




I love how light and airy frozen mousses with a pâte à bombe base are. There is air incorporated from whipping the egg yolks and air incorporated from the whipped cream. They are lighter than ice cream or bavarian creams but still have a high fat content which makes them suitable for freezing without too many ice crystals. Just perfect.

When I make pâte à bombe, I always make extra and keep it in the refrigerator or even the freezer for the next time I want to make a quick mousse. This time I had figs that were a bit under ripe so I roasted them with a bit of sugar to make them tender and blended them in the food processor. I left the seeds and skin on because I like a bit of texture in the mousse and because it would take tons of fresh figs to get a small amount of fine puree.

I built the mousses in ring molds, froze them and then cut them in half for a different presentation. It is accompanied by a little quenelle of whipped mascarpone cream and some crumbled chocolate macarons.



Pâte à Bombe

4 oz sugar
1 oz corn syrup
2 oz water
3 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 while the mixer is on low speed. Pour the sugar on the side of the bowl so you don't create spun sugar while doing this. Turn the mixer back to high and continue beating until light, thick and the bowl has cooled.

Roasted Figs

Pint of black mission figs

Cut the figs in half and place them on a sheetpan. Sprinkle a little bit of sugar on top if they seem not sweet enough. Bake at 325F for about 20 minutes. Puree them in a food processor or with a hand held mixer.

Roasted Fig Frozen Mousse

2 oz pâte à bombe
3 grams gelatin leaves (about 1 1/2)
3 oz roasted fig puree
8 oz heavy cream, soft peaks

Soften the gelatin in ice water for 5 minutes. Squeeze out excess water and mix it into the warm fig puree. Add the fig puree to the pâte à bombe and whisk until thoroughly combined. Fold in the whipped cream and pipe into the ring molds. Freeze the molds and serve the mousse slightly frozen.

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Roasted Fig Frozen Mousse and Autumn Excitement

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Tarts, Tarts, Tarts

I consider myself a neat and organized person, but once in a while, I am forced to really clean out my freezer to make room for new doughs, creams, tuile batters and ice creams... As I have said many times, when I make a tart dough for example, I make three times what I need and divide it in individual portions so I have dough ready for next time I decide to make a tart. I do the same with some decorative tuile batters, cookie doughs, puff pastry... you name it, it's in my freezer.




So this past weekend, C. asked me to please, please, please clean out the freezer. He opened the freezer door to put something in it and a sheetpan full of mousse fell on top of him... That was my queue and I immediately started emptying it out. I found doughs that I had forgotten about and decided it was time to make some fruit tarts to celebrate the end of summer.

For the large rectangle tart, I used the chocolate almond short dough that I used for the berry and sheep's milk tarts. I pre-baked the crust and filled it with vanilla mousseline and topped it with all the berries and figs that I found in the refrigerator.

Then I also found some sable breton dough already pre-cut into circles. This is so convenient because all I have to do is put them in a mold and bake them. I built mini fruit tarts using the vanilla mousseline and the same fruit as the large tart. I also used the sable breton to make mini raspberry and rose tarts. I flavored the mousseline with a bit of rose extract and topped it with a tower of fresh raspberries.

And finally, I made chocolate and plum puff pastry tarts with the chocolate pate feuilletee I made a few weeks ago. I had also pre-cut it into circles before freezing it so it was ready for me to bake. Once thawed, I docked the center of the circle, piped some chocolate frangipane on top, placed half a plum on top of it and baked it at 400F until nice and crispy. The puff pastry rises nicely around the filling showing the beautiful layers of dough.



I have linked all recipes to previous posts, except for the chocolate frangipane, which goes as follows.

Chocolate Frangipane

100 grams 70% chocolate
60 grams milk
30 grams almond flour
190 grams almond paste
2 eggs
1 gram baking powder
pinch salt

Chop the chocolate into a bowl. Bring the milk to a boil and pour it over the chocolate. Stir this until completely melted.

In the meantime, mix the almond paste, almond flour, baking powder and salt in a mixer with a paddle attachment. Add one egg and mix until it starts to form a paste and some of the almond paste chunks have disappeared. Add the other egg and mix. Scrape well between mixing so all ingredients are well incorporated. Add the chocolate and milk mixture and mix until combined.

Let the frangipane rest until it cools a bit and it is pipeable.

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Tarts, Tarts, Tarts

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"Snickers" Bar... Salted Peanuts, Nougat, Milk Chocolate and Caramel

I have been feeling as if I am in an "inspiration transition" period. I suppose it is very much like how I feel about my wardrobe in between seasons. Eager to wear sweaters and coats at the end of summer, although the weather is not quite cool enough yet. The same happens to me with food. There are still plenty of apricots, plums and currants to bake with, yet I am dreaming of chestnuts, quince, pears, apple cider and figs. In cases like these, I always turn to chocolate and nuts. So versatile and timeless.

This is a rendition to one of C's favorite candy bars, the Snickers bar. Poor thing has been working non-stop for the last two weeks on a project away from home and I really wanted to make something comforting for him. He really deserves a little break and a little treat.

It is a crunchy, chewy and creamy bar with milk chocolate, peanut butter and rice krispies crust, a layer of salted peanut nougat, milk chocolate bavarian and topped with caramel cream. I knew the nougat would start to melt after being in the freezer, but in a way that made this easier to eat since a hard nougat would have made it difficult to bite into.



Milk Chocolate Feuilletine Crust

135 grams feuilletine or corn flakes or rice krispies
300 grams creamy peanut butter
155 grams milk chocolate, melted

Cream together the feuilletine and the peanut butter for about 3 minutes until it starts to turn into a paste. Add the melted milk chocolate and mix until combined. Spread this on the bottom of a half sheetpan lined with parchment and topped with a square frame.

Salted Peanut Nougat

50 grams egg whites
5 grams powdered sugar, sifted
110 grams honey
400 grams sugar
85 grams glucose
150 grams water
200 grams salted and roasted peanuts, chopped

Start by combining the sugar, glucose and water in a medium saucepan. Cook to 144C.

In the meantime, start whipping the egg whites. When they are foaming, add the sifted powdered sugar and continue whipping. Quickly heat the honey to boiling point and pout the boiling honey into the bowl where the egg whites are whipping. Continue to whip on high speed.

When the sugar reaches the desired temperature, turn the mixer speed to low and add the sugar to the egg whites pouring slowly on the side of the bowl. When all the sugar has been added, turn the mixer speed to high and continue to whip until it slightly cools. We don't want it to completely cool because we want to be able to spread it easily.

Turn the mixer off and fold in the chopped peanuts. Spread the nougat evenly into the metal frame over the milk chocolate crust.

Milk Chocolate Bavarian

120 grams half and half
10 grams sugar
2 egg yolk
4 grams gelatin
250 grams milk chocolate, finely chopped
200 grams heavy cream, soft peaks

In a small saucepan, bring the half and half to a boil. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar. Temper the hot half and half into the egg yolks and whisk. Pour this mixture back in the pan and cook for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and add the softened gelatin.

Strain the custard over the milk chocolate that we have finely chopped into a clean bowl. Let the custard melt the chocolate for a minute and then gently whisk until a cream is formed and all the chocolate has melted.

When the chocolate mixture has cooled to the touch, fold in the whipped cream. Immediatly pour the bavarian over the nougat and freeze.

Salted Caramel Cream

360 grams heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split
90 grams sugar
120 grams egg yolks
3 grams gelatin
1 grams fleur de sel

Bring the cream and the vanilla bean to a boil. Reserve.

In the meantime, make a dry caramel with the sugar. Deglaze the cooked sugar with the heated cream. Be careful because it will bubble overif all the cream is added at once. Whisk so all crystalized sugar has dissolved. Pour this caramel over the egg yolks and whisk. Return this to the pan and cook for 1 minute.

Add the softened gelatin and strain through a fine sieve. When it is cool to the touch, pour over the milk chocolate bavarian layer and freeze.

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"Snickers" Bar... Salted Peanuts, Nougat, Milk Chocolate and Caramel

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Chamomile and Vanilla Bean Ile Flotante

As you might have heard me say before, I really do not have a green thumb. I love flowers and plants, but I seem to have a hard time keeping them alive. However, against all odds, my herbs are still growing and looking healthy. My chamomile plant has grown about four times the size of when I planted it and the lemon verbena is about two feet tall. I was really afraid the summer heat would dry them out, but that has not been the case. I keep my fingers crossed that they will survive the rest of the summer and fall months.

As you might know, Île flotante is a traditional dessert composed of baked meringue served over crème anglaise. This time, I infused the anglaise with some chamomile leaves and also added extra vanilla bean to the meringue for a very fragrant dessert.

The meringues in the photos were baked in individual ramekins in a water bath, but I also tried to steam some in a bamboo steamer with similar results. I piped these free hand, placed them in the bamboo steamer and steamed them for about 2 minutes. They are topped with spun sugar, which I do not recommend making in humid climates like ours. It only lasted an hour on my counter. By the time I plated the dessert and took all the necessary photos, the sugar had fallen and looked rather sad. If you live in a dry climate though, you will be able to keep it in an airtight container for a couple of days.



Chamomile and Vanilla Bean Creme Anglaise

500 ml half and half
6 egg yolks
100 grams sugar
1 vanilla bean
bunch of chamomile leaves

In a medium saucepan, heat the half and half with half of the sugar, the vanilla bean and the chamomile leaves. Let it steep for 5 minutes. In a separate bowl, whisk together the yolks with the half of the sugar. Bring the liquid back to a boil and strain over the egg yolks while whisking so the yolks do not curdle. Return this mixture to the pan and cook to 84C or until the custard coats the back of the spoon, which will take a minute. Strain the custard through a fine sieve and chill over an ice bath. Refrigerate.

Baked Meringue

75 grams egg whites
150 grams sugar
1 Tbs vanilla bean paste or 1 vanilla bean

Place the egg whites and the sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Place this bowl over a water bath and whisk until the sugar starts to melt and the egg whites start to turn shiny and white.

Place the bowl in the electric mixer and whip until a stiff meringue forms. Add the vanilla paste. Continue whipping until the bowl feels cool to the touch.

Place the meringue in a piping bag and pipe into ramekins that we have previously coated with cooking spray. Place the ramekins in a deep baking dish and pour hot water in it. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 250F for 25 to 30 minutes.

To test for doneness, touch the meringue. If it feels sticky, it needs more time. It should barely stick to the fingers. Of course, the larger the ramekin, the longer it will take to bake.

Let them cool before trying to unmold them. Run a knife on the sides (although they should be separating from the ramekin) and flip them over onto a plate.

Spun Sugar

60 grams water
225 grams sugar
1 Tbs glucose

Place the water and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the glucose. Skim any impurities and make sure to brush the sides of the pan with water to avoid any crystallization. Cook the sugar to 310F. Immediately, shock the pan in an ice bath and wait until the bubbles are gone. Wait a couple of minutes for the sugar to cool.

Line your floor with parchment paper. Hold a wooden spoon in one hand and with the other hand, dip two forks in the cooked sugar and run them back and forth over the spoon. Move quickly. The sugar will start to form threads and fall towards the floor. Stop for a minute and gather the spun sugar forming a nest-type. Store this in an airtight container. Keep going and work quickly. If you live in a humid climate like I do, the sugar will start to melt and shrink and lose its volume, so it really should be used right after it is made.

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