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The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.
It is my firm belief that every home baker should have a show-stopper dessert in her repertoire. The kind of dessert that make eaters ‘ohh’ and ‘ahh’ at the majesty of it, while off to the side the proud baker is secretly giggling inside because of how simple and easy the dessert is to make. Don’t worry – what your friends and family don’t know won’t hurt them.
I think I might have found my show-stopper dessert with this month’s Daring Bakers challenge. A piece montée, or more commonly known as a croquembouche, is a French dessert consisting of profiteroles, pate á choux filled with pastry cream, assembled into a towering cone shape using caramel. The towering height of this impressive dessert is what garners awes from those that consume it, but miniature versions are just as easily assembled and elicit the same type of awe-inspiring response.
Croquembouche literally translates to ‘crunch (or munch) in the mouth’ in French. The crunch comes from the hard caramel glaze that is used to hold the structure together. It is also sometimes used as a garnish in the form of spun sugar.
I opted to make a tinier croquembouche because I had no need for a gigandor one – although I could have definitely eaten it all. This dessert is great because eaters can pick profiteroles off of the assembled dessert, which makes it great for large parties or serving individual portions.
The pate á choux came together very easily but the batter was a tad bit on the runny side, so the piped puffs didn’t hold their shape. They still baked up as a cream puff would, though. Filled with a lemon pastry cream and then assembled and decorated with caramel, the lemon in the pastry cream complemented the caramel very well.
This is such a versatile dessert as the flavor combinations are endless. Mocha pastry cream with chocolate sauce anyone? Thanks to Cat for choosing such a great dessert and one that has been on My 100 for a while. You can check out the rest of the Daring Bakers and their creations here.
Croquembouche
Based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri
For the Vanilla Crème Patissiere (Half Batch)
1 cup (225 ml.) whole milk
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
6 Tbsp. (100 g.) sugar
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
2 Tbsp. (30 g.) unsalted butter
1 Tsp. Vanilla
Dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup of milk. Combine the remaining milk with the sugar in a saucepan; bring to boil; remove from heat.
Beat the whole egg, then the yolks into the cornstarch mixture. Pour 1/3 of boiling milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the eggs do not begin to cook.
Return the remaining milk to boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, continuing whisking.
Continue whisking (this is important – you do not want the eggs to solidify/cook) until the cream thickens and comes to a boil. Remove from heat and beat in the butter and vanilla.
Pour cream into a stainless steel/ceramic bowl. Press plastic wrap firmly against the surface. Chill immediately and until ready to use.
Pate a Choux (Yield: About 28)
¾ cup (175 ml.) water
6 Tbsp. (85 g.) unsalted butter
¼ Tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup (125 g.) all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
For Egg Wash: 1 egg and pinch of salt
Pre-heat oven to 425◦F/220◦C degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Preparing batter:
Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely.
Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.
Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly.
Add 1 egg. The batter will appear loose and shiny.
As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes.
It is at this point that you will add in the next egg. Repeat until you have incorporated all the eggs.
Piping:
Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip. Pipe choux about 1 inch-part in the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1 inch high about 1 inch wide.
Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. You want them to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top.
Brush tops with egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten with pinch of salt).
Baking:
Bake the choux at 425◦F/220◦C degrees until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 10 minutes.
Lower the temperature to 350◦F/180◦C degrees and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 20 minutes more. Remove to a rack and cool.
Can be stored in an airtight container overnight.
Filling:
When you are ready to assemble your piece montée, using a plain pastry tip, pierce the bottom of each choux. Fill the choux with pastry cream using either the same tip or a star tip, and place on a paper-lined sheet. Choux can be refrigerated briefly at this point while you make your glaze.
Hard Caramel Glaze:
1 cup (225 g.) sugar
½ teaspoon lemon juice
Combine sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan with a metal kitchen spoon stirring until the sugar resembles wet sand. Place on medium heat; heat without stirring until sugar starts to melt around the sides of the pan and the center begins to smoke. Begin to stir sugar. Continue heating, stirring occasionally until the sugar is a clear, amber color. Remove from heat immediately; place bottom of pan in ice water to stop the cooking. Use immediately.
Assembly of your Piece Montée:
You may want to lay out your unfilled, unglazed choux in a practice design to get a feel for how to assemble the final dessert. For example, if making a conical shape, trace a circle (no bigger than 8 inches) on a piece of parchment to use as a pattern. Then take some of the larger choux and assemble them in the circle for the bottom layer. Practice seeing which pieces fit together best.
Once you are ready to assemble your piece montée, dip the top of each choux in your glaze (careful it may be still hot!), and start assembling on your cake board/plate/sheet. Continue dipping and adding choux in levels using the glaze to hold them together as you build up.
When you have finished the design of your piece montée, you may drizzle with remaining glaze or use ribbons, sugar cookie cut-outs, almonds, flowers, etc. to decorate. Have fun and enjoy! Bon appétit!
Quick, math lesson!
Now, now…please don’t groan and close the page. It’ll be fast and delicious, I promise!
What do you get when you combine the following?
Light layers of lemon poppy seed cake
+
An even lighter layer of almond cream cheese filling
+
An airy frosting of white chocolate ganache
x
The extreme cuteness of being in cakelette form
An utterly delicious lemon poppyseed cakelette with almond cream cheese filling and a white chocolate ganache.
See, I told you it would be easy…and that was about all my headache riddled brain can take right now.
I thought a white chocolate ganache would complement the lemon and almond flavors of the cake. While I was looking more for a ganache that could be poured over the cake, this ganache recipe was just plain incredible so I’m in no position to complain.
And as for the cakelettes, well, mini sized anything instantly makes it that much more delicious.
If you have a chance, head on over to The Cake Slice page and check out the other creations. The recipe can be found here.
The white chocolate ganache recipe can be found in Rose Levy Beranbaum’s The Cake Bible.
Friends, I need some help. It’s not often that I ask others for help but I feel like I can ask for it here.
I’ve hit a wall with this little blog. Writer’s block, if you will. You see, I’ve been sitting on this post about these cute little blueberry hand pies for almost three weeks now. I’ve been sitting and waiting, wishing and hoping, that with time inspiration will strike me. That I’ll think of something charming and witty to tell you all about these hand pies.
Sadly, this is a familiar place for me. I’ve shared my anxiety about my writing voice with you before. And the kind words you provided then were wonderful and have truly help me on my search for my writing voice. And I’ve come a long way – at least I like to think so.
My problem this time (and I have lots of them, but don’t we all) is that I can’t seem to focus. I have so many ideas and stories and things to say about these adorable hand pies. I mean c’mon…these suckers are cute and are totally customizable. My mind just races thinking of all the possible fillings with the impending summer fruit season.
(I actually just paused for a full 30 seconds while writing that sentence, pondering all the types of summer fruits that you could put in these hand pies. See what I mean!)
So the same goes for trying to focus on just one thing to tell you about these pies…
…I made them for my co-worker’s birthday….
…the blueberries I used were on steroids and could only squeeze three into each pie…
…peaches, nectarines, cherries, oh maybe figs…
Focus.
Blueberry hand pies.
Well, here are some pictures of them. That might be the best that I can do right now.
Let’s recap – I made these blueberry hand pies for a co-worker’s birthday, the blueberries I used were monstrously big and thus could only fit three into each wee pie, and, they are really friggin’ cute. Clearly I need some help.
Blueberry Hand Pies
The dough recipe came from Smitten Kitchen.
For the filling:
2 pints of blueberries (try to find smaller ones so that more can fit into each pie)
1 t lemon juice, to taste
1 T sugar, to taste
1/2 t cinnamon, to taste
1-2 T flour
a pinch of salt
Combine blueberries, lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl and stir to combine. Add flour by the tablespoon as needed to absorb some of the moisture.
So many things going on right now…so many things I hope to be able to share with you all here sometime soon.
Still baking…still sharing.
Here is one of my recent projects…more to come soon…promise.
One of the things that I love about the Bay Area is the great community of food minded people. There are endless resources, reviews, and communities on how to eat well in this diverse area of California. It’s very easy to achieve ‘foodie overload’ status, but it also means that you can find someone else who shares your love of cupcakes, Puerto Rican food, or charcuterie.
You all know that I’ve participated in a few of the Iron Cupcake challenges held in San Francisco. Well, I think I’ve become addicted to participating in these types of baking challenges. You see, I had the amazing opportunity to be one of 20 lucky competitors in the most recent SF Food Wars challenge – the Chocolate Cookie Situation.
Why a Situation, you ask? Well, this was none other than a baking challenge based on the Jersey Shore. Yes, you read that right. We had to create a chocolate cookie inspired by the infamous MTV show “The Jersey Shore”. That in and of itself guaranteed a good time in my book.
What is SF Food Wars? It’s a bi-monthly challenge that pits competitors against each other to bring their A-game in whatever the theme is that month. March’s challenge was chocolate cookies. It could be any type of chocolate cookie, as long as it was inspired by the Jersey Shore. My fist pumpin’ brownie-chunk cookie was lucky enough to make the cut to be one of the 20 competitors for this epic challenge.
The event was held at Mighty, a club fitting to be the scene of a mini-Jersey Shore in San Francisco on a Sunday afternoon. Competitors arrived early to set up their table in the best representation of the Jersey Shore and entice the over 200 (!) eaters lined up outside. And yes, I made 200 cookies for the event. That was a lot for my tiny kitchen to handle, but we worked it out. I’m giving it a break for a few days.
As soon as the eaters were let in the rest of the afternoon was a blur. People with plates piled high with other delicious looking cookies filed by to take one of my tiny creations. I don’t envy their position at all – the eaters had the tough task of voting for their favorite cookie and there were some pretty intense chocolate cookies in the running.
In the end, my cookie creation didn’t place but was one of the crowd favorites. But the experience itself was more than amazing. I met some pretty cool people who shared a love of baking, got to taste amazing chocolate cookies, and, most importantly, had the love and support of my family and friends there.
I can safely admit that I am addicted to baking competitions.
Check out coverage of SF Food Wars: The Chocolate Cookie Situation here and here.
Fist Pumpin’ Brownie Chunk Cookies
Adapted from Bon Appetit
Note: These cookies require a batch of brownies to be made the day before and refrigerated over night before incorporating into the cookies. I highly recommend refrigeration; it helps keep the brownie chunks intact when the are incorporated into the cookie batter.
For the brownies:
5 ounces unsweetened or bittersweet chocolate, chopped (if you use bittersweet, just cut down on the amount of sugar you add)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, diced
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all purpose flour
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prep a 9×13 pan by lining it with foil, leaving an overhang, and spraying lightly with cooking spray.
Combine the chocolate and butter in a heavy bowl set over a pot of simmering water until melted and smooth. Let cool for 15 minutes.
Once cooled, whisk in the sugar and vanilla until combined. Then add the salt and eggs. Sift the flour over the mixture and stir until just combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake about 20 minutes, until a tester inserted into the middle comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Cool in pan; cover and chill overnight.
For the cookies:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1/2 recipe chilled brownies, cut into small cubes (in order to obtain optimal brownie chunks in the cookies, I used one full brownie recipe for one cookie recipe)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper.
Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Using a stand mixer, beat butter and both sugars together until smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until fully incorporated. Stir in the dry ingredients. Gently fold in the brownie chunks.
Using a 1 1/2 teaspoon cookie scoop, scoop balls of dough onto lined pans, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake cookies for 12 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. Let cool on racks for five minutes then transfer to foil to cool completely.
Makes about 40 cookies.
Three of my closest friends and I have an annual Palm Springs trip. Every year when January rolls around the emails start flying back and forth between us, deciding on the date, organizing each’s travel plans – we all live in different locations – getting giddy about the anticipated sun time and girl time after a long, cold winter.
It happens every April…except this year.
This year there are more exciting things afoot.
This year two of my best friends are getting married!
Thats right, my circle of friends is in full on wedding mode right now and I couldn’t be happier. Matt and I got married almost four years ago – wow, has time flown by! – but I still love everything about weddings. I love the planning and preparation, the color coordination, favor making, flowers, oh the flowers.
But my absolute favorite part is – you probably already guessed – dessert! Nowadays, people do so much more than just a traditional wedding cake. Cupcakes are huge, of course, but brides are branching out even more to do things like candy bars and mini dessert bars for the reception.
But don’t forget about all of the events leading up to the wedding, like showers, bachelorette parties, and rehearsal dinners. I was blessed with the opportunity to help out with one of the showers recently. On the dessert menu for the day were banana cupcakes from the bride’s favorite bakery and red velvet cake pops, made by your truly.
Taking a page from Bakerella, the queen of cake pops, I adapted my tried and true, absolute favorite red velvet recipe to make cake pops for the shower. Boy are these little suckers are addictive! Red velvet and cream cheese frosting, all rolled into a little ball, and covered in chocolate – c’mon, I dare you to resist. They are perfect for when you just want a little bite of cake and not a whole slice. And they are ridiculously easy to make. Nothing helps relieve the stress from a long day at work than smooshing cake and frosting together in a bowl.
Again, I dare you to resist.
Lauren (bride-to-be), me, Elizabeth (bride-to-be), and Bri
For detailed instructions on how to make these fabulous cake pops, head on over the Bakerella’s site – the tips and knowledge she has on there is endless.
Quick! What is the first flavor that comes to mind when you think of Thanksgiving?
Is it turkey?
Ok, now put that in a cupcake. Not as easy as you think, huh?
Of course there are many, many other Thanksgiving-y flavors and the November’s IRON CUPCAKE challenged us bakers to put those traditional Thanksgiving flavors into a cupcake.
I went with cranberry hoping it would be a less obvious flavor choice. I had finally perfected my version of my dad’s wine cake, so my final creation was a cranberry-orange wine cake, or Tipsy Cranberry-Orange Cupcakes. The cupcakes were topped with a sugared cranberry, which played down the tartness of the raw cranberries.
There were some very creative creations. There was only one savory cupcake that included all of the traditional Thanksgiving sides and was aptly named ‘All the Sides’. It won the Most Creative category by a landslide. And surprisingly, there were no pumpkin cupcakes. I’m guessing most thought that was way too obvious. So instead, there were quite a few sweet potato cupcakes. Boy was I glad I didn’t choose sweet potato!
Twelve mini cupcakes later the votes were in. And guess what? I placed second! It was completely unexpected and very humbling to know that so many others really enjoyed my cupcakes.
The best part about it is that I created a super simple holiday cupcake that I get to share with you. Enjoy!
Tipsy Cranberry-Orange Cupcakes
Adapted from my dad’s wine cake
3 cups cake flour, sifted
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light-brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
4 eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup sherry wine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon grated orange zest, from one large orange
2 cups chopped fresh cranberries
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Combine the granulated sugar and orange zest in a food processor and mix until the sugar is pale orange and fragrant.
In a large bowl, whisk together the cake flour, sugars, baking powder, and nutmeg.
Add the eggs, oil, sherry, and vanilla to the dry ingredients and beat with a hand mixer until combined, about 3 minutes.
Fold in the chopped cranberries.
Fill lined mini cupcake tins 3/4 full. Bake for 12-13 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
Makes 72 mini cupcakes.
Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
Using an electric stand mixer fitted with a beater attachment, beat the butter, cream cheese and brown sugar on medium-high until smooth. Use immediately. Can be stored in the refrigerator up to 3 days.
Makes 2 1/2 cups.
I’m not a writer and yet I have this blog. This creates quite a bit of anxiety for me. I often find it so hard to get down exactly what I want to say, to convey what I’m feeling, especially when I’m excited about something I’ve baked. I want to be able to describe it perfectly, recount how those that tasted it reacted, the mishaps or good-haps I encountered while making the dish. You know, all the things that food bloggers write about. And so, because I have trouble letting my words flow to the paper, or laptop, I find myself staring at my blank computer screen more than I like to admit. I want to be consistent, I want to share all that I bake, so damit, I’m going to write when the moment strikes me, even if it happens to be on my lunch break at work. Shhhhhhh.
I made these mini meyer lemon loaves a few weeks back as a welcome back to school treat for Matt’s co-workers. Kids dread going back to school in the fall and I’ve learned (from being married to a teacher) that teachers dread it almost as much. So I thought I’d make a little something for him to bring in. And I had just so happened to discover that same week that the lemon tree in my parents yard produces Meyer lemons! Where the hell have I been the past 27 years?!
So in my own little homage to Julia Child, I made her lemon loaves from Baking with Julia. I was quite proud of myself since this was my first Julia recipe (kind of ashamed to admit that, especially since I bought this cookbook almost six months ago). The batter was incredibly easy to make. I ended up having to make two batches as I didn’t have quite enough mini loaves from the first batch and I didn’t have to reference the recipe the second time around, that’s how easy it is to make. Making mini loaves also meant I had an excuse to go out and buy more bakeware. Aren’t the mini loaf pans cute? I’m accumulating quite the collection of mini anything.
And so on the first day back to school, I sent Matt off with these little mini loaves. He reported back that they were thoroghly enjoyed by all. I would have liked to put a lemon icing on them, just to give them a little more moisture and an extra kick of lemon. But then I might not have been able to wrap them up so prettily.
Recipe can be found here.
Bake Your Heart Out 