Sunday, November 30, 2008

Middle Eastern Delights


My mentor, Fatouma Gulum, was able to fit me into her busy schedule to teach me how to create these Middle Eastern delights a few months ago (I'm sorry that I didn't put up the recipes sooner; I've been very caught up in college applications for the past few months).

Backlava

My first lesson was the baklava, which we made from scratch. My mentor didn't use standard measurement - more like proportions. I think that precise measurements are not vital in this recipe, rather, techniques and tricks take the forefront.

Phillo Ingredients

3 measures of all-purpose flour (we used a medium-small bowl for this measure)

4 sticks of melted butter

a pinch of salt

water

Syrup Ingredients

4 c sugar

6 c water

2 c honey

orange blossom water (optional)

Filling Ingredients

.9 lbs of walnuts

1.7 lbs peeled almonds

sugar

Extra:

Ready melted butter to spread between layers

whole, peeled almonds - 1 almond for each piece of baklava

Preparation of Dough: Put flour in a tray and pour melted butter onto the flour. Add a pinch of salt and knead it. Add water until it reaches a dough-like consistency. Put aside half of the dough (to prevent it from drying out). Divide the dough into small, fist-sized pieces and roll them out into approx. 4 inch wide strips.

Preparation of Syrup: Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, pour in sugar and cook until it browns a little, then add the water. Let the sugar dissolve, and the mixture come to a boil and cook. Add the honey (and opt. orange blossom water). Allow the whole mixture to boil for awhile.

Preparation of Filling: Process the walnuts and almonds until they're coarsely ground - the baklava should have a delicate crunch when bitten in to. Add some sugar to the the processed nuts. Set aside.

Assembling the Baklava:Using a pasta machine, thin the strips of dough starting at setting 2 and skipping one setting each time, until they have gone through setting 8. Brush some butter in an approx. 1 inch deep pan. Lay a layer of strips long-ways on the pan, overlapping a little (to prevent holes). Allow around 1/2 inch to hang off the top and bottom edge and let the excess length of the strips hang off the pan (they will be utilized later). Butter the previous layer before starting a new one (the butter prevents the layers from combining into one thick layer of dough). Make the strips of the fourth layer run perpendicular to the other layers (switch the direction of the strips for this layer). Use the excess overhangings to cover small gaps, instead of thinning a whole new strip. After the seventh layer, spread the filling evenly over the 7th layer without any butter. Configure 7 more layers above the filling, switching directions on the 4th layer again. On the last level, butter the top and cut off all unused overhanging strips. With a butter knife, go around the edge of the pan and tuck in the dough, outlining the outer pieces of baklava. Using a straight-edge, cut the raw baklava into even strips, longways across the pan. Next, cut diagonals in each row, forming diamond-shaped baklava pieces (cutting diamonds instead of squares is more efficient - more fit into the rectangular pan). Stick a whole, peeled almond into each piece of baklava (it holds the layers together). Bake at 375 degrees until golden brown. Then pour the hot syrup over the baklava and allow it to be absorbed. Cool to room temperature and enjoy!

It took us all day to prepare but the outcome was satisfying and delicious!

Backlava Balls

These coconut covered truffle-resembling balls are my mentor's invention. To make them, you simply take the edges of the baklava and, instead of gorging them down in a guilty effort to prevent waste, you process the strips until they take a moldable consistency, mold them into balls, and roll them in coconut flakes. These are a good selection for those guests who prefer a less messy alternative to baklava.

Experimenting with Choux Paste

Paris-Brest with praline pastry cream filling and bananas.

Cream Puffs with green tea pastry cream and green tea fondant.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Apple Tart/Cream Pie


I decided that an apple pastry would be the right way to embark on the month of October, so I found a recipe for apple tart in Rose Reisman's Manhattan's Dessert Scene. The recipe from Aurora, a Manhattan french bar-restaurant, was surprisingly simple; so simple, in fact, that my mother could not help but interfere - transforming my apple tart (mid-recipe) into an Apple Cream Pie from Restaurant Lutece. Though I was a bit anxious about the mixture as I watched it, with my nose pressed against the oven door, I trusted my mother's instinctual behavior and couldn't wait to taste this morphed dessert. Thankfully, it turned out delicious - my sister and brother were my judges:)

Apple Tart/Cream Pie

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
8" flan pan

Crust:
3 oz butter
3/4 c flour
1 tblsp water

Tart:
4 medium apples

1/2 c sugar
1/2 c cream
1 egg


Combine crust ingredients until dough comes together. Form a ball. Pat thinly into pan (if you have time, refrigerate the unbaked dough for about 30 mins) and prebake approximately 15-20 mins, or until light brown. Meanwhile, prepare apples; peel, core and slice thinly then arrange them in a fan-like circle on the (prebaked) dough.
Bake with apples for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine sugar, cream, and egg in a bowl (make sure it is mixed well to avoid eggy clumps). Pour mixture over apples and continue baking until custard sets. Cool on rack then enjoy!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

My Sweet Encounters in Europe



Paris


La Tour Eiffel

Pierre Herme's Macarons
From the bottom: Rose, chocolate, coconut and milk chocolate, and a "melange" of nuts.

The Classic Chocolate Macaron

The Legendary Isphahan
Rose macaron filled with rose cream piped between tangy raspberries and sweet lychee,
topped with a rose petal and its signature dewdrop.


Le Jardin du Luxembourg

Sadaharu Aoki's Pastries

A Market Place in the Quartier Latin

Monmartre

The Artists' corner off a side street from Monmartre.

Les Crepes au Sucre et Le Chocolat Chaud


L'Arc du Triomphe



Colmar


My Neighborhood outside of Colmar - Ingerseim

(Colmar)





Zürich


Hot Chocolate at Lindt and Sprungli Cafe

(Lindt and Sprungli)

Swiss Macarons - Luxembourgerli

Monday, September 22, 2008

Candied Violets


I discovered the delightful taste of violets in Colmar, France during my exchange in tenth grade. In my host family's home, violet syrup diluted with water was a refreshment that often accompanied our meals and candied violets were readily available in various bowls and cabinets around the house. In late March, the fields were speckled with small purple violets, which we would collect by the handful to smell its sweet fragrance.

It was during this trip that I took the tgv train to Paris. My mother, who loves desserts and baking, gave me two patisserie addresses and requested me to document my findings. After navigating the entwined streets and avenues of Paris, I came across Pierre Herme's and Sadaharu Aoki's patisserie around the corner from Le Jardin du Luxembourg.

Pierre Herme's Patisserie




Sadaharu Aoki's Patisserie

( I got this photo from the internet; though I took pictures here none of them came out this clearly)


It was these experiences, starting with candied violets and ending with world-class pastries, that cultivated a love and interest in pastries for me. I hope that by the end of my project, my connection to these pastries will go beyond appreciating their sophisticated flavors, and I will have acquired the ability to recreate these transient works of art.