Sure, you can buy dulce de leche. But then you miss out on that magic that happens when you make it yourself. I'd compare it to the time I wanted to make butter and spent half the afternoon shaking a jar of cream and all I had to show for it was frothy cream. I went ahead and kept shaking it anyway and ended up with, not a minute later, a lump of butter sloshing around in a jar of buttermilk. I couldn't stop grinning about it for the rest of the day. The same fairy dust that requires nothing more than agitating a jar of cream to get butter turns a can of sweetened condensed milk into rich, caramely dulce de leche. Only better. You don't have to shake it for four hours.
This method comes from the Chilean grandmother of a recipe tester for The Essence of Chocolate, a cookbook from chocolate experts John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg.
Remove the label from the can. Place the can on its side in a medium saucepan and cover completely with water. Bring the water just to a boil. Keep at a low boil, adding more water as necessary to keep the can covered with at least an inch of water, turning the can from time to time, for four hours. Take care to keep the can covered with water as there's a very slim chance the can could explode if the water boils away. I usually have trouble maintaining a low boil so it ends up being very thick after four hours. A vigorous boil takes only two to three hours.
Carefully remove the can from the water. The dulce de leche can be cooled in the can and stored at room temperature or used right away. If opening the can while it is still warm, open it slowly, because the dulce de leche may spurt slightly.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Cream Puffs
I first got the notion to make these after sampling the Costco offering on a weekly shopping trip and thinking, "I could make these." Making so many things for New Year's, I had to put it off until last week when, abandoned for an afternoon, I needed a break from a break. I unearthed a recipe for eclairs that I'd pulled from the Oregonian a couple of years ago and set about to craft a surprise for Mom and the kids.
Cream Puffs
Adapted from FOODday
1 cup water
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup flour
3 eggs
Preheat the oven to 400º, placing one rack in the middle. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium saucepan, bring the water, butter, and salt to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and add flour all at once. Using a wooden spoon, stir vigorously to combine. Continue to stir, using a figure-8 motion and smearing the dough against the sides of the pan to cook the flour and work out any lumps, for 2 minutes. The mixture will be thick and look like a firm ball, or balls, of sticky mashed potatoes that pull away from the sides of the pan. During this process, it is normal for a thin layer of dough to stick to the pan and sizzle. Remove the pan from the heat and scrape the dough into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. On low speed, mix until the dough feels merely warm, not hot, to the touch, 3 to 5 minutes.
With the mixer still on low speed, beat in the eggs, one at a time. After each egg is added, the dough will separate into small lumps and then come back together. After the dough pulls back together, briefly (about 20 seconds) increase the speed to medium-low to mix the dough well. Reduce the speed to low before adding the next egg. After the addition of the last egg, scrape the bowl well and beat on medium-low for a final 30 seconds.
Scrape the dough into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch tip. Twist the top of the bag to push the dough toward the tip. Pipe little mounds, about the size of a chocolate truffle, onto the parchment-lined pan, leaving 1/2-inch spaces between them. The first time I used this recipe, I MacGyver-ed a pastry bag, making a tip out of a circle of a cereal box and taping it to the corner of a gallon ziploc bag. It worked, but I was glad that I'd upgraded by the time I finally got around to these. Alternately, you can spoon the dough onto the pan like drop cookies, but the dough will be very sticky. Having wet hands helped corral the cream puff shells. Bake them on the center rack for about 25 minutes, until they're lightly browned. (The original recipe says golden brown, but I don't like that phrase.)
To finish: Scoop filling into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4 inch tip (give or take). Poke the tip through the side of each cream puff, squeezing the pastry bag until the cream puff looks like it's about to explode. You'll probably have to manually encourage the filling to stay near the tip as you go along. Dunk them one by one in the glaze to coat their tops and place them on a serving plate. Or your mouth.
Below are the filling and topping recipes that I used. Additional ones can be found here.
Kahlúa Cream Filling
1/4 cup Kahlúa
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
1 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
pinch salt
Stir Kahlúa into mascarpone until smooth; set aside. If you happen to be fresh out of mascarpone, as I was, you can sub cream cheese, but you'll have to beat it in with a mixer or it won't get past being cream cheese curds swimming in creamy Kahlúa. In a large bowl, whip the cream until slightly thickened. Add the vanilla, powdered sugar, and salt and continue whipping until stiff peaks form. You want the cream to have a lot of body, but don't over-mix or the cream will be "curdy."
Using a rubber spatula, mix about a quarter of the whipped cream into the mascarpone, stirring until smooth. Fold the mixture into the whipped cream until smooth. Whip on low speed for 5 to 10 seconds (no longer) to give the mixture body. Refrigerate until ready to fill the pastry shells.
Chocolate-Kahlúa Ganache Topping
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate (5 ounces) I use chocolate chips; they're pre-chopped!
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1 tablespoon Kahlúa
In a small saucepan, heat the cream over medium heat until it is hot and bubbles form around the edges of the pan. Remove from heat and add the chocolate, corn syrup, and Kahlúa. Let stand for 4 to 5 minutes and then stir until smooth. Let cool slightly before dipping filled cream puffs.
Cream Puffs
Adapted from FOODday
1 cup water
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup flour
3 eggs
Preheat the oven to 400º, placing one rack in the middle. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium saucepan, bring the water, butter, and salt to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and add flour all at once. Using a wooden spoon, stir vigorously to combine. Continue to stir, using a figure-8 motion and smearing the dough against the sides of the pan to cook the flour and work out any lumps, for 2 minutes. The mixture will be thick and look like a firm ball, or balls, of sticky mashed potatoes that pull away from the sides of the pan. During this process, it is normal for a thin layer of dough to stick to the pan and sizzle. Remove the pan from the heat and scrape the dough into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. On low speed, mix until the dough feels merely warm, not hot, to the touch, 3 to 5 minutes.
With the mixer still on low speed, beat in the eggs, one at a time. After each egg is added, the dough will separate into small lumps and then come back together. After the dough pulls back together, briefly (about 20 seconds) increase the speed to medium-low to mix the dough well. Reduce the speed to low before adding the next egg. After the addition of the last egg, scrape the bowl well and beat on medium-low for a final 30 seconds.
Scrape the dough into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch tip. Twist the top of the bag to push the dough toward the tip. Pipe little mounds, about the size of a chocolate truffle, onto the parchment-lined pan, leaving 1/2-inch spaces between them. The first time I used this recipe, I MacGyver-ed a pastry bag, making a tip out of a circle of a cereal box and taping it to the corner of a gallon ziploc bag. It worked, but I was glad that I'd upgraded by the time I finally got around to these. Alternately, you can spoon the dough onto the pan like drop cookies, but the dough will be very sticky. Having wet hands helped corral the cream puff shells. Bake them on the center rack for about 25 minutes, until they're lightly browned. (The original recipe says golden brown, but I don't like that phrase.)
To finish: Scoop filling into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4 inch tip (give or take). Poke the tip through the side of each cream puff, squeezing the pastry bag until the cream puff looks like it's about to explode. You'll probably have to manually encourage the filling to stay near the tip as you go along. Dunk them one by one in the glaze to coat their tops and place them on a serving plate. Or your mouth.
Below are the filling and topping recipes that I used. Additional ones can be found here.
Kahlúa Cream Filling
1/4 cup Kahlúa
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
1 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
pinch salt
Stir Kahlúa into mascarpone until smooth; set aside. If you happen to be fresh out of mascarpone, as I was, you can sub cream cheese, but you'll have to beat it in with a mixer or it won't get past being cream cheese curds swimming in creamy Kahlúa. In a large bowl, whip the cream until slightly thickened. Add the vanilla, powdered sugar, and salt and continue whipping until stiff peaks form. You want the cream to have a lot of body, but don't over-mix or the cream will be "curdy."
Using a rubber spatula, mix about a quarter of the whipped cream into the mascarpone, stirring until smooth. Fold the mixture into the whipped cream until smooth. Whip on low speed for 5 to 10 seconds (no longer) to give the mixture body. Refrigerate until ready to fill the pastry shells.
Chocolate-Kahlúa Ganache Topping
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate (5 ounces) I use chocolate chips; they're pre-chopped!
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1 tablespoon Kahlúa
In a small saucepan, heat the cream over medium heat until it is hot and bubbles form around the edges of the pan. Remove from heat and add the chocolate, corn syrup, and Kahlúa. Let stand for 4 to 5 minutes and then stir until smooth. Let cool slightly before dipping filled cream puffs.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Apricot Bacon Jalapeno Bites
Skeptical? Wait, at least, until you try them. I promise you that if you like any of the three ingredients (without having an extreme animosity for either of the other two), you will not be able to resist these perfect little cocktail appetizers.
Simplicity and flexibility are both points in their favor. They also defy sharing. I first made these back in September and have had a draft of this post in progress since November. But the tasty little things refuse to conform to a recipe! Also, if you happen to make these while you're home alone, there may be fewer to share than you intended by the time anyone shows up. So here is some semblance of a recipe. It just takes a little math.
Apricot Bacon Jalapeno Bites
1 jalapeno or other hot pepper
as many dried apricots as hot pepper pieces
half as many slices of bacon as hot pepper pieces
Slice off the top of the jalapeno, then in half lengthwise. Cut out and discard the seeds and membrane (the white part). Cut it into pieces about the size of the last digit of your thumb. The number you get will vary depending on the size of the pepper...and the size of your thumb. I usually get 12-16 by slicing each half lengthwise and dividing each spear into 3 or 4 pieces.
Roll up an apricot and a pepper piece in half a slice of bacon and pin it together with a toothpick, making sure it goes through some apricot and pepper on the way to the other side. Repeat until all your ingredients are vanquished (James told me to say that.), arranging them on a baking pan.
To bake:
Preheat the oven to 350. Cook until the bacon is done, maybe 20 minutes. Give or take. This method gets them really hot in the center so it's a great way to do it if you know it will be a while before they'll be eaten.
To broil:
Preheat the broiler. Cook on one side until the bacon is done. 5 minutes? Turn them over and stick them back in to finish the bacon. The apricots might get their ends a bit scorched, but do not fear. They are still delicious.
Simplicity and flexibility are both points in their favor. They also defy sharing. I first made these back in September and have had a draft of this post in progress since November. But the tasty little things refuse to conform to a recipe! Also, if you happen to make these while you're home alone, there may be fewer to share than you intended by the time anyone shows up. So here is some semblance of a recipe. It just takes a little math.
Apricot Bacon Jalapeno Bites
1 jalapeno or other hot pepper
as many dried apricots as hot pepper pieces
half as many slices of bacon as hot pepper pieces
Slice off the top of the jalapeno, then in half lengthwise. Cut out and discard the seeds and membrane (the white part). Cut it into pieces about the size of the last digit of your thumb. The number you get will vary depending on the size of the pepper...and the size of your thumb. I usually get 12-16 by slicing each half lengthwise and dividing each spear into 3 or 4 pieces.
Roll up an apricot and a pepper piece in half a slice of bacon and pin it together with a toothpick, making sure it goes through some apricot and pepper on the way to the other side. Repeat until all your ingredients are vanquished (James told me to say that.), arranging them on a baking pan.
To bake:
Preheat the oven to 350. Cook until the bacon is done, maybe 20 minutes. Give or take. This method gets them really hot in the center so it's a great way to do it if you know it will be a while before they'll be eaten.
To broil:
Preheat the broiler. Cook on one side until the bacon is done. 5 minutes? Turn them over and stick them back in to finish the bacon. The apricots might get their ends a bit scorched, but do not fear. They are still delicious.
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