Daring Bakers and a Strudel Dough

It is once again time for a Daring Bakers challenge and this time, no other than strudel dough. It has been years since I have made strudel dough and if I think about it hard enough, I think I have not made it since culinary school. A long time.

I was pressed for time once again and I thought long and hard about what to do with this challenge, when suddenly, I remembered the individual strudel rolls that Claudia Fleming features in her book "The Last Course". I thought it'd be a great idea to make individual strudels and pair them with ice cream.



I made the strudel dough twice. I was fairly successful the first time resulting in a really thin dough with minimal tears and only a few wrinkles, but I have to admit I ended up with lots of unusable, dry scraps of dough just because I was not working quickly enough. I wanted to try it again as I felt more comfortable with the task and mostly, because C. brought home some great looking apricots.

I filled the first batch of dough with bananas and pistachio crumble and the second one with the fresh apricots and the same pistachio crumble. I thought creme fraiche ice cream would be a great side for the warm and crumbly strudel rolls and found the perfect recipe in David Lebovitz's "Perfect Scoop".



This really was an easy strudel dough recipe and did not find any complications with it. If the dough has been kneaded enough so that some gluten has been developed and then rested so this gluten relaxes, the dough is very easy to handle and stretch. I will definitely use this recipe again.



The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

Strudel Dough

adapted from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

1. Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.
Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.

2. Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.
Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).

3. It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.
Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.

4. The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors.

5. Start working quickly after this point as the dough will start to dry out. If you want to make individual rolls, cut rectangular strips that are about 4.5"x7.5" long using scissors. I cut them as I was filling them so I didn't have to move the dough much.

6. Brush the dough lightly with melted butter, dust with a light coating of sifted powdered sugar, a sprinkle of chopped pistachios and then place the filling on the bottom of the shortest sides. Roll the strudel and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment seam-side down. Continue until all the dough has been used.

7. Note: the first time around I got about a dozen rolls and ended up with lots of scraps just because I was too slow and the dough kept drying on me. The second time around, I worked faster and got about 18 rolls and less scraps. It's all a matter of practice.

Apricot and Pistachio Crumble Filling

4 apricots, cut into small dice
20 grams sugar
100 grams pistachio crumble
melted butter
powdered sugar
finely chopped pistachios

1. Place the raw crumble on a sheetpan lined with parchment and bake it at 350F for about 5 minutes until lightly golden. Let it cool completely.

2. Toss the apricots and sugar together. Mix with crumble and fill the strudel following directions mentioned above.

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Chocolate Mousse, Salted Caramel Ganache, Peanut and Banana Caramel Tarts

I hope you are enjoying this holiday weekend. For us, it has been a weekend of potty training, sourdough bread baking, grilling and torrential rains. I have not seen it rain so hard in a long time, but it was needed as our grass was starting to look a bit brown and lifeless.

I will leave the potty training stories for another time, as I know those of you who have done it, have your share of funny ones as well. I will have to tell you about our new sourdough culture soon. It has become our new family project now and are completely obsessed with it.



I made these chocolate tarts for our annual Memorial Day weekend block party. Surprisingly, the sun came out for us and we were able to set up a large tent right outside so everyone could come in and go. Lots of neighbors joined and the kids had a blast in the pool and the sprinklers we set up outside.

Everyone loved when I brought these tarts out. They are chocolate tart shells filled with a layer of banana caramel with peanuts, another layer of a triple chocolate salted caramel ganache and topped with chocolate mousse. Rich to say the least, but oh so good.



Chocolate Tart Dough

adapted from Johnny Iuzzini's "Dessert Fourplay"

Note: you will only need part of the dough. Freeze the rest.

140 grams cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
150 grams sugar
pinch salt
1 egg
1 egg white
310 grams flour
50 grams cocoa powder
4 grams baking powder

Cream the butter, sugar and salt until light.

Mix the egg white and egg together and add it to the butter. Mix and scrape bowl well.

Add the sifted flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and mix until combined.

Divide the dough into two balls, flatten them into disks, wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a couple of hours before rolling.

Roll the dough into 1/8" thickness and fill 3" ring molds with it. Refrigerate the filled molds for at least an hour before blind baking.

Salted Peanut and Banana Caramel

100 grams sugar
40 grams glucose
50 grams butter
200 grams ripe bananas, mashed
50 grams salted peanuts, chopped

Make a dry caramel with the glucose and the sugar. Add the softened butter and whisk until it melts. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the mashed bananas. Transfer to a clean bowl and let this caramel cool.

We will add the salted peanuts when the banana caramel has cooled and right when we assemble the tarts.

Salted Caramel Ganache

25 grams bittersweet chocolate, chopped
50 grams unsweetened chocolate, chopped
75 grams milk chocolate, chopped
200 grams heavy cream
50 grams butter
10 grams glucose
105 grams sugar
large pinch of sea salt

Place the three types of chocolate in a large bowl. Place a large strainer over the bowl and reserve.

In a small pan, heat the heavy cream and butter and keep it warm.

In a separate tall pan, make a dry caramel with the glucose and sugar. Add the warm heavy cream and butter mixture slowly and whisk. The caramel will bubble up so stand away from the pan slightly and add it in stages if necessary. Whisk until all incorporated.

Pour this caramel over the chopped chocolate through the fine sieve. Add the sea salt and whisk until ganache is formed.

Be careful not to over whisk this ganache because it has a tendency to "break" if handled too much.

Chocolate Mousse

2 egg yolks
55 grams simple syrup
100 grams bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
205 grams heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks

Place the egg yolks and the simple syrup in the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk them together. Place this bowl over a double boiler and whisk the ingredients until light and foamy and thick. About 3-4 minutes.

Remove the bowl from the double boiler and place it in the machine. Whip the eggs until the bottom of the bowl feels cool to the touch.

Add the melted and cooled chocolate to the egg yolk mixture and whisk until combined. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl well.

Fold in the soft peak whipped cream and mix gently until all incorporated.

Assembling the Tarts

Blind bake the tart shells at 350F.

When tart shells are cooled, spoon a bit of the banana caramel into them. Top with the chopped peanuts.

Pour a thin layer of the salted caramel ganache into the tarts to cover the bottom layer. Refrigerate for a few minutes to set.

Place the chocolate mousse in a pastry bag fitted with a number 5 tip and pipe it on top of the set ganache.

Dust the tarts with a bit of cocoa powder, sprinkle with chopped peanuts and decorate with chocolate shavings.

They are best served slightly at room temperature so the ganache has a chance to soften a bit, so pull them out of the refrigerator about 20 minutes before serving.

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Cherry, Blackberry and Almond Crisp

I have been a bit under weather ever since our trip back and have not been able to spend much time in the kitchen. But the first cherries of the season have started to arrive and although I love eating them raw as they are, I had a craving for a simple fruit crisp.



I remember cherry season as a time of joy, first days of summer, school year coming to an end, days becoming longer and time of picnics. That has all changed now because leaving in the Southeast, that means the beginning of the rain and hurricane season.



This crisp is as simple as can be and any fruit can be used. That's what I love about crumbles and crisps, they are so versatile. In this case, I made an almond topping but you could use any nut or even oatmeal or a combination of both.



Almond Crumble

100 grams butter
100 grams sugar
100 grams flour
120 grams almond flour
80 grams raw almonds, chopped
pinch of salt

Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the flour, almond flour, chopped almonds and salt and mix until combined. This mixture will be sandy. Refrigerate for at least one hour.

Cherry and Blackberry Filling

160 grams blackberries
250 grams cherries, pitted
10 grams flour
20 grams vanilla sugar
zest of half a lemon
juice of half a lemon
pinch of salt

Toss all ingredients together. Divide amongst ramekins and top with crumble.

Bake at 350F until juices start to bubble up and crumble browns.

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Chocolate, Hazelnut and Milk Skin Tea Cakes

One of my most vivid childhood memories is the smell of simmering milk or even burnt milk on the stove. Until about 25 years ago or maybe less, my grandparents had raw milk delivered to the pastry shop once a day from a farm just 3 km away. The milk came in large metal containers and it was my grandmother's job to cook it and pasteurize it for everyone to use in the shop.

The cream that rose to the top after the milk was heated, the milk skin or esne natak, was later used to bake pound cakes for us to eat at home. I remember that like it was yesterday.



During this last trip, we visited my grandmother every afternoon. She is not doing so well and more than speaking herself, she listened to our conversations. My uncle J., who is a great storyteller, was remembering the times as kids when they ate the milk skin on bread sprinkled with sugar. I know it might sound odd to most, but it was also a snack I grew up eating and miss to this day.

This conversation is what got me thinking about the idea of baking with milk skin again, but getting my hands on good raw milk would proof to be a challenge.

When I arrived back in Florida, I went to Whole Foods inquiring about raw milk, which turns out is illegal in Florida. I did find out however, that it is sold for animal consumption and they do carry it right there in the store. So there I was buying pet food for baking purposes.



I pulled out an old recipe that my mom gave me for the milk skin pound cake (esne natazko opile) and adapted it incorporating chocolate and hazelnut flour into it. The final texture is very similar to a pound cake made with butter, so you could make the entire recipe with butter instead, but for me it was more than about making a chocolate cake. It was about a memory.



Milk Skin or Natas de Leche

Note: The original recipe only uses raw milk but because I heard that the milk here does not contain as much fat, I added heavy cream to it. Not necessary though.

1 liter of raw cow's milk
500 ml heavy cream

Place the milk and cream in a shallow but wide pan. The more surface the better as we will be able to get more of the skin.

Heat the mixture on low heat until low simmer is achieved. A yellow skin will start to form. Gently spoon the skin into a clean glass container or ceramic bowl. Let it cool slightly and then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 24 hours. I like to wait 2 days to use it so it acquires a bit of a sour flavor.

Chocolate, Hazelnut and Milk Skin Tea Cakes

Note: when I made the milk skin, I didn't get enough quantity for the entire recipe so I used regular unsalted butter for the rest.

180 grams natas de leche
100 grams sugar
3 eggs
140 grams flour
50 grams hazelnut flour
30 grams cocoa powder, sifted
6 grams baking powder
pinch of salt
50 grams chocolate chunks

After the milk skin has been refrigerated, it will have similar consistency to cool butter but once it starts to soften, it might appear a bit broken. Because of this, I like to start creaming the butter and the sugar with the paddle attachment, but once I start adding the eggs, if the mixture looks a bit separated, I use a hand whisk to bring back the emulsion. Just whisk the eggs in a bit and it will be fine.

Combine the flour, hazelnut flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the base and mix until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks.

Divide the batter between four mini loaf pans (mine are 3"x2") and pipe the rest into mini muffin cups or silicon pan.

Bake at 350F until center done. insert a toothpick in the center and if it comes out clean, they are done.

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New Look and a Happy Birthday

I have a friend who loves flowers as much as I do. She is gentle, generous, optimistic, funny, talented.... and so I bought these today for her, to wish her a happy birthday. Joyeux anniversaire Helen!

I also wanted to thank Kaytlyn for another lovely banner. What do you think?

I am almost jet-lag free and working on new recipes that hopefully I will share soon. Thank you!

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Spring in the Basque Country, Part Two

All week I have been trying to post some more photos of our trip, but we have been so busy that it has not been possible until today. Our trip has come to an end and has left a bittersweet feeling in me once again. We walked in the door about an hour ago and immediately, I had to open a jar of white asparagus just to remember the feeling of home again.

It is hard for me to summarize all the places we visited because there are so many. So many places, people, parks, restaurants, coffee shops...



Last Tuesday, after C arrived, we took a day trip to Donostia-San Sebastian upon his request. That's where we spent part of our honeymoon so he always likes to go back and visit the old part of town Alde Zaharra for some pintxo and txakoli time.

It was a cold day, but we managed to get a few rays of sunshine here and there. We visited Galparsoro Okindegia for some organic rustic bread and brioche, of course and then headed into the old quarters for some pintxos. My favorite spot Aralar was closed, which was a bit disappointing, but managed to find a couple of good places along the way.

We also stopped at the farmer's market where we got the best tomatoes I have had in a long time, some small but excellent organic lettuces, flat green beans and cheeses. The flower stands were also full of color and beauty.



There was a lot of walking and hiking and although we were hoping to go mushroom picking, the weather had been too cold. Plenty of rain, but a bit more sunshine and warmth were needed. We were really looking forward to that since my dad is a wild mushroom connoisseur and gatherer.

The boys spent one of the only sunny and warm days in Urkiola and Oleta walking around and sitting under enormous trees.



We also made it to the Guggenheim although we spent more time outside in the gigantic playground than inside. I love photographing the building and the river next to it on grey days. The titanium takes on a coppery sheen that is hard to describe.

And finally I had to share some photos of some delicious traditional Basque dishes. On our last day, we had a 4-hour family lunch at Juantxu Jatetxea a very traditional restaurant in my hometown. I couldn't leave home without eating kokotxas al pil pil, salpicon de marisco or langostinos a la plancha.



I always come back exhausted yet re-energized and full of inspiration. I will share more thoughts and recipes soon. Thank you!

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Spring in the Basque Country, Part One

We arrived in Bilbao about a week ago and have been enjoying the outdoors as much as possible despite the unstable weather. There has been rain and wind, but also sunshine and blue skies.

The landscape is the greenest I have seen in a long time and flowers are almost in full bloom. Sometimes I forget how many different varieties of flowers I can find here everywhere I look. Small daisies or txiribitak as we call them are everywhere.



The Basque Country is a small wonderland of all as we have cities, industrial areas, mountains, peaks and the ocean all concentrated in a very small area. It literally only takes a half hour to drive from the top of a mountain to the nearest beach and back to the largest shopping area around.

One of my wishes is for my little one to experience nature as I did growing up. I know it is not as easy anymore as he is growing up in a different time and under different circumstances, but I really wanted to make this trip about that; about hiking, feeling mud, seeing animals in pastures, touching old artifacts, seeing two, three, four hundred year old buildings, picking wild berries and feeling the cold Atlantic water on his feet.





There are nature trails everywhere around here and we have been taking full advantage. We spent a day in the villages surrounding Anboto and Urkiola and even stopped at Asador Etxebarri just to take a peak, which was recently named 39 in the 50 best restaurants in the world and was also featured in Mario Batali's show "Spain, on the road again".

The term celebrity chef does not exist in the Basque Country as great chefs and restaurants can be found in the most unexpected and remote areas and that is such a great source of pride as I love to cook and also eat.




Just this morning, we took a day trip to Urdaibai, which UNESCO named a biosphere reserve in 1984.

The wind was still blowing cold, but the sky was blue and the kids played in the sand like there was no tomorrow. We then stopped at the local bar for some great tapas or pintxos as we call them here. Tortilla de patata, bacalao al pil-pil, pastel de txangurro... my mouth is watering just thinking about it again.




And this is just part of it. I still have lots of photos to sort through including Bilbao and San Sebastian. I wish you could visit as well. I will be back soon with more to share. Happy weekend!

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