Chocolate Caramel Matzo for Passover (or any other time!)
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| March 30, 2008
Filed Under dessert, recipe | 29 Comments
Every Passover I make this recipe from Marcy Goldman’s classic book A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking
3 Citrus Fruit Pâtes (French Fruit Jellies)
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| March 25, 2008
Filed Under dessert, recipe, restaurants | 10 Comments
Last week Graham and I went to dinner at Cosmos restaurant in Minneapolis where my friend Khanh Tran is the pastry chef. She is a brilliantly talented woman and all of the desserts were breath taking. I am not generally this liberal with my praise of sweets. I’m often disappointed and rarely quiet about it. Khanh has managed to balance the art of beautiful presentation with deep and true flavors. The last thing we ate that night was a plate of mignardises (small bite sized desserts) and on the platter were two of my all time favorites; French macaroons and fruit pâtes. Read more
Meyer Lemon and Rosemary Pâte (Fruit Jelly)
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| March 25, 2008
Filed Under dessert, recipe | 8 Comments
Meyer Lemon and Rosemary is one of the 3 French Fruit Pâtes I made this week:
Kumquat and Vanilla Bean Pâte (Fruit Jelly)
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| March 25, 2008
Filed Under dessert, recipe | 8 Comments
Kumquat and Vanilla Bean is one of the 3 French Fruit Pâtes I made this week: Read more
Blood Orange Pâte (Fruit Jelly)
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| March 25, 2008
Filed Under dessert, recipe | 15 Comments
Blood Orange is one of the 3 French Fruit Pâtes I made this week: Read more
Vanilla Pastry Cream
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| March 21, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized, basic, dessert, recipe | 17 Comments
I had a series of emails from Matthew about making pastry cream and I thought it a topic worth sharing with everyone. It is, like creme anglaise, one of the most versatile recipes in a professional pastry kitchen (and soon your home!). It is used for the filling of eclaires, napoleons, fruit tarts, banana cream pie, trifle, and just scooped out of the bowl with a spoon! Many pastry chefs will blush to read this, but it is essentially “kick-ass” vanilla pudding, to quote one of my former bosses. It can be scented with vanilla, in fact I always start there and then add flavors to it. I’ve made everything from Thai chili-chocolate to passion fruit pastry cream. Here is the basic recipe to start with! Read more
Crazy About Fresh Warm Doughnuts!
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| March 14, 2008
Filed Under Artisan Bread book, breakfast, dessert, kids, recipe | 12 Comments
I made a batch of chocolate filled beignets for a dinner party. The next morning the oil was still on the stove, albeit cold and I had brioche dough left in the bucket. My boys were waiting for something to eat and the coffee machine was doing its magic. In as much time as it would have taken me to make oatmeal I whipped together a batch of warm fresh doughnuts. The boys were thrilled and my coffee had the perfect companion! Read more
Tropical Fruit Vacherin (Meringue Cups)
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| March 13, 2008
Filed Under dessert, recipe | 2 Comments
Last weekend I co-hosted a Thai dinner party for 6 women. My friends Toni and Jen came over and we cooked up a storm of fresh dumplings, Tom Yam soup, green papaya salad and a spicy beef coconut curry with lime scented rice. It was a feast to be sure. I wanted to create a dessert that would fit the theme of our Thai dinner, look gorgeous and be light enough to eat after we had stuffed them full.
I made a vacherin cup of fluffy meringues baked until crisp. I served it filled with three different tropical sorbets: passion fruit, mango and coconut. That would have been enough, but this was a party and I wanted it to be a little more celebratory, so I added a tropical fruit tower on a pool of mango creme Anglaise. It was divine and their wasn’t a morsel left on the plates. Read more
Creme Anglaise (Vanilla Sauce)
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| March 13, 2008
Filed Under basic, dessert, recipe | 14 Comments
Creme Anglaise is one of the most versatile sauces in the pastry kitchen. It is wonderful served with chocolate cake, the sauce for floating island and the base for lots of ice creams. It is also a creamy contrast to fruit desserts such as the tropical fruit vacherin, where I added mango puree to add a bright flavor to the sauce.
I always start with a simple vanilla flavored sauce and then add flavors to it to suit my dessert. Read more
Buttery Shortbread Cookies
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| March 4, 2008
Filed Under basic, dessert, recipe | 7 Comments
Last week was my aunt Kristin’s birthday and she had only one request of me; buttery shortbread cookies. She is a woman of very discerning tastes and gave me explicit directions on just how she wanted them baked. They were to be thick, delicate, not too sweet, a light dusting of very fine sugar and above all else, buttery! As some of you may have noticed my aunt Kristin is one of my pastry muses. She doesn’t bake much herself but she has a keen sweet tooth and can recognize a great recipe, without ever making it. Read more
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- The Ultimate Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting! (how to assemble the cake)
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- Chocolate Caramel Matzo for Passover (or any other time!)
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