The Flavors of Costa Rica

After six months of selling panini lunches, and smelling like burnt olive oil, we finally raised enough money to embark on our senior class trip to Costa Rica. We spent the first part of the trip near Monte Verde, in the cloud forests of San Luis. The service portion of our trip was done on a bio dynamic farm where we prepared beds, dug holes for coffee plants and spread coffee husk compost around coffee roots. The second portion of our trip was for relaxing; we stayed outside of Tamarindo in the hotel Las Tortugas which was located on the beach but also had its own pool and hot tub. Throughout the trip my classmates and I were introduced to the delicious traditional meals of Costa Rica, enriched with the fresh produce of Costa Rica's fertile agriculture.


We stopped for lunch after our arrival in San Jose at a restaurant literally translated as "The House of Corn." The avocados were ripened to perfection - a rare treat for us New Yorkers. The food was fresh and delicious; I could already tell this was going to be an unforgettable trip.

This was my main course: chicken with sauteed peppers and onions, fresh salsa with tortillas, refried black beans and corn. Everything arrived on plates of plantain leaves. The homemade salsa was a fresh component to the meal with a sharp kick of cilantro. Many of us were surprised by the corn because, as Americans, we automatically expected the juicy American sweet corn that we are so accustomed to. The corn served at this "House of Corn" was not our familiar sweet corn but what we would call "cow corn" here (which is regularly served to cows in the US). This was not surprising to me because street vendors in Turkey market the same tough but flavorful corn in little trolleys at parks and street corners.

For dessert, we were offered complimentary rice pudding which was flavored with a perfect blend of cinnamon and cardamom. The spiced pudding vaguely reminded me of Indian rice puddings but the spices were less potent and did not include the distinctive saffron.

Before we arrived at our hotel, we also stopped by a small street-side shop which sold fresh fruit, dulce de leche candy and pastries as well as coconut water in small plastic bags. I bought a mango and was intoxicated by its delicious scent for the rest of the bus ride!

Banana plants were a common sight amongst the tropical plants thriving on the biodynamic farm.

This photo was taken wit my classmate, Brogan O'Donnell's, superior camera.

I didn't get many opportunities to try the desserts of Las Tortugas but I knew I had to try the coconut flan when I read it on the menu. If there is one thing I have learned about Central and South American cuisine it is that they have perfected and mastered flan. This coconut flan was no disappointment; it was rich, creamy, and caramelized with a tropical twist of coconut. Mmmm!

Photo: Brogan O'Donnell

These banana pancakes were a breakfast favorite. I never thought of cooking the bananas into the pancake this way and was pleasantly surprised by the creamy caramelized flavor that cooked bananas bring to this otherwise ordinary American breakfast. I will definitely try this technique our next pancake-featured breakfast.

In the heat of Tamarindo, natural smoothies were very popular hydrators and we tried almost every flavor on the menu - watermelon, starfruit, blackberry, iced tea, lemonade, mango, banana, and guanabana (the restaurants special mixture of local fruits). My favorite was the watermelon smoothies which I don't have a photo of but I can try to describe - imagine all the refreshing goodness of a cold ripe watermelon simplified and de-seeded into a smoothie, ready to be slurped up in a few divine minutes through a straw.

Sugar Cane

This presser was used to extract sugar juice from the sugar cane by crushing it.

As the cane was crushed, it would excrete this sugar water which needs to be boiled and refined thoroughly until it reaches the the recognizable sugar state.

This option of sucking on the fibrous but juicy cane is also favorable. I must admit that I preferred chewing and sucking out the sugar this way more than drinking the sugar water already extracted by the press. It was surprisingly refreshing and felt like I was sucking on some tropical fruit rather than the source of common baking sugar.

Jan demonstrating:)

Candied Violet Macarons for Brogan

Coconut Apricot Birthday Cake for Galen

Gateau Royale for Jessica

Ingredients

• 5 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, cut into pieces
• 2 oz. sweet butter, cut into pieces
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 3/4 c. (3 oz.) sifted cake flour
• 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 c. raspberry preserves
• 4-5 oz. almond paste
  

Bittersweet Chocolate Glaze

• 6 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, cut into pieces
• 4 oz. (1 stick) sweet butter, cut into pieces
• 1 tbsp. light corn syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line bottom of 9x2-inch round cake pan with a circle of parchment or wax paper.

Melt together chocolate, butter, and 3 tbsp water in a barely simmering water bath over low eat, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat. Stir until completely smooth. Set aside.

Beat egg yolks and 1/2 cup sugar together until pale and thick. Stir in warm chocolate mixture; stir in flour. Set aside.

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar in a clean, dry mixing bowl at medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually sprinkle in remaining 1/4 cup sugar, beating at high speed until stiff but not dry. Fold on-fourth of whites gently into chocolate batter to lighten it. Fold in remaining whites. Turn batter into prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick or wooden skewer plunged into the center comes out just dry. Do not over bake.

Cool cake for 10 minutes in pan on a rack. Run a small knife or spatula around the edge and invert onto cake circle.Peel off parchment. Invert once more onto a rack so that the cake is right side up. Save the cake circle. Cool cake completely on the rack before using. Cake may be prepared to this point, wrapped well, and kept at room temperature up to 2 days in advance, or frozen up to 3 months. Let come to room temperature before glazing or serving.

To Assemble the Cake: Place cooled cake right side up on cake circle. With a serrated bread knife, split cake horizontally into 2 thin layers. Set upper layer aside. Spread bottom layer evenly with half of preserves. Place top layer on preserves and spread with remaining preserves.

Roll almond paste between 2 sheets of plastic wrap until about 1/8 inch thick and at least 8 inches in diameter. Cut almond paste into a neat 8-inch round; save the scraps for another use. Center almond paste round on top of cake.

Glaze cake with Bittersweet Chocolate Glaze. Once glazed, do not refrigerate the cake.

Bittersweet Chocolate glaze: Place chocolate, butter and corn syrup in a small bowl. Melt gently in a water bath over low hear, stirring frequently until almost completely melted. Do not overheat the glaze; there is no need to warm it above 120 degrees F. Remove glaze from water bath and set aside to finish melting, stirring once or twice until glaze is perfectly smooth; do not whisk or beat. Use glaze at 90-92 degrees F. Pour evenly over cake and gently spread it evenly with a spatula. Leave torte at room temperature after glazing.

(From Alice Medrich's Cocolat)

Jullienned Pear with Vanilla Jam

This was my first jam experience and my mother helped me through it. It was much simpler than I expected and rewardingly delicious. This recipe is from Christine Ferber's Mes Confitures.

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 lbs. (1.2 kg) William or Bartlett pears, ripe but still firm
• 3 3/4 (800 g) granulated sugar
• 7 oz (200 g) Green Apple Jelly
• Juice of 1 small lemon
• 2 vanilla beans

Peel the pears, remove their stems, core them, halve them, and cut them into thin julienne. In a preserving pan, combine the pears, sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla beans, split lengthwise. Bring this to a simmer. Pour into a ceramic bowl. Cover the fruit with a piece of parchment paper and refrigerate overnight.

Next day, bring the mixture to a boil in a preserving pan. Skim. Add the apple jelly, return to a boil, and continue cooking on high heat for about 5 minutes, stirring gently. Skim again if need be. Remove the vanilla beans and divide pieces of them among the jars. Return to a boil. Check the set. Put the jam into jars immediately and seal.

Topsy-Turvy Apple Pie

Sasha's apple dessert request was ironically the most problematic. This apple pie was my second attempt at Sasha's dessert. When I flipped the pie over, not all of the toffee topping transferred and it looked pretty messy, so once again we decided to eat some before we realized that we could have fixed the top with some extra sauce. Just like the apple cake, I didn't want t0 give him a a partial dessert so I ended up offering it to my family and giving a few slices to my pie-loving neighbors. Though it was not the prettiest pie I've ever encountered, it was definitely yummy - the toffee topping coupled perfectly with the baked apple slices. We found this recipe in a Pilsbury cookbook.

Glaze and Crust

• 2 pie crusts (for top and bottom)
• 1/4 c. packed brown sugar
• 1 tbsp. butter, melted
• 1 tbsp corn syrup
• 1/2 c. pecan halves

Filling

• 2/3 c. granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 4 c. thinly sliced, peeled apples (4 medium)

Topping

• whipped cream, if desired

Heat oven to 425 degrees F. In a 9 inch pie plate, mix brown sugar, butter and corn syrup. Spread evenly in bottom of pie plate. Arrange pecans over mixture. Place 1 crust over the mixture in pie plate.

In a small bowl, mix granulated sugar, flour and cinnamon. Add apple slices and toss until they're evenly coated. Fill the pie pan with the slices, making sure it is level. Cover with the second pie crust; seal edge and flute. Cut slits in several places in top crust.

Place pie on sheet of foil on middle rack in oven; bake 8 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F; bake for 35-45 minutes longer or until apples are tender and crust is golden brown. Immediately run knife around edge of pie to loosen. Place serving plate upside down over pie; turn serving plate and pie plate over. Remove pie plate.

Serve warm or cool with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream!

(If the caramel does not coat the pie nicely, make some caramel sauce and touch up the unfortunate spots.)

White Chocolate Raspberry Tort for Abby

I was aware of Abby's love of white chocolate for a while. I remember one lunch when she bought a bar and I was slightly surprised because I don't know many people who can eat that much white chocolate by itself. So when Abby's turn came around I thought what better companion to white chocolate than raspberries? The tangy raspberries offset the richness of the white chocolate while the bittersweet tart grounds the ensemble. This tart is from The Art of the Tart by Tamasin Day-Lewis but it has been slightly modified by my mother (I used the recipe from my mother's blog).

For the Chocolate Pastry Crust:

• 1 c flour
• 2 tsp cocoa powder
• 2 tbs confectioner's sugar
• 4 tbs cold butter, cut into small chunks
• 1 egg yolk
• A few tbs ice water

For the Filling:

• 1 c creme fraiche
• 1 c heavy cream
• 6 oz white chocolate, cut into small pieces
  
• 1/2 lb raspberries
• A little cocoa powder for decoration

Preheat the oven to 400F. Grease a 9" tart pan. Sift the flour, cocoa and sugar into the bowl of your food processor. Add in the chunks of butter and process briefly. Add the egg yolk and a tablespoons or two of water, and process just until the dough coheres. Wrap and refrigerate the dough for half an hour (I didn't). Roll on a surface sprinkled with some cocoa powder and line your prepared tart pan. Bake the pastry crust blind with beans for 20 minutes, and 10 minutes more without the beans. It should be crisp and slightly browned. Cool.

Bring 1/3 c of the whipping cream to boil. Pour it over the pieces of white chocolate and stir until completely melted. Refrigerate for a few hours. Whip the remaining 2/3 c cream until thick. Combine it and the creme fraiche with the white chocolate mixture, and stir until the filling comes together uniformly.

Crush some of the raspberries lightly so that they release some juice. Line the cooled pastry crust with the berries. Pour the filling, and use a spoon to smooth it over the fruit. Refrigerate for a couple of hours before you dust the tart lightly with cocoa powder and serve or decorate the top with white chocolate curls by scraping thin slices with a knife (the white chocolate curls better when the it is slightly warm). The consistency and flavor definitely improve after a night of refrigeration.

Carrot Cake for Noah

Noah's favorite dessert is carrot cake. I'm also a fan of carrot cake, but believe it or not, I've neither made nor tasted home-made carrot cake ever (until now). Before making it myself, I always took for granted how much carrot actually goes into this cake; while grating carrot after carrot it was hard to believe that I was making a dessert instead of a huge carrot salad (which I actually did with the leftover carrot gratings, seasoning it with chopped scallions and a lemon dressing - yum!). I ended up spending most of my time learning/perfecting cake frosting techniques, as well as learning to work with marzipan (for the decorative carrots). I thought this would be one of the easier desserts I would make but it was a definitely a fruitful process for me in more ways than one:)
I found this recipe on epicurious, and it was featured in the '94 October edition of Bon Appetit. Since I had an 8.5 inch diameter pan and a whole class to feed, I baked 4 cakes and assembled them into two 2-layered cakes, instead of one triple layer. Below is the original triple layered cake recipe.

Cake

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 cups finely grated peeled carrots (about 1 pound)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (about 1/2 ounce)
• 1/2 cup raisins

Frosting

• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract

For cake:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly grease three 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Line bottom of pans with waxed paper. Lightly grease waxed paper. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and vegetable oil in bowl until combined. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg into sugar and oil mixture. Stir in carrots, chopped pecans and raisins.

Pour batter into prepared pans, dividing equally. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean and cakes begin to pull away from sides of pans, about 45 minutes. Cool in pans on racks 15 minutes. Turn out cakes onto racks and cool completely. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap tightly in plastic and store at room temperature.)

For frosting:
Using electric mixer, beat all ingredients in medium bowl until smooth and creamy.

Place 1 cake layer on platter. Spread with 3/4 cup frosting. Top with another cake layer. Spread with 3/4 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Using icing spatula, spread remaining frosting in decorative swirls over sides and top of cake. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover with cake dome and refrigerate.) Serve cake cold or at room temperature.

Apple Bundt Cake with a Caramel Glaze

I found this Apple Bundt Cake recipe on epicurious. It was supposed to be Sasha's dessert (he had asked for something with caramel and apples) but I started it late at night, and though I'm not 100% sure, I felt as though I had put a 1/4 tsp too much salt. I tasted the batter and it tasted unusually salty. In the end the extra salt, if there was any, complimented the caramel. I had to taste it and make sure a couple of times, and soon enough, a good chunk of the cake was missing. I didn't want to hand Sasha 3/4 of his dessert, plus, I decided that I wanted to make something a little more sophisticated. In the end, I brought the cake to school and let my classmates devour it with caramel sauce and assured Sasha that his dessert was on the way.

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake with a Brulee Topping for Evan

Evan wanted cheesecake with a caramelized top. Luckily, my mother has a dessert torch so I was not too worried about the top. I wanted to give the standard cheesecake flavor a twist and since Evan went on exchange in Argentina and experienced the divine dulce de leche, I thought he would appreciate it swirled into his cheesecake (we thinned it out with some water so it wouldn't completely settle to the bottom). I found this recipe on the Recchiuti Confectioners website. A close friend of mine gave me Michael Recchiuti and Fran Gage's cookbook Chocolate Obsession for my birthday which I'm dying to explore. His recipe calls for a burnt caramel sauce which is drizzled over the cheesecake; I used thinned dulce de leche instead.

Ingredients:

• Flavorless vegetable oil for the pan
• 2 pounds cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1/3 cups plus 1/3 cup granulated cane sugar
• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 2/3 cup pecans, toasted and ground
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter with 82% butterfat, melted and cooled.
  

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Liberally coat the inside of a 9-inch springform pan with flavorless vegetable oil or butter.

In a mixing bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, pecans, butter and 1/3 cup sugar; stir until blended. Pat the mixture evenly into the bottom of the prepared springform pan. Pressing the crust just up the side of the pan create a slight ridge.

Bake the crust for 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

Put the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until smooth and light, about 3 minutes. Add 1 cup sugar and beat another minute. When cool, wrap the pan with foil to create a seal so that water bath does not seep in.

Scrape the sides of the bowl down before adding the sour cream. Beat to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating each completely before adding the next. Beat until blended.

Pour the cream cheese mixture over the crust.

Add water to the dulce de leche until its consistency is similar to that of the cream cheese mixture. Drizzle it fairly evenly over the cheesecake and use a toothpick to gently swirl it without disturbing the crust.

Set the pan in a roasting pan or baking dish that allows ~2 inches space all around and set on the oven rack.

Pour boiling water into the roasting pan or baking dish (a teapot works best). Fill the pan until it is at least halfway up the side of the springform pan but not overflowing.

Bake until the filling is set, about 50-60 minutes. When pressed gently with your finger it should jiggle like Jell-O, but not like a wave.

Transfer to a rack and cool to room temperature.

Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving.

To serve, unmold the cheesecake. Sprinkle 1/3 cup sugar over the surface and using a kitchen torch, move flame continuously in small circles over surface until sugar melts and browns.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Praline Pie for Sundi

This pumpkin pie recipe, which I pulled out of an old Pilsbury cookbook, has three layers: an authentic pumpkin pie filling, a pecan praline layer, and a creamy orange whipped cream topping. The crunchy praline layer contrasts the creamy texture of the filling, while the cream topping lightens the dessert with its airy texture and citrus twist.

Note: the candied orange peels were my mother's previous project but they went nicely with the ensemble of textures and flavors.

Crust:
Pie crust of your choice for a 10" pie pan

Filling:
1/2 c sugar
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp salt
16 oz can (2 c) cooked, mashed pumpkin
12 oz can (1 1/2 c) evaporated milk
2 slightly beaten eggs

Praline Layer:
1/4 c firmly packed brown sugar
2 tbs flour
1/4 c cold butter
1/2 c chopped pecans

Topping:
3 oz cream cheese, softened
2 tbs milk
1 tsp grated orange peel
1 c heavy cream
Enough sugar to sweeten the topping Prepare pie crust and line your pie pan. Preheat the oven to 425F.In a large bowl, combine all filling ingredients; beat until blended. Pour into pie crust-lined oan and bake for 15 minutes.Reduce oven to 350F. In small bowl, combine brown sugar and flour. Using a pastry blender or fork, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in pecans. Sprinkle over the pumpkin filling. Bake for an additional 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool completely.In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, milk and orange peel; mix until smooth. In another bowl, sweeten and whip the cream. Add the whipped cream to the cheese mixture and fold until the two are uniformly combined. Spoon over the cooled pie. Dust with pumpkin pie spice if desired.

Strawberry Tartlets with an Irish Cream Filling

Danishes for Jan

I enjoyed my first experience with puff pastries so I wanted to explore this technique further with danishes. Again, it was quite simple but time-consuming. The result was extremely satisfying; the danishes not only looked better than the ones in a patisserie, but tasted exquisite (especially fresh out of the oven) because I used real butter instead of margarine. I made this batch for my classmate Jan Bushman, who is originally from Holland, where I'm sure the pastry shops overflow with an abundance of danishes.

Madeleines

Walnut Apple Cream Pie

Honey Castella or Kasutera for Hanako

This moist honey sponge cake was introduced to Japan by Portuguese merchants in the 16th century. It is now a popular street snack and festival treat in the city of Nagasaki (which, in the 16th century, was the only port open to foreign commerce). Nowadays, there are more variations to castella such as green tea castella and honey castella.

I found this recipe in Pichet Ong's cookbook The Sweet Spot and I decided to give to my classmate Hanako Saeki, who had just returned from visiting her family in Japan for winter break.

Ingredients

1/4 c. canola, vegetable, or other neutral oil, plus more for greasing the pan

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

7 large eggs

3 large egg yokes

1 1/2 c. sugar

1/4 c. honey

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Generously grease a 9 x 13-inch cake pan and set aside.

2. Sift together the flour and salt and set aside.

3. Put eggs, yolks, sugar, and honey in the bowl of an electric mixer and set over a saucepan of simmering water. Whisk constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is warm to the touch, about 10 minutes.

4. Fit the bowl into the mixer and whick at medium-high speed until the misture is pale yellow, thick and completely cool, about 10 minutes. Gently fold in the dry ingredients. (Add the dry ingredients slowly because it is hard to fold it in completely without deflating the egg mixture.)

5. In a small bowl, whisk together 1 cup of the batter with the oil until smooth and homogenous. Add the oil mixture into the remaining batter in a slow, steady stream, folding continuously.

6. Transfer to the prepared cake pan. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the heat down to 300 F and bake until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 more minutes. Cool completely in the pan on a rack.

7. Serve the cake alone or top each slice with a dollop of Concord Grape Preserves, if desired.

Chinese New Year Caramelized Pineapple Turnovers

I recently finished a Chinese history course in school and we were given the option of doing an extra project and sharing it with the rest of the class. Luckily, a close friend of mine had bought me Pichet Ong's The Sweet Spot for my birthday (along with Michael Recchiuti and Fran Gage's Chocolate Obsession), so I had a wonderful source for Asian desserts. Pichet Ong was named one of the Top Ten Pastry Chefs in America by Pastry Arts & Design and he is chef and owner of the dessert spot P*ONG in New York City. His recipes put a sophisticated twist on traditional Asian desserts.

Given that the Chinese New Year of the Ox was still fresh in everyone's memories, I settled on these Chinese New Year Pineapple Turnovers. Since tangerines are distributed during the New Year (tangerines are a homonym of "gold" in Chinese), these turnovers are shaped like little golden tangerines with a whole clove for a stem. They are especially popular in Singapore where they are called "kuey taht" and always available during the New Year. The reason that pineapples are used in this recipe is that the word for pineapple sounds similar to the phrase "prosperity to come" in some Chinese dialects.

Note: My project partner, Marielle, and I could not find palm sugar, or custard powder so we substituted with the ingredients I listed in parenthesis. The turnovers were delicious but labor intensive. Fortunately, we had to study for our final exam on the history of China, so the hours of wait (to chill the dough and cool the carmelized pineapples) were well used.

Ingredients

Caramelized Pineapple Filling:

2 small pineapples, peeled, cored, and finely diced

1 c. plus 2 tbsp. crushed palm sugar (or brown sugar)

1 cinnamon stick

1/8 tsp. salt

Pastry Dough:

2 c. all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling

1/3 c. plus 2 tbsp. custard powder (or cornstarch with a swig of vanilla extract)

1 tbsp. dried milk powder

¾ c. plus 1.5 tsp unsalted butter at room temperature

2/3 c. confectioner’s sugar

1 tsp salt

1 large egg

3 large egg yolks, beaten

whole cloves for stems

Preparation

1. To make the pineapple filling: Put all of the ingredients into a medium saucepan, set over low heat, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved and all the liquid has evaporated, about 45 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or as long as overnight.
2. To make the dough: Sift the flour, custard powder, and dried milk together and set aside.
3. Put the butter, confectioner's sugar, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until the mixture is light and creamy, about 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, add the flour mixture, and mix until incorporated. Add the egg and mix just until the dough comes together; it will be quite sticky. Form the mixture into a ball, press it into a 1-inch-thick disk, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill until firm, at least 2 hours, or as long as overnight.
4. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Unwrap the chilled dough and form it into 1-inch balls. Using your fingertips, press one ball into a thin 3-inch disk. Put 1 tablespoon of the pineapple filling in the center of the dough circle, fold over to make a half-moon, and pinch the edges together to seal. Twist off any excess dough, press and gently roll the half-moon shape into a ball. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. Alternatively, roll the whole disk of dough out on a lightly floured surface to a 1/8 inch thickness, cut out 3-inch circles with a cookie or biscuit cutter, and fill and shape them. Put the filled balls 1 inch apart on the baking sheets, and chill until firm, about 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F.
6. Brush the balls with the egg yolks and stick a clove, if desired, in the center of each. Bake until golden brown, about 12 minutes. Cool completely on a rack before serving then enjoy!

Mocha Macarons for Chelly

This was my first attempt at macarons (with help from my mom) and I was thrilled by the outcome! I must admit that if my mother was not watching my every move then these mocha bites would not have turned out so nicely. I made this batch for Chelly because of our shared love of macarons (which she calls "burgers"). During our exchange to France, we both had the opportunity to visit Pierre Herme's patisserie and truly appreciate the delicate delight of a good macaron.

(The recipes to all these desserts are on their way; I haven't had the time to write them down yet).

Pear Custard Breakfast Rolls

Chestnut Pudding

Exploring Puff Pastry: Croissants

I must admit that I was a little nervous to try out croissants because of all the rumors I had heard about the hard and tedious process. To my pleasant surprise it was not all that difficult; moreover, I found it quite enjoyable to work with the soft pastry dough. Nevertheless, it is true that the process is long but only because the pastry dough needs to be cooled after each folding. If planned well, one could easily get other things done during the chilling periods, so as not to waste precious time. Furthermore, the croissants came out delicious - comparable to the ones I'd pick up as after-school-snacks from patisseries in Alsace. I used the recipe from my mother's cookbook Breads by the California Culinary Academy.

Yeast Dough

1 package active dry yeast
1 1/4 c. warm (105 - 107 degrees Fahrenheit) milk
2 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 3/4 c. flour

Butter Mixture

1 14 c. cold butter
3 tbsp. flour

Egg Glaze

1 egg mixed with 1 tsp. water

1. To prepare yeast dough: Sprinkle yeast over the warm milk in a large bowl, add sugar, stir, and let stand for a few minutes to dissolve. Add salt and flour, then mix vigorously but briefly, just until you have a rough, sticky dough that holds together. Set aside for about 5 minutes while you prepare the butter mixture.

2. To prepare butter mixture: Cut the butter into tablespoon-sized bits, dropping them onto your work surface, then sprinkling with flour. Tear off two good-sized sheets of waxed paper and set aside. Begin mashing butter with flour together by smearing across work surface with the heel of your hand; gather mixture into a pile with a spatula or pastry scraper, then repeat smearing a couple of times - until butter is smooth and workable, but still cold. Flour your hands, then form butter into a small, rough rectangle and place it between sheets of waxed paper. Roll and pat butter into a larger rectangle 6 by 8 inches, keeping sides as even as possible. Set aside while you roll out yeast dough.

3. Wipe work surface clean, sprinkle it generously with flour, and turn dough out onto it. Flour the dough, which is quite soft, and push, pat and roll it into a rectangle about 10 by 14 inches. Unwrap butter and place it on bottom half of dough, leaving about a 1-inch border on 3 sides. Lift up the top of the dough, working it loose with a spatula or scraper if it sticks to work surface, and flip it over the butter. Pinch the edges to seal. Give the dough a quarter turn, so sealed flap is to your right.

4. Using smooth, even strokes, roll to a rectangle 9 by 17 inches. Check to see if it is sticking and sprinkle with four if necessary - don't be afraid to pick it up and look. Fold bottom third of dough up over the middle, then flip top third down to cover it. Turn again so flap is to your right and roll out again to 9 by 17 inches. Fold in thirds as before, flour lightly, wrap in plastic wrap and plastic bag, and chill for about 30 minutes. At this point, the first two turns are finished.

5. Roll chilled dough again to 9 by 17 inches, fold in thirds, wrap in plastic wrap and a plastic bag, and refrigerate for 45 minutes. (If at any time dough becomes soft and resists rolling out, or if butter breaks through in large, smeary patches, stop working, dust dough with flour, then slide onto a baking sheet and chill for about 20 minutes.)

6. Roll out and fold dough again thus completing four turns. Wrap and chill for at least 1 hour (or for a few hours or overnight if it's more convenient) before forming croissants.

7. Roll dough out to 10 by 20 inches keeping sides as even as possible. With a sharp knife, cut in half lengthwise, then cut each half into four 5-inch squares. Cut each square in half diagonally to make 2 triangles.

8. Working with one triangle at a time, pick up the two closest points, at the base, and gently stretch them out to about 7 inches. Hold these two points down with one hand and use the other hand to wiggle and stretch the other, farthest point out to about 7 inches or more. Staring at the base, roll up stretched dough just like a crescent roll. Pull points down, toward one another to form crescent shape.

9. Place the croissants on baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between each one. Cover with a towel and let rise for about 1 1/2 hours, or more, until puffy and doubled in size. (If you've used two baking sheets and your oven can hold only one sheet on the same rack, chill one sheet for the first hour or so , to slow rising so baking times are staggered.)

10. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and place a rack in middle level. Brush each risen croissant with egg glaze and bake for about 12 to 15 minutes, or until will browned and puffy. if they are not browning evenly, quickly turn the pan around from front to back once or twice during baking. If some are done before others, just remove them with a spatula. Transfer croissants to a rack to cool for a few before serving. Wrap[ and freeze what you won't use in a day. (To reheat, unwrap and set on a baking sheet, still frozen and place in a 400 degree F oven for about 7 minutes).
Makes 16 four-inch croissants.